I still laugh when I see this – although I'm not really sure where you live.
Where I live (Montgomery County, MD), the county municipal services are far, far superior to what the private folks do, whether it's refuse collection, leaf removal, or snow removal. I can't speak to their efficiency though since I haven't scrutinized the budgets.
MoCo is one of the most affluent and highly taxed counties in the entire country - a suburb of DC filled with lobbyists, lawyers, and doctors. Greenwich, CT has pretty good snow removal too, but that example doesn't help at all in Detroit.
Where I live (Montgomery County, MD), the county municipal services are far, far superior to what the private folks do, whether it's refuse collection, leaf removal, or snow removal. I can't speak to their efficiency though since I haven't scrutinized the budgets.