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Technology Upgrade Fee
updated: Jul 10, 2012, 8:56 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

I needed to get a roll off dumpster from Marborg to clean around my property, I had to go to SB city public works to get a permit because I am having it parked on the street. All well and good and understandable, But when I got the permit I also had to pay $1.44 Technology Upgrade Fee? I sure would like to know what the heck that is all about? Another stupid add on just to bring in more money to the city?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 296132P	2012-07-10 10:52 PM
The technology involved in collecting the fee?
D8VANILLA	2012-07-10 11:02 PM
lol @132p But, you might be right.... twisted logic companies use to make more money!!
COMMENT 296143	2012-07-11 06:32 AM
Aren't technology upgrades part of doing business? What's next 6 squares of toilet paper usage as you had a morning delivery and the driver made his daily deposit while your dumpster was on the truck.
COMMENT 296144	2012-07-11 06:37 AM
.....It's $1.44 just go with it. You needed the dumpster, right?
COMMENT 296145	2012-07-11 06:38 AM
I'm sure it's just yet another California Tax.
REDTOP	2012-07-11 07:01 AM
Ask them! Then tell us.
COMMENT 296152P	2012-07-11 07:03 AM
144, several years ago that might have been good advice but now I am not so sure. I think bringing this kind of extortion out in the open is a good idea. Yea, he'll probably just pay it but now more people know about it and maybe someone can at least find out what that fee is for and if it is even legal.
COMMENT 296160	2012-07-11 07:21 AM
$1.44 = the cost of purchasing a good used typewriter ribbon :-)
COMMENT 296163P	2012-07-11 07:29 AM
They are probably restricted by ordinance (or something) from raising the permit fee (which itself is a new thing, I believe), so they have to call their increase by another name. You need to ask them. And of course, as usual when addressing the gov't, good luck with that. Speaking of random new fees: I own a retail business; I don't sell food or anything measured on a scale. But as of this month, every retail business that scans bar codes at the register (as opposed to typing the price into the register by hand) is now required to "register" their scanner with the county Agricultural Commissioner, who inspects Weights and Measures. There's an $80 "registration fee." Per scanner. They are asking us to self-report, and then after we do, slamming us with those angry, punitive letters threatening 100% penalties if we're a day late paying, even though they've given us two different deadlines, and sent them to the wrong addresses. Look around at all the retail stores in SB county; consider how they are going to enforce this; consider someone from the Ag dept "inspecting" the spiffy boutiques on State St., Chaucer's, Old Navy, the various shops in every strip mall in Lompoc... like that's going to happen any time soon. Just another revenue enhancement measure, slapped on wherever they think they can get away with it, 14th amendment be damned.
COMMENT 296165	2012-07-11 07:34 AM
REDTOP makes a good point. Let us know! Thanks!
COMMENT 296168	2012-07-11 07:43 AM
You had Marborg on the phone to order the roll off why not ask them? Their fee, they are the horse's mouth to go to. BTW is $1.44 out of a possible $400 charge really that important?
COMMENT 296172	2012-07-11 07:51 AM
It's called allowing a minority of voters to approve the Marborg Monopoly for waste services. Technology upgrades are the costs associated with converting Waste Management, Inc. database over to Marborg.
COMMENT 296184	2012-07-11 08:08 AM
We will all pitch in two cents each. Here is mine. Quit crying
COMMENT 296188	2012-07-11 08:17 AM
Why would one "need a permit" just to get a roll off? I live in an unincorperated part of SB County and have a roll off in my yard at this moment and no permit was required.
COMMENT 296190	2012-07-11 08:20 AM
The city LOOOOOVES fees! They can't get enough of them!
SBJULES	2012-07-11 08:28 AM
Weights & Mesures is hardly new.
COMMENT 296200	2012-07-11 08:31 AM
Your dumpster probably occupies as many parking spaces as 2 or 3 homeless campers. It would be fair enough to charge you a beefy fee for each day it squats in the road.
FLICKA	2012-07-11 08:39 AM
188, yours in is your yard, the poster has one on the street. Big difference. Why not ask about the $1.44 when told about it?
COMMENT 296217	2012-07-11 08:50 AM
Page 35 under "Other Fees" in the document titled, "Schedule of Penalties, Fees and Services Charges for Certain City Departments" found on the City of Santa Barbara website. Or ask the attending clerk about the fee at the time of payment.
COMMENT 296224	2012-07-11 08:59 AM
188 - If you live in SB, you need to get a permit. If you live outside of SB, Marborg gets the permit for you. I'll guarantee you that you have a permit for your dumpster.
COMMENT 296225	2012-07-11 09:00 AM
I wish all businesses passed along their fees and taxes explicitly to their end customers. Along the same lines, it would be eye opening if people were forced to pay their taxes in one lump sum each April rather than getting a "refund" from their payroll deduction. I think this would finally wake up the voters to the fact that we are taxed at every corner yet receive very little value for this excessive taxation.
COMMENT 296257	2012-07-11 10:04 AM
It's $1.44, get over it.
COMMENT 296263	2012-07-11 10:13 AM
It's for the wheels. They're still recouping their losses from re-inventing them.
COMMENT 296266	2012-07-11 10:25 AM
They should call it a "Your time figuring out this fee is worth more than $1.44 so we're just going to tack it on everytime" fee.
COMMENT 296282	2012-07-11 11:10 AM
Man! I thought I was thrifty but gripe about $1.44?
COMMENT 296284	2012-07-11 11:12 AM
Every one of you who said "it's only $1.44" must be same folks who will be voting for Brown's tax increases this November. It's not the $1.44 folks. It's the inexplicable "Technology Fee" description, and the nickel-and-diming us to death that's at issue. $1.44, for whatever it may be, starts adding up. As will another 1% sales tax, blah blah blah. Start paying attention and questioning these things. You just might have some extra money lying around to spend on something you may actually want.
COMMENT 296287	2012-07-11 11:18 AM
@284: Tax increases and tremendous spending cuts. You can't exclusively cut your way out of debt; it's gotta be both. And I say this as someone who probably won't vote for Brown's proposals in the fall because I find the cuts to be far too draconian.
COMMENT 296301	2012-07-11 11:41 AM
It goes under the heading of hoping that you won't notice several smaller fees instead of one big lump sum. And I bet now that the County knows you have an unpermitted storage bin in your yard, you will be getting a visit from the code enforcement guys!
COMMENT 296331	2012-07-11 12:45 PM
It wasn't a Marborg fee, it is the city charging the fee.
COMMENT 296345P	2012-07-11 01:16 PM
Verizon did this - added a small unsubstantiated fee - and got caught. I agree $1.44 seems like not worth bothering about - and yet it matters enough that we're all writing about it! The main reason to question such things, like in the Verizon case, is that if you get $1.44 from each person - well, 100,000 people brings a company an extra $144,000 bucks. That said, I'm guessing this fee will be explained and make some sense. And if it goes to the city (as 331 says it will), well, that's good for all of us.
COMMENT 296349P	2012-07-11 01:26 PM
"Less taxes, more services!" If we prohibit the government from raising taxes while also demanding more services, what are the solutions? One strategy is to charge "user fees." Extreme example: If you call the cops, they bill you. Can't pay, they arrest you and then charge for that AND the jail. Seems fair until it happens to you. So here we have "evil" elected city government charging a user fee for database conversion rather than covering it under the general fund - fair until it happened to you. Maybe at some point citizens will remember that we're all in this together, and then we can begin a return to civil society. Until then we'll have people angrily rejecting all taxes while raging against elected government for dwindling services and increasing user fees.
COMMENT 296407	2012-07-11 02:38 PM
$1.44 here, $1.44 there, pretty soon you're talking about real money !! It's another abusive TAX ! Imagine every local, state and Federal government agency instituting their own pet (prok barrel) tax on the consumer/citizenry ,,, oh wait, they already do that.
COMMENT 296412	2012-07-11 02:43 PM
Brown cuts do not go to the bone - they need to be to the bone- anyone with a business in this state knows how the heavy hand of the tax man is crushing small business - Scott Brown in WI did the right thing and crushed the unions - they will balance their budget soon - Same thing was done in NJ - Wake up CA - Stop the bleed -
COMMENT 296433P	2012-07-11 03:17 PM
296225 - currently we pay the LOWEST taxes in SIXTY YEARS. That is why there are so many budget problems.
COMMENT 296448	2012-07-11 03:37 PM
@433 What are you on man?

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