To the Editor:

The $200 garbage fee proposed by the Southampton County Board of Supervisors is ludicrous.

It technically is not a “tax,” but it does present severe concerns. Will it be assessed by vehicle? How do you resolve multiple vehicles at one address? Who buys the garbage tag?

The proposed enforcement is a draconian threat: a revoked driver’s license due to not buying a garbage tag? Or is it being proposed as a residential address tag?

Again, who is the garbage-tag target when multiple families are at one address with multiple vehicles? That is resolved how?

Does every adult/driver/vehicle owner have to get a $200 garbage tag? What if one resident owns an RV or a boat but not a driver’s license? Is that person required to buy a tag?

Enforcement will be a horror show. Will it be done at the dump, by roving police patrol, or by identity checking?

How are summonses for not having a sticker/tag resolved when issued erroneously?

What about all the garbage that will be strewn along county roads by poor folk unable to buy a garbage tag?

Need more money? Do it the old-fashioned way, boys. Raise a tax. It’s your choice. Go after sales, vehicles, RV or boat registration, real property, inheritance tax, etc.

This garbage fee will cause widespread confusion. It will be a nightmare to implement and enforce and should be abandoned immediately. It will cost more to implement and enforce than any tax.

Get back to work, Board of Supervisors. Get it right. We know you are new at this, so learn as you grow.

John Murphy
Franklin