The amount of $200,000 was put forth as the cost of plowing all of Minneapolis' alleys. I find that very hard to believe.
What is the total miles of alleys plowed, what is te total miles of streets plowed, what is the total amount spent on street plowing? You then divide the miles for streets by the miles for alleys and then use some factor for the additional passes on streets (since I assume that alleys are plowed in one pass by the trucks and graders that the city uses) to get a ratio that you can apply to the cost to get what it should cost to plow alleys. Ann asked who would plow for $10-20 per winter, as in Saint Paul. Lots of people, since that's a per house figure. People with good-sized trucks and an add-on plow, don't even have to be big companies. Our block paid about $12 last year for 21 houses, or $252. Multiply that by the number of blocks in the city and you get a figure that's way higher than $200k for a smaller city. $1,000 per four blocks. Remember that it's paid in advance, so a light winter only increases the contractor's profits and doesn't decrease the cost the next year. It's been very stable over the years, I think that it might have been at least ten years ago that it went over $10. COmpare that to the Mpls tax increase rate. Visit www.EffectiveTransit.org The Independent Unsubsidized Voice of Citizens for Effective Transit in the Twin Cities * lrt isn't a potato chip, you can stop at just one * Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
