County council doing firewood

[easy-lift guy]

if this is really bothering you, ill find out fm my boss end of week. so you can sleep easier at night:001_tt2:

 

It is not bothering me so much as I am really trying to understand your system of economics. Although I share a common language and culture with the people of the UK, I am not trying to wind any one up per say. Just trying to understand how things work in your country. In this country this matter would be considered a racket, and in some cases probably illegal as well:.

BTW, I really sleep well at night, of course I value as many opinions as possible:thumbup1:

easy-lift guy

[Dan Earp]

lol. ok, well the city council havent raised any tax for 3years, we havent recieved a pay rise in that time. we currently have 220k trees and on a good day 8 gangs of 3, and were soon to have a bugdet cut. the council owns the trees so if they want to process them for sale i dont see the problem, everything is recycled including the chip that goes to the power stations. so with budget cuts etc were bringing in a little cash that can go back into our dept to help with what every needs paying i.e. rent for the chippers ect. end of the day its a business, and im just a climber . as i said if you want to know more i can ask my boss

[Marula]

Its a good idea and about time. All the wood they get and all the chip just gets tipped and wasted. Its not going into the Arborists pockets, its going back into their budget, which means they require less from public taxes to keep themselves. Self supporting CC Arb teams are ok by my book.

[easy-lift guy]

lol. ok, well the city council havent raised any tax for 3years, we havent recieved a pay rise in that time. we currently have 220k trees and on a good day 8 gangs of 3, and were soon to have a bugdet cut. the council owns the trees so if they want to process them for sale i dont see the problem, everything is recycled including the chip that goes to the power stations. so with budget cuts etc were bringing in a little cash that can go back into our dept to help with what every needs paying i.e. rent for the chippers ect. end of the day its a business, and im just a climber . as i said if you want to know more i can ask my boss

 

Thanks, your further explanation means a great deal to me and my understanding of the matter. I may have to set my alarm for tomorrow morning to keep from over sleeping thanks to your reply:thumbup1:

easy-lift guy

[easy-lift guy]

Its a good idea and about time. All the wood they get and all the chip just gets tipped and wasted. Its not going into the Arborists pockets, its going back into their budget, which means they require less from public taxes to keep themselves. Self supporting CC Arb teams are ok by my book.

 

Any time any governing body can save the tax payers funds by converting raw material into a finished product makes sence to me, as long as it is not squandered or abused. TBH though I am still pulling for the Private sector first and fore most:thumbup1:

[Dan Earp]

Thanks, your further explanation means a great deal to me and my understanding of the matter. I may have to set my alarm for tomorrow morning to keep from over sleeping thanks to your reply:thumbup1:

easy-lift guy

 

ha take it easy , easy guy

[treequip]

Any time any governing body can save the tax payers funds by converting raw material into a finished product makes sence to me, as long as it is not squandered or abused. TBH though I am still pulling for the Private sector first and fore most:thumbup1:

 

There are 2 options, squander tax money to dispose of the waste or convert it to something you can sell.

 

There is also the sustainability issue, central government and our euro masters are good at handing out targets, that's why my garden has a blue bin for paper, a brown one for cans, bottles and the like, a green one for biodegradeables and a grey one for anything else.

[Gnarlyoak]

Hi ELG,

 

Although UK is no where near as bad as some of the other European financial basket cases at this moment in time, eg: Greece; Ireland; Spain; Portugal. Most of the local and central government bodies are having to implement swinging budget cuts in an effort to reduce the enourmous deficit the country has built up from before and during the current long running economic downturn/recession we have been experiencing since the banking collapse in 2008.

 

Consequently, these budget cuts have meant that many services are being cut and staff are being made redundant. In the face of this some council departments are now being forced to consider other means of softening the impact of these cuts. If a council arb team have their budget cut by £30k pa and can recoup £15K back by selling their arb waste and arisings for example. This could mean the difference between having no new capital spent on new items like trucks and/or chippers in the current financial year or no new capital spend and having to make at least 1 member of the arb team redundant.

 

Now since as was pointed out in an earlier post, the council in this instance are responsible for their own tree stock, then there is no reason why they cannot sell any arising from the works they carry out on the same. As stated, in the current circumstance, any monies earned would go towards offsetting budget cuts rather than trying to make a profit, so there would not be any expectation to provide the local taxpayer with any rebate, since they are still carrying out the service that the taxpayer is paying them for in the first instance.

 

It is perhaps worth noting, that the chances are that beforhand all the arising generated by the council may have been given away to bulk processors or even gone to landfill! So by reycling and then selling on their waste it actually makes this council more efficient and probably ticks more eviro-friendly boxes than you could shake a stick.

 

Now what would upset the apple cart is if a) the council try to sell the arisings at below the market cost compared to private companies providing the same service within the councils catchment area. b) The council then start to muscle in and use their public funded personnel and equipment to start operating in direct competition with arb firms and firewood retailers by tendering for work outside their public sector remit.

 

Sadly I think there has been at least one thread here on AT in the not too distant past where at least one local authority somewhere in the UK was doing just that, and had started tendering for work in the private sector.

 

With the lack of growth and stagnation across the globe, how do the local authorities in the US cope with the reduction in revenues. Do they cut back and let the private sector pick up the slack, do they increase taxes to maintain the same level of services or has the US budget deficit hit so many squillions of trillions now that it will never be cleared by the next 5-10 generations to come so everyone just carry's on regardless as before, in "crisis, what crisis! Let's have another burger and a bucket of chicken!" kind of way?

 

Regards

[Derek Trimblits]

Sadly I think there has been at least one thread here on AT in the not too distant past where at least one local authority somewhere in the UK was doing just that, and had started tendering for work in the private sector.

 

Yep thats Burnley council.

plus its not the council that owns the trees its the taxpayer surely.

Also true that selling them is better than paying to have then removed which generates money rather than costing and is also more eco friendly than tipping.

 

My bugbear is that they are not competing on a level playing field as Mendiplogs has pointed out earlier.

 

Rant over now back to the closing ceremony!!!!

[swinny]

Sadly I think there has been at least one thread here on AT in the not too distant past where at least one local authority somewhere in the UK was doing just that, and had started tendering for work in the private sector.

 

Yep thats Burnley council.

plus its not the council that owns the trees its the taxpayer surely.

Also true that selling them is better than paying to have then removed which generates money rather than costing and is also more eco friendly than tipping.

 

My bugbear is that they are not competing on a level playing field as Mendiplogs has pointed out earlier.

 

Rant over now back to the closing ceremony!!!!

 

What! Burnley council going for domestic trees!?? private sector??