Council is asked to approve Resolution No. R2022-131 to assess property owners on taxes payable 2023 for unpaid refuse and recycling services from Dick's Sanitation (DSI), the city’s designated garbage hauler. 

In a previous action, the City Council authorized city participation in the collection of delinquent garbage accounts in the city's designated "organized" collection area.  By doing this, it eliminates the need to stop service to the accounts, which would lead to a higher incidence of illegal dumping. 

DSI provided a list of delinquent accounts (greater that 60 days past due as of August 31) which was presented to the City Council on September 20, 2022.  That list included 446 property owners with unpaid garbage/refuse bills for a total amount due of $58,984.74.

The City mailed notices to all property owners impacted, which included information on the certification process.  In comparison to previous annual refuse assessments, staff spent a significant amount of additional time responding to inquiries.  These include a number of customers who believed their autopay information would be carried over to the new provider, customers who stated they never received a bill for the service, customers who subsequently paid DSI and numerous unique circumstances. Often these inquiries needed to be coordinated with DSI staff.  These situations, along with coordinating the process for the first time with DSI, certainly made the process more challenging.  Staff has subsequently met with DSI representatives and discussed a number of process changes for future assessment to further reduce the number of these issues.  

Attached is a list of delinquent property owners who have unpaid garbage/refuse bills as of October 12, 2022, which was comprised of 331 property owners with unpaid garbage/refuse bills for a total amount of $45,594.19.  An updated list of property owners to be assessed will be provided on Tuesday evening; this is to allow property owners to make final payments until Tuesday, October 18, 2022.

The list, which will accompany Resolution No. R2022-131, includes an administrative charge of $25.00 to cover the City's cost.  Charges will be added to the delinquent bills once assessments are adopted by Council.