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SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 05:38 PM

I recently bought a house in West Virginia. I have always taken my trash to the dump because that's 1 less bill to pay. Well today a police officer came to my house and wrote me a ticket for ' no proof of sanitation'. Now I have to pay because the city doesn't pickup my trash. I personally think that is stupid. How can they make it mandatory that they pickup my trash and make me pay for taking it to the dump? Is it just me or is this wrong on some level? Now I have to go to court and everything just because I'm not depending on them to pickup my trash and my husband takes it to the dump instead!

ballengerb1 · Dec 13, 2012, 05:58 PM

What city in WV. Does that city have aordiance about trash? Is the dump open to the public and free?

ScottGem · Dec 13, 2012, 05:59 PM

I would fight it. I don't see how they can prosecute you for a negative. Unless they can show that you have trash on your property, I don't see how they can cite you for not doing something.

On the other hand, trash pickup is usually paid via a tax assessment so taking your trash to dump on your own wouldn't save you anything. And you would still need to pay your share of processing the trash.

ballengerb1 · Dec 13, 2012, 06:03 PM

" via a tax assessment " not so in Illinois. Most cities require you to buy different types of stickers for garbage, yard waste and leaves. Sarah needs to give us more info before we can get to the bottom of her issue

SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

What city in WV. Does that city have aordiance about trash? Is the dump open to the public and free?

I'm in williamson wva. The dump is free for ky but because I'm in wva I pay $10.00 per load...

SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by SarahNycole

I'm in williamson wva. The dump is free for ky but because I'm in wva I pay $10.00 per load...

I have property in ky too...

SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

" via a tax assessment " not so in Illinois. Most cities require you to buy different types of stickers for garbage, yard waste and leaves. Sarah needs to give us more info before we can get to the bottom of her issue

What do you need to know?

ballengerb1 · Dec 13, 2012, 06:36 PM

So what would it cost you to have the Williamson gargage collector do your pick up and does Williamson have an ordiance about garbage? How much is your load, how many bags or cubic feet do you take at once?

SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

So what would it cost you to have the Williamson gargage collector do your pick up and does Williamson have an ordiance about garbage? How much is your load, how many bags or cubic feet do you take at once?

It's 72.00 every 3 months for them to pick it up. Im not sure about an ordnance. I take about 2 to 3 bags every few days. The reason I started taking it to the dump here is because they weren't coming every Wednesday like they're suppose to and there was a big storm a while back that caused the trash and stuff from this street to clog the storm drain. When they came out to clean it all up they used my trash cans to put the garbage in and said they would return them the next day and never did. My husband is a contractor and it's just more convenient for us to take it to the dump because he goes there regularly anyhow...

ballengerb1 · Dec 13, 2012, 07:08 PM

Not sure you are saving any money but I would fight this. The city can't take your cans and then ticket you for not putting garbage in a can. For all they know you are vegans who compost.

SarahNycole · Dec 13, 2012, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Not sure you are saving any money but I would fight this. The city can't take your cans and then ticket you for not putting garbage in a can. For all they know you are vegans who compost.

That's the thing... It was in cans that we bought to replace the ones they took actually!

ScottGem · Dec 14, 2012, 03:50 AM

Before you fight it you need to do research. The citation should list the ordinance that was violated. So you need to find that ordinance and see exactly what it says. But I still find it hard for a municipality to cite someone for having no proof of something. It would violate the innocent until proven guilty doctrine.

joypulv · Dec 14, 2012, 04:50 AM

I'm getting the sense that there is more to this story because your husband is a contractor? If he puts his construction debris into trash cans at your house (constant sheetrock and scrap lumber especially), then that might explain why they didn't show up each week, why they took your cans (was your garbage a lot of the storm debris?), and the citation.

Some towns are very specific about construction debris and can get pretty nasty.

AK lawyer · Dec 14, 2012, 06:26 AM

You have been ticketed for a violation of city ordinance called "no proof of sanitation". In order to fight this in court, the first thing you should do would be to get the text of the ordinance you supposedly violated. In particular, look to see what constitutes proof. It may be, for example, that if you can prove you take your trash to the "dump" (Don't they call it a "sanitary landfill" there?), you could get the ticket dismissed. Also look to see what if any exceptions there might be to the requirement.

It may be that the purpose of the ordinance is to prevent people from simply dumping their trash anywhere. That is a legitimate purpose and proof of sanitation would normally be the fact that the city sanitation crew picks up the trash. But if OP's husband takes it elsewhere, proof of that may well also be acceptable.

Fr_Chuck · Dec 14, 2012, 08:58 AM

Many cities, you have no choice, the bill for trash is included on your water or other bill, or the city just bills it. So I agree you need to find the law on this first before you say they can't do it.
Many cities do this, required billing and services.

joypulv · Dec 14, 2012, 09:54 AM

My town has no requirements and does have a dump that costs $5 year. My last town, one town over, required that everyone pay $70 year for a dump sticker whether they wanted it or not. Many people didn't.
OP hasn't told us what is required yet. Maybe her new town doesn't have a dump and if she doesn't use town pickup she has to provide proof of where she goes. She just says 'the dump' and it may be elsewhere.

AK lawyer · Dec 14, 2012, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by joypulv;

... she has to provide proof of where she goes. She just says 'the dump' and it may be elsewhere.

Yes, she said it is elsewhere. She is in Williamson, West Virginia and this "dump" they use is in Kentucky, where, she says, "I pay $10.00 per load". Hopefully, they kept the receipts.

SarahNycole · Dec 14, 2012, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

Yes, she said it is elsewhere. She is in Williamson, West Virginia and this "dump" they use is in Kentucky, where, she says, "I pay $10.00 per load". Hopefully, they kept the receipts.

the dump I use is a public dump that is owned by pike county sanitation it's in turkey creek ky, we live on the border all there is is a bridge that u cross the tug river that separates wv and ky you can throw a rock from wv and hit ky