The current crisis concerning recycling is nothing more than too much pork in the high end paychecks. The top 31 combined salaries in the city of Chattanooga amounts to $3,750,000 per year. That's right folks, millions. The average pay for these people is $121,000 coming from our hard-earned tax dollars. The average income of the citizens of Chattanooga is $26,200 per year based on the 2019 reports or $45,500 per household based on 2019 reports.
The city employees, paid for by us and work for us, make more than we do. So now back to the problem at hand. Simple solution is for the top 31 employees to take a five percent cut, still leaving them a $115,000 average, and take the savings of $187,500 and create five full-time recycling jobs at $26,200 each and have an additional $56,500 left over for expenses.
Okay, Mayor Kelly, let's see how you will handle this, or will you simply sweep it under the rug, or keep the fat paychecks while reducing the services that rightly belong to the people of Chattanooga.
Making cuts would be the choice if operated by private enterprise, making smart financial decisions to keep the train on the track. But on the other hand, as my dad always told me, "Son it's easy to spend someone else's money," and in this case it's the taxpayers'.
Michael G. Mansfield