Dive summary:

• When the truck comes by to collect the trash in Radnor, Penn., residents will learn a little bit about where their real estate taxes go thanks to a new program that uses trash trucks as mobile city billboards.
• According to the Township Manager Bob, Zienkowski, the program was started to address confusion in which some residents believe the township receives all of the real estate tax dollars, where it in fact receives only a small percentage.
• The advertising method seems to be working as so far residents have responded positively saying they were not aware of the different ways their taxes were being split.

From the article:

The chart on each municipal garbage truck shows that 12 percent of real estate taxes go to Radnor Township, 17 percent to Delaware County, and the rest to the school district. It also points out that the township pays the county nearly $200,000 each year in tipping fees for waste disposal, and $65,000 each year to the school district for facility usage and bussing charges.

Zienkowski said that since the signs were placed on the truck four months ago, “The feedback I have received from residents has been very positive in the fact that they did not know the separation of the taxes between the various entities existed, and was always assumed that the township was the sole receiver and end user of those tax dollars. “ ...