Plastic bag taxes are making a rare (up to now, at least) foray into the heartland: The mayor of Toledo, Ohio, has proposed a tax, similar to the plan offered last week by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. According to this story from the Toledo Blade newspaper, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has not proposed a specific amount, but Council President Mark Sobczak said they have been discussing a 6 cent-per-bag tax -- with 5 cents going to the city and 1 cent to the store. Reaction from the city council was mixed. District Councilman Lindsay Webb called it "crazy," adding "I think we have had enough with the garbage fee, and I will not support another increase in fees for people." Councilman Joe McNamara supports the idea, offering some commonly held misconceptions about plastic bags in the process:
"The plastic bags are petroleum-based and they take up a lot of space in our landfill," he said. "Anything that ultimately saves the landfill will save the taxpayers money."Attention Toledo taxpapers: don't expect to start saving tons of money on those landfill costs anytime soon.
