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Home My WebLink About2010/07/13 Item 10 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT -w,. ;$ ~CITY OF '-1- CHUIAVISTA ITEM TITLE: SUBMITTED BY: REVIEWED BY: JULY 13, 20l0Item~ PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PROPOSED ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN DELINQUENT SOUD WASTE SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED UENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE 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 CERTAIN DELINQUENT SOLID WASTE SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE PARCELS OF LAND AND APPROVING PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR TAX BILL DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/TREASURER *(0111- / It CITY MANAGER ~ ASSISTANT CITY J:AGER <;,; 4/STHS VOTE: YES D NO I X I SUMMARY In order to adequately protect the City's interest in delinquent solid waste service charges and ensure that collection efforts are directed towards the responsible property owner in the event of a change of ownership, staff is recommending approval for 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 enhance the collection process for delinquent solid waste service charges by reducing the amount of uncollectible losses and ensure that payment will be received on a more timely basis, This is the identical process approved by City Council on a regular basis since mid- 200 I. 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 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA 10-1 JULY 13, 2010 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 In November 1998, City Council amended Municipal Code Section 8.24 to eliminate suspension of solid waste service for nonpayment. To ensure that all residents pay their fair share of the costs of this program, the ordinance allows delinquent solid waste 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 solid waste service accounts that are over ninety 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 Council. 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. As these amounts are collected, the monies are remitted to Allied Waste Services less the City's Franchise Fees, AB939 fees and late charges. In May 2010, City Council approved 547 delinquent accounts valued at $80,300 to be placed on the property tax bills for collection. Since then, Allied Waste Services has identified and submitted an additional 1,226 delinquent accounts valued at over $127,600 to the city for collection. Through the City's preliminary collection efforts, 1,005 accounts have been resolved, and the remaining 221 accounts valued at $28,400 are now being submitted (listing available at the Finance Department). The account status and property ownership on these accounts have been verified by both Allied Waste and City staff. While many of these delinquent accounts have gone through the lien process before as they continue to remain unpaid, the total number of delinquent accounts being submitted for the lien process continues to climb. These property owners were notified of their delinquencies through a series of past due notices sent by Allied Waste until they were ultimately submitted to the City for collection. City staff sent out past due letters within the past 60 days, and two weeks ago, these property owners were notified of the public hearing and were asked to pay their delinquent solid waste service charges prior to transmittal of the delinquent account list to the County to avoid a lien being placed on their property. City staff has been working with Allied Waste to resolve any customer disputes as they arise and payment arrangements have been set up as needed. Stall will continue to update this list as 10-2 JULY 13, 2010 Item-1lL Page 3 of3 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 current payment postings. Staff is recommending that the City Council approve the final list of delinquent solid waste accounts as submitted, and that these charges be forwarded to the County and assessed as recorded liens on the respective 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. This conflict check was conducted based on Councilmember McCann's property holdings as of July 21,2009, prior to his temporary departure from the Council for active military duty. CURRENT YEAR FISCAL IMPACT By using the property tax bill as the ultimate collection method for delinquent solid waste service charges, the City should realize a total of approximately $60,000 in Franchise Fees, AB939 Fees and late charges for Fiscal Year 2010/2011. From this action alone, the City should realize approximately $5,400 in revenues from the total $28,400 collected, and the balance of $23,000 would be forwarded to Allied Waste Services. ONGOING FISCAL IMPACT There is no ongoing fiscal impact from this action. Prepared by: Nadine Jvlandery, Treasury lv/anager, Finance Department 10-3 RESOLUTION NO. 2010- RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA ASSESSING CERTAIN DELINQUENT SOLID WASTE SERVICE CHARGES AS RECORDED LIENS UPON THE RESPECTIVE PARCELS OF LAND AND APPROVING PLACEMENT OF DELINQUENT CHARGES ON THE NEXT REGULAR TAX BILL WHEREAS, in November 1998, the City Council amended Municipal Code section 8.24 to eliminate suspension of solid waste service for nonpayment; and WHEREAS, to ensure that all residents pay thcir fair share of the costs of this program, the ordinance allows for delinquent solid waste servicc charges to be assesscd as liens upon the affected properties and ultimately placcd on the property tax bills for collection; and WHEREAS, the ordinance states that upon notification to the property owners, a public hearing is set for solid waste service accounts that are over ninety days delinquent; and WHEREAS, at the hearing, the City Council considers the delinquent accounts togethcr with any objcctions or protests by interested parties; and WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the hcaring, the City Council may eithcr 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 rccommending assessing liens on the affected properties midyear as to bctter ensure the City's chances for collection; and WHEREAS, the account status and property ownership on these accounts have been verified by both Allied Waste and City statf; and WHEREAS, property owners were notified of their delinquencies through a scries of past duc notices sent by Allied Waste until they were ultimately submitted to the City for collection; and WHEREAS, staff has notified the property owners of the public hearing and these owners were asked to pay thcir delinquent solid waste service charges prior to transmittal of the delinquent account list to the County to avoid a lien being placed on their property; and WHEREAS, staff is recommending that the City Council approve the tinal list of delinquent solid waste accounts, as submittcd, and that these charges be forwarded to the County and assessed as record liens on the respective parcels of land and ultimately placed on the next regular tax bill for collection. 10-4 Resolution No. 20 10- Page 2 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the City Council of the City of Chula Vista does hereby: (I) conduct the public hearing to consider assessing certain delinquent solid waste service charges as liens on the affected properties; (2) overrule any and all protests or objections presented at the public hearing; and (3) approve, with respect to the delinquent account list submitted to the City Council and on file in the City Finance Department, assessing delinquent solid waste 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 10-5