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<br /> <br />MINUTES OF UNIVERSITY CITY COUNCIL <br />STUDY SESSION <br />September 4, 2007 <br /> <br /> <br />The Council Study Session, held in the Chambers of the City Hall, on Monday, September <br />4, 2007, was called to order by Mayor Adams at 5:30 p.m. In addition to Mayor Adams, <br />the following members of the Council were present: <br /> Mr. Robert Wagner <br /> Mr. Arthur Sharpe, Jr. <br /> Mr. Michael Glickert <br /> Ms. Lynn Ricci <br /> Mr. Byron Price arrived at 6:15 p.m. <br />Ms. Stefany Brot had an excused absence. <br />Also present were City Manager Ms. Julie Feier and the Director of Finance, Janet <br />Watson, Assistant City Manager, Petree Eastman and City Attorney, John Mulligan. <br /> <br />The Study Session agenda was planned to review for the Council the background of <br />University City’s collections on service fees for residential refuse collection. <br /> <br />The information provided was planned for the Council to review the background <br />information about the City’s collections’ problem. Next the Council discussed solutions <br />and issues that could arise for each action the City would take. Currently, the City has <br />nearly two million dollars in delinquent refuse service accounts. At the present, properties <br />with six or more bills have special tax bills issued and liens placed on the properties. <br />Options to be considered for delinquent collections are as follows: foreclosure, eminent <br />domain, stopping service, amending ordinance to make it unlawful to accumulate trash or <br />dump trash on others’ properties, amnesty and or reduced rates for low income <br />households, early intervention techniques, and free service with an increase in property <br />taxes to cover costs. <br /> <br />The City currently provides refuse and recycling service to all City residents under a <br />subsidized fee-based system. Payment for services comes from billing, mulch site in <br />Heman Park and grant funding provide the remaining cost. The delinquency-of-payment, <br />which is approximately 12% of billing, comes out of general revenue. <br /> <br />Current collection process includes: series of notices, report to a credit reporting agency <br />and issuance of a special tax bill which becomes a lien upon the property. The last step <br />would be to foreclose on the property which the City has not yet approached. The lien is <br />collected when the property is sold or refinanced. The reasons suggested for the <br />delinquency of payments were: cost of service too high for low household income, lack of <br />understanding what is a lien, but probably more prevalent is the belief that there are no <br />immediate meaningful negative consequences for non-payment. The Council discussed <br />the collection processes available and this will be summarized at the Financial Advisory <br />Task Force meeting in October. This task force will then present their recommendations <br />for the November 5, City Council meeting. <br /> <br />The Study Session was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. <br /> <br />Joyce Pumm, City Clerk <br /> <br />