Before you take something off the curb this year, beware, the City is cracking down and may ticket you!

From the city press release:

METAL THIEVES BEWARE!

It is illegal to take appliances, bikes, bed frames and other scrap metal items placed at the curb for City of Madison collection. This year, the Streets Division and the Madison Police Department will be stepping up efforts to stop metal theft during the move out and the rest of the year. Once an item is placed at the curb, it is considered City property and cannot be taken from the terrace without permission of the City. The City does not give permission to individuals to remove appliances or scrap metal.

“Scrap metal theft costs the City of Madison $75,000 to $100,000 annually,” Dreckmann said. “We are going to do all we can to stop this from occurring. We will have patrols in the area looking for metal thieves. Persons stealing metal form the curb can be fined $414 for stealing metal at the curb.” Appliance theft is also an environment issue as thieves do not bother complying with DNR regulations on Freon and mercury switch removal. This results in air, soil, and possibly groundwater pollution. Last year, there where huge amounts of broken glass from computer monitors ant televisions scattered around downtown as thieves broke shattered picture tubes to recover copper.

Thieves? Seriously?

How many people do you think actually know that taking these items is illegal? How many people do you think they will actually ticket? And are they just targeting people taking metal items? Everything else is still ok (even tho also illegal?)

Dang, the city just tries to make it hard on the poor . . . even the poor who are trying to be less poor by being entrepreneurial. Where are the cries of the city being anti-business now?