Court Opinion

ID: 9931986
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:32:04.122001+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:35:11.536166
License: Public Domain

I concur in the result, for I am convinced that reasonable replacement costs or reasonable depreciation reserves for equipment used in collecting or disposing of solid waste are expenses of providing garbage services for which customers may be charged a service fee. Likewise, reasonable administrative fees for billing and collecting for services, including rent, utilities, insurance, etc., are expenses of providing garbage services for which customers may be charged a service fee. A municipality may estimate the amount reasonably necessary to provide for these contingencies in setting a garbage fee. SeeState Department of Revenue v. Reynolds Metals Co.,541 So.2d 524 (Ala. 1988). There was evidence in this case from which the trial court could have determined that the Town of Eclectic did not do this; and, though the Town of Eclectic makes a better case than the majority opinion indicates for this being a garbage fee rather than a tax, under the ore tenus rule, I have no option but to sustain the judgment of the trial court. *Page 397