You won't believe it but they've pulled another fast one on us. We said goodbye to King Salomone; now say hello to the new Garbage Czar.

On Tuesday, June 5, when nobody was looking, Auburn City Manager Mark Palesh quietly sneaked in a revised budget proposal for 2007-2008 that includes a trash tax on nonprofit agencies, Cayuga County and the state. Then Palesh and the geniuses on the Auburn City Council scheduled a public hearing for June 7 when taxpayers could show up and make comments.

That gave us a whopping 48 hours to find out about the proposal and the hearing and make arrangements to show up. Then they'll vote on the budget on June 14. Zip, zap, zip - it's over! The brazen manipulation of the system by these people at our expense is beyond insult.

First of all, when we get paid by the county or the state, the money doesn't come out of thin air; it comes from our taxes. And instead of bending over backward to help nonprofit agencies with the fine work that they do, Palesh wants to punish them.

I recently spoke with Pastor Bob Canino of First Love Ministries in Auburn. They have a soup kitchen in their church (there are several others in Auburn, as well) that gives away about 67,000 prepared meals a year, and also two different food pantries.

Canino told me that a trash fee would at the very least create a heavy burden on their ministry. He said that the food pantries, with the help of the community, give away about 200,000 meals per year. Even if they were able to stay in operation, any taxes would come out of their food allocation. This would take food right out of the mouths of the people who need it the most. One of the food pantries actually makes home deliveries to shut-ins, seniors and others who can't get out.

Much of this could cease because of a trash tax. The bigger question is: Why would we do any of this when we own our landfill? Why would we overburden our own people with higher taxes when we should be charging outsiders more? Let's run the landfill like it was a business, not a charity. The soup kitchens are the charities.

Believe me, this is just step one with this crazy garbage tax; we're next. Instead, let's bring in some real money-making minds into this town.

These jokers can't even maintain what we have, let alone make money on it. Your politicians have carefully maneuvered you out of the process. What are you going to do about it? They'll vote at an open city council meeting at City Hall on Thursday, June 14.

Ducayne's column appears Tuesdays in The Citizen, and she can be reached at

sacredheart6005@hotmail.com