HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008/07/08 Item 9
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STATEMENT
'.'I;~:~':,';
.=SWt-- CITY OF
~CHULA VISTA
JUL Y 8, 2008, Item~
ITEM TITLE:
PUBLIC HEAR.TNG FOR THE PROPOSED ASSESSMENT
OF CERTAIN DELINQUENT SE\VER SERVICE CKA.RGES
AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE OWNER
OCCUPIED PARCELS OF LAND AND PLACEMENT OF
DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR L\..X
BILL FOR COLLECTION
SUBMITTED BY:
REVIEWED BY:
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CHULA VISTA ASSESSING CERTAIN 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
DIRECTOR OF FINAN\EiTRfASURERuf/K-.
CIn MANAGER \\~V
\-l 4/5THS VOTE: YES I I NO I X I
~
SUMl\LillY
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 OViner in the
event of a change in ownership, staff is recommending approval of liens against affected
properties as a preliminary action to placing the delinquencies on the property tax rolls if
they remain unpaid. Adoption of this resolution will enbance the collection process for
delinqllent 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 Envirorllilental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined
that the activity is not a "Project" as defined ,mder Section 15378 (b)(4) of the State
CEQA Guidelines: therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA
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JUL Y 8,2008, ltemL
Page 2 of3
Guidelines the activity IS not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmemal review is
necessary.
RECOMMENDA nON
Council conduct the public heming and adopt the resolution.
BOARDS/COMMISSION RECOMlYlENDATION
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 notitlcation
of the property OViIlers, a public heming is set for sewer service accounts which are over
sixty days delinquent. At the hea,-ing, the City (OUI1Cil considers the delinquent accoums
together with any objections or protests by interested parties. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the City Council. may either approve the delinquency and amoum owed on the
accounts as submitted or as modified or corrected by the Citv Council. Lastly, the Citv
Council adopts a resolution assessing such amoums as recorded liens upon the respective
parcels of land, and the amounts are charged to the property OViners on the next regular
property tax bill.
In April 2008, City Council approved 359 delinquent accounts values at );98,500 to be
placed on the property tax bill for collection. Staff recently identified 1,855 OW11er
occupied accounts totaling );342,000 as being over 60 days delinquent and through
preliminary collection efforts, 1,384 accounts have been resolved, and the remaining 471
accounts valued at $165,000 are now being submitted (listing available at the Finance
Department). 'vYl1ile 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.
These property owners have been notitled 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 propeny.
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 final list will be submitted to the
City Council for consideration on the day of the public hearing in order to reflect the
most CUlTent payment postings.
Staff is recommending that the City Council approve the final list of delinquent sewer
aCcoLlnts as submitted, and that these charges be forwarded to the County and assessed as
liens on the respective ov;ner occupied parcels of land and ultimately placed on the next
regular tax bill for collection.
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JUL Y 8, 2008, Item~
Page 3 of3
DECISION lVL\KER CONFLICT
Staff has reviewed the propertv hoidings 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 IMPACT
By placing deli.tlquem sewer service charges on the property owner's regular tax bilL the
City should realize aDproximarely S325,000 i.tl additional sewer fund revenues for Fiscal
Year 2007/2008. From this action alone. the City should realize approximately S 165,000
ill revenues.
Prepared by: Nadine ivfandery. Treasury lvfanager, Finance Deparrmenr
9-3
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CHULA VISTA ASSESSING CERTAIN DELINQUENT
SEWER SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON
THE RESPECTIVE OWNER OCCUPIED PARCELS OF LAND
AND APPROVING PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT
CHARGES ON THE N"EXT REGULAR TAX BILL
'vVHEREAS, 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 placing the delinquencies on the property tax rolls if they
remain unpaid; and
WHEREAS, 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; 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, 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; and
WHEREAS, in April 2008, City Council approved 359 delinquent accounts values at
$98,500 to be placed on the property tax bill for collection; and
WHEREAS, 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); and
WHEREAS, while many of these property owners have gone through this lien process
previously as they continue to leave thelr sewer service accounts unpaid, there has been a
dramatic increase in total number of delinquent accounts being submitted for the lien process;
and
WHEREAS, 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; and
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Resolution No. 2008-
Page 2
\VHEREAS, a final 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 postings; 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.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Chula
Vista assesses certain delinquent sewer service charges as recorded liens upon the respective
owner occupied parcels of land and approves placement of those delinquent charges on the next
regular tax bill.
Presented by
Approved as to form by
^,
~0
r ~Bart! . Miesfeld .
.~ Interim City Attorney
Maria Kachadoorian
Director of Finance
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