Our City Council has been wondering why the bulk trash pick-up is not working and why there is trash along neighborhood roads.

I believe it is a quiet rebellion against new fees that are being unfairly levied against the public. We are not to be “taxed without representation,” and this is what the new fees represent in my mind. You know what the colonies did before the Revolution — they simply refused to pay, even though the taxes were not high ones. They refused the Stamp Act and the tax on tea.

In essence, the fee for picking up bulk items — the $20 or $50 — is a new tax on what should be a basic city service like keeping the water running or fixing the roads for which we already pay taxes.

Has the City Council asked any opinion or approval from the public? I know that I have not voted on it!

Recently, the Suffolk News-Herald ran an article stating that there may be surplus funds in the budget this year. Why don’t our community leaders use those funds to have a monthly, free bulk trash pick-up of things like furniture, leaves and tree limbs? Surely that would not stress the city’s budget, even if there weren’t a surplus this year.

As for regular trash pick-up, there should not be an added fee of any amount. Trash pick-up prevents disease and rodents that carry disease. It is a basic service for the health and well-being of the entire community, not to mention improving the appearance of “Surprising Suffolk.”

Fourteen dollars a month — while it may not seem like much — adds up to a tax increase of $168 a year. I think this is worth protesting, as many of us can ill afford the increase in these times of economic hardship.

The city should not levy these fees without input from the community. No taxation without representation!