Aldermen skeptical of Mayor's plan to take over trash collection

I heard about this story in today's Chicago Business Today, however for today's purposes here's a story from the Sun-Times:

Chicago businesses and residential high-rises would see their refuse collection costs drop and recycling rates rise under a plan to divide Chicago into roughly 15 districts with an exclusive waste hauler for each one, a top mayoral aide said today.

Despite those assurances from chief environmental officer Sadhu Johnston-and the potential for a windfall for Chicago taxpayers---business groups and downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) remain skeptical of the revolutionary change.

The mayor’s plan would impact 1.9 million tons of waste and recyclables generated each year by commercial, industrial and institutional customers as well as multi-family buildings.

The Daley administration would divide the city into roughly 15 districts and choose one waste hauler for each district after competitive bidding. Existing refuse collection contracts would be phased out over a 15 month period.

The city would collect an administrative fee to oversee the program that has ranged from 2 percent of gross revenues in some cities to as high as 22 percent in Miami.

"The free market is better able to generate advantageous pricing than a monopolistic system," said Michael Cornicelli, executive vice-president of the Building Owners and Managers Association.

If done right, hopefully privatization can be a good thing. Who says a government has to do everything?