Peggy Burdett "local political observer" Daily Herald Opinion July 18, 2012

I just found this article from 2012 and don't know if I saved it anywhere, so I am posting it here.
It is an opinion piece written by Randy Wright, editor of the Daily Herald, who refers to me as a local political observer and quotes me in the story.

Orem and ObamaCare

JULY 18, 2012 12:00 AM

Does Utah's consumer protection law apply to government agencies -- the city of Orem, for instance -- or only to the private sector? It's an intriguing question posed this week by local political observer Peggy Burdett.

Orem is in the process of developing a recycling program like the one Provo started last year. Under the program, if a resident doesn't formally opt out by a certain drop-dead date, he is stuck paying for recycling for a year even if he doesn't want to recycle.

The reason for the rule is that the government must enter a contract with a private company for the recycled trash pickup, and so there needs to be a predictable number of residences participating in order to negotiate the best price. At least that's how it was explained in Provo. The pickup company wants a guaranteed customer base.

Burdett, always on the lookout for government overreach, offered an intriguing question on all this: Does the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act prohibit government from imposing a recycling fee on a person who hasn't agreed to take the service?

She pointed out in an e-mail to the Daily Herald that the law says it's a "deceptive act or practice" when a supplier "charges a consumer for a consumer transaction or a portion of a consumer transaction that has not previously been agreed to by the consumer." (Utah Code, 13-11-4.)

"Orem City is requiring residents to keep the can they have NOT agreed to, for a year before they can get rid of it and stop paying the monthly fees," Burdett wrote in her email. "Am I reading the law wrong? Does the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act protect consumers from being charged for things they didn't agree to buy, and does it apply to government agencies?"

We're not lawyers, but we think she makes a good point. On the other hand, it might be argued that local residents did, technically, agree to accept the service arrangement and fees by virtue of the fact that their representatives at City Hall acted on their behalf.

This is the problem of self-government: The government can act in your name, whether you like it or not. Your only recourse is the ballot box.

Still, it's an interesting discussion in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the national health care plan known (derisively) as ObamaCare. Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding swing vote by calling the imposition of a fee for non-participation a "tax."

Maybe that applies to Orem's recycling program, too. It's just a tax. But, like ObamaCare, some residents may want to repeal it.

Randy Wright Daily Herald July 18, 2012