The Bolesławiec municipality subsidized waste management from its budget by more than one million złoty in 2021. Officials explain that they cannot make money from waste, and that counting all residents of the municipality is “almost impossible.” Residents who pay their waste collection bills are becoming upset that they also pay for those who have not submitted declarations. They believe officials do not want to count the residents because it is more convenient for them to enforce a fee increase from those who already pay.
One of the residents spoke to us about the concern troubling people who pay for waste collection in the Bolesławiec municipality.
“Municipal officials boast that they issue many building permits. People are building houses, and more waste is being produced,” the woman says. “They issue building permits, but do not check whether anyone lives there. People are shocked. And if there is any talk of a fee increase, we will protest. After all, more than one million złoty was paid from the budget for waste collection—that is the difference. We know of cases in the countryside where a father died, the mother submitted a declaration stating that he had died and that she would pay the waste fee for one person, and three months later a five-person family moved in and declared nothing. People need to be made aware of how things work: the municipality cannot solve the problem and shifts everything onto us, the residents. And they cannot do anything. It is easier to raise the fee for those who pay than to count how many people should be paying for waste collection,” says the municipality resident.
We checked the information about spending on municipal waste management in the rural Bolesławiec municipality, and the resident’s words were confirmed. The municipality budget provided a subsidy of PLN 1,154,720.80 in 2021.
“As of 31 December 2021, revenue from this source amounted to PLN 4,610,564.20, while expenditure amounted to PLN 5,765,285,” says deputy wójt Roman Jaworski. “The waste management system covers 12,235 people. In addition, 151 entities are declared as uninhabited properties—that is, properties where no residents live but municipal waste is generated. Arrears in waste management fees account for approximately 4.7% of the declared fees. As of 7 July 2022, the population of the Bolesławiec municipality was 14,581 people with permanent residence and 252 people with temporary residence,” the deputy wójt informs us.
We asked whether, in view of the difference of more than 2,000 people living in the Bolesławiec municipality who are not included in declarations, municipal officials check who pays for waste collection and who does not. Jarosław Babiasz, head of the Agriculture, Real Estate and Municipal Management Department, responded. He also sees a difference between the number of registered residents and the number declared and paying for waste collection. According to the official, however, this is a problem affecting many municipalities, not just the Bolesławiec municipality.
“Since the municipality does not have a municipal guard, and inspecting all properties with limited staff resources is almost impossible, inspections are conducted at random,” explains Jarosław Babiasz. “The discrepancy between the number of registered people and those declared at a property is itself grounds for an inspection. These are carried out systematically once a quarter, during the billing period, because waste management fees in the Bolesławiec municipality are paid quarterly. Although we do not stop making efforts through numerous inspections to eliminate cases of ordinary human dishonesty or carelessness, this is not a problem limited to our municipality. It is enough to contact other local governments or even review press reports from across the country to notice the scale of this phenomenon. It must also be remembered that we live in a border area, so many residents work away from their place of residence and stay at their properties almost as guests. Such situations also occur,” adds the department head.
The municipality resident sees the matter differently. As someone who has paid for waste collection for years and does not want to pay for those who have not declared waste collection, she argues that officials could make a greater effort to collect fees from residents who evade them.
“There were two years of the pandemic, and everything was shut down completely. What were they doing during that time?” asks the resident. “They say they have to raise our waste fees because they cannot pay them from the budget, but they have been paying for waste from the budget for years. And the propaganda is that we have to pay!” adds the indignant woman.
The Municipal Council approves subsidies for waste management by a separate resolution, as Jarosław Babiasz informed us. He added that the municipality cannot make money from waste, so it cannot use an excessively high number of residents in its calculations, as this would generate a financial surplus.
“The difference results from many factors,” informs the head of the Agriculture, Real Estate and Municipal Management Department. “Certain values used in the tender will always be determined on the basis of estimates. The municipality cannot make money from waste, so we cannot include an excessively large number of new properties—that is, residents and businesses—and the waste they produce in our calculations, as this would generate a surplus in the waste system. At the same time, we cannot accurately estimate how many new businesses and residents there will be or how much waste will actually be produced. We have also explained many times that fee rates are not a simple either-or matter. They do not depend solely on the number of businesses, residents and the waste they produce. They cover all system operating costs, including staff, fuel, landfill fees, environmental and concession fees, and even the removal of illegal dumps. In addition, the waste management system is exceptionally unstable from a legal perspective. The Act on Maintaining Cleanliness and Order in Municipalities is amended quite frequently, and new obligations are imposed along with it, which are reflected in the fee rate,” the official explains.
And so it has continued for years in the Bolesławiec municipality. Officials continue their efforts to eliminate cases of ordinary human dishonesty or carelessness. And honest residents who pay for waste collection pay for those who are dishonest and careless.