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Home My WebLink About2008/04/01 Item 8 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT r:o APRIL 1,2008, ltem_l ITEM TITLE: PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PROPOSED ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN DELINQUENT SEWER SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE OWNER OCCUPIED PARCELS OF LAND AND PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR TAX BILL FOR COLLECTION RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA ASSESSING DELINQUENT SEWER SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE OWNER OCCUPIED PARCELS OF LAND AND APPROVING PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR TAX BILL SUBMITTED BY: REVIEWED BY: DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/TREASURE*-. CITY MANAGER .::::, T -+; r D .e4i; 4/5THS VOTE: YES D NO ~ SUMMARY In order to adequately protect the City's interest in delinquent sewer service charges and ensure that collection efforts are directed towards the responsible property owner in the event of a change in ownership, staff is recommending approval of liens against affected properties as a preliminary action to replacing the delinquencies on the property tax rolls if they remain unpaid. Adoption of this resolution will enhance the collection process for delinquent sewer service charges by ensuring that the correct property owners are charged and that payments will be received on a timely basis. This is the identical process approved by City Council since August 1998. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The Environmental Review Coordinator has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a "Project" as defined under Section 15378 (b)( 4) of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section I5060(c)(3) of the State CEQA 8-1 APRlL 1, 2008, Item~ Page 2 of3 Guidelines the activity IS not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary . RECOMMENDATION Council conduct the public hearing and adopt the resolution. BOARDS/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Not Applicable. DISCUSSION The Chula Vista Municipal Code Section 13.14.150 allows delinquent sewer service charges to be assessed as recorded liens upon the affected properties and ultimately placed on the property tax bills for collection. The ordinance states that upon notification of the property owners, a public hearing is set for sewer service accounts which are over sixty days delinquent. At the hearing, the City Council considers the delinquent accounts together with any objections or protests by interested parties. At the conclusion of the hearing, the City Council, may either approve the delinquency and amount owed on the accounts as submitted or as modified or corrected by the City Counci1. Lastly, the City Council adopts a resolution assessing such amounts as recorded liens upon the respective parcels of land, and the amounts are charged to the property owners on the next regular property tax bill. Because charges can only be submitted for placement on the property tax bills once a year in August, staff is recommending assessing liens on the affected properties midyear as to better ensure the City's chances for collection. If the City were to address these delinquent charges only once a year in August, the effectiveness of using the property tax bill as a means of collection would be significantly reduced as the owners of record in August would not necessarily be the people responsible for the delinquent charges. In cases where the properties are sold or transferred, assessing liens midyear holds the correct parties responsible for the delinquent charges. In cases where the property owners choose to refinance their mortgages, the midyear liens would ensure the City receiving payments in a timely manner as the delinquent charges would be paid through escrow during the refmancing process. In December 2007, City Council approved 84 delinquent accounts values at $33,000 to be placed on the property tax bill for collection. Staff recently identified 822 owner occupied accounts totaling $201,000 as being over 60 days delinquent and through preliminary collection efforts, 98 accounts have been resolved, and the remaining 724 accounts valued at $171,000 are now being submitted (listing available at the Finance Department). While many of these property owners have gone through this lien process previously as they continue to leave their sewer service accounts unpaid, there has been a dramatic increase in total number of delinquent accounts being submitted for the lien process. In comparison to last April, staff brought forward 340 accounts valued at $110,000. This doubling in the number of delinquencies is reflective of the slowing economy as people struggle to pay their bills in a timely manner. 8-2 APRIL 1, 2008, Item~ Page 3 of3 These property owners have been notified of their delinquencies within the last 60 days, and two weeks ago, they were notified of the public hearing and were asked again to pay their delinquent sewer service charges to avoid a lien being placed on their property. Payment arrangements will be set up as needed, and staff will continue to update this list as payments are received and accounts are cleared. A [mal list will be submitted to the City Council for consideration on the day of the public hearing in order to reflect the most current payment po stings. Staff is recommending that the City Council approve the final list of delinquent sewer accounts as submitted, and that these charges be forwarded to the County and assessed as liens on the respective owner occupied parcels of land and ultimately placed on the next regular tax bill for collection. DECISION MAKER CONFLICT Staff has reviewed the property holdings of the City Council and has found no property holdings within 500 feet of the boundaries of the properties which are the subject of this action. FISCAL IMP ACT By placing delinquent sewer service charges on the property owner's regular tax bill, the City should realize approximately $325,000 in additional sewer fund revenues for FY07- 08. From this action alone, the City should realize approximately $171,000 in revenues. Prepared by: Nadine Mandery, Treasury Manager, Finance Department 8-3 RESOLUTION NO. 2008- RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA ASSESSING DELINQUENT SEWER SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE OWNER OCCUPIED PARCELS OF LAND AND APPROVING PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR TAX BILL WHEREAS, Chula Vista Municipal Code section 13.14.150 allows delinquent sewer service charges to be assessed as recorded liens upon the affected properties and ultimately placed on the property tax bills for collection; and WHEREAS, the ordinance states that upon notification of the property owners, a public hearing is set for sewer service accounts which are over sixty days delinquent; and WHEREAS, at the hearing, the City Council considers the delinquent accounts together with any objections or protests by interested parties; and WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the hearing, the City Council may either approve the delinquency and amount owed on the accounts as submitted or as modified or corrected by the City Council; and WHEREAS, because charges can only be submitted for placement on the property tax bills once a year in August, staff is recommending assessing liens on the affected properties midyear as to better ensure the City's chances for collection; and WHEREAS, many of these property owners have gone through this lien process previously as they continue to leave their sewer service accounts unpaid; and WHEREAS, these property owners have been notified of their delinquencies within the last sixty days, were notified of the public hearing and were again asked to pay their delinquent sewer service charges to avoid a lien being placed on their property; and WHEREAS, staff is recommending that the City Council approve the final list of delinquent sewer accounts as submitted, and that these charges be forwarded to the County and assessed as liens on the respective owner occupied parcels of land and ultimately placed on the next regular tax bill for collection. J:\AlIomey\RESO\SEWER\Delinquenl Sewer Service Charges_04-01-08.DOC 8-4 Resolution No. 2008- Page 2 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City ofChula Vista that it: (I) conducts the public hearing to consider assessing delinquent sewer service charges as liens on the affected properties; (2) overrules any and all protests or objections presented at the public hearing; and (3) approves, with respect to the delinquent account list submitted to the City Council and on file in the City Finance Department, assessing delinquent sewer service charges as liens upon the respective parcels of land and the placement of such delinquent charges as special assessments on the next corresponding regular tax bills, unless cleared prior to transmittal of the delinquent account list to the County. Presented by Approved as to form by ./'~~'- Maria Kachadoorian Director of Finance ~~ J:\Altomey\RESO\sEWERlDelinquent Sewer Service ChargesJJ4-01.08.DOC 8-5