2007-09-24 Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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DRAFT MINUTES OF UNIVERSITY CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION September 4, 2007 The Council Study Session, held in the Chambers of the City Hall, on Monday, September 4, 2007, was called to order by Mayor Adams at 5:30 p.m. In addition to Mayor Adams, the following members of the Council were present: Mr. Robert Wagner Mr. Arthur Sharpe, Jr. Mr. Michael Glickert Ms. Lynn Ricci Mr. Byron Price arrived at 6:15 p.m. Ms. Stefany Brot had an excused absence. Also present were City Manager Ms. Julie Feier and the Director of Finance, Janet Watson, Assistant City Manager, Petree Eastman and City Attorney, John Mulligan. The Study Session agenda was planned to review for the Council the background of University City’s collections on service fees for residential refuse collection. The information provided was planned for the Council to review the background information about the City’s collections’ problem. Next the Council discussed solutions and issues that could arise for each action the City would take. Currently, the City has nearly two million dollars in delinquent refuse service accounts. At the present, properties with six or more bills have special tax bills issued and liens placed on the properties. Options to be considered for delinquent collections are as follows: foreclosure, eminent domain, stopping service, amending ordinance to make it unlawful to accumulate trash or dump trash on others’ properties, amnesty and or reduced rates for low income households, early intervention techniques, and free service with an increase in property taxes to cover costs. The City currently provides refuse and recycling service to all City residents under a subsidized fee-based system. Payment for services comes from billing, mulch site in Heman Park and grant funding provide the remaining cost. The delinquency-of- payment, which is approximately 12% of billing, comes out of general revenue. Current collection process includes: series of notices, report to a credit reporting agency and issuance of a special tax bill which becomes a lien upon the property. The last step would be to foreclose on the property which the City has not yet approached. The lien is collected when the property is sold or refinanced. The reasons suggested for the delinquency of payments were: cost of service too high for low household income, lack of understanding what is a lien, but probably more prevalent is the belief that there are no immediate meaningful negative consequences for non-payment. The Council discussed the collection processes available and this will be summarized at the September 24, 2007 D-2-a