Would you like to know what’s being done to all the Elkhart city employees who work hard to provide you with the services that some take for granted, from street maintenance to police and fire protection? City officials are proposing a five-day pay furlough (a reduction of five day’s wages per city employee per year). This is to pay for free trash services for city residents.

For city employees who live within the city limits, the pay furlough means instead of paying $11 per month for their own trash removal they will, in a sense, be paying over $55 per month for their service plus four of their neighbors. How would you like to pay your neighbor’s bills? I don’t imagine it would set well with you, either. I wouldn’t ask you to pay mine.

For city employees who live outside the city, a furlough is even more unfair. I work to pay for my own trash removal ($22 per month). Now it appears the city wants me to work to pay five other people’s bills for trash removal at $11 per month. So, in addition to paying for my own trash service at home, I will be forced to pay for five other households for a total of $935.20 per year, and it will cost most other employees even more. That’s a whopping $77.93 per month for combined trash services out of my household budget.

They say it’s either the furlough or numerous employees will lose their jobs — all because some people say $11 per month is too much of a burden for trash pick-up.

I was raised by hard-working parents. You work hard, you earn a living, you support family, you help those in need and you pay your own bills. That’s the American way!

Laurie Posthuma

Bristol