This annual public hearing allows those property owners with delinquent residential solid waste accounts with Waste Management, Inc. (WM) and Recology Davis, Inc. (Recology) for services including garbage, recycling, organics, and bulky item collection and disposal in the unincorporated area to address the Board of Supervisors prior to the attachment of a lien against their property.  Four parcels are located in District 1, five parcels in District 2, 11 parcels in District 3, two in District 4, and 97 parcels in District 5. 

In 2021, under Solid Waste Franchise Agreement No. 19-248, WM provided regular notice to their 116 customers through billing statements, alerting all customers with overdue accounts of the potential to lien.  As shown in Attachment C, procedures for the lien are extensive and involve the franchised haulers and the Division of Integrated Waste Management (DIWM).  This process was initiated by the haulers last November however they will not receive payment from this year's lien until August of 2023.  WM bills every other month, therefore WM customers have received 6 notices.  In addition, the County initiates a 180-day, 60-day, and 15-day notice prior to the Public Hearing Notice being mailed directly to each homeowner, for a total of ten notifications.  Similarly, under Solid Waste Franchise Agreement No. 19-249, Recology provided regular notice to their eight customers, however, they bill on a quarterly basis.  Therefore, Recology customers received four notices in addition to the ones the DIWM mails out for a total of eight notifications.

Many of the potential lien customers have unique circumstances such as fire-damaged properties under renovation, farm worker housing arrangements where waste services are shared, or business/residential properties in other counties that have not rolled out the required Senate Bill 1383 services yet.  Each of these situations requires DIWM staff follow up, which led to over 125 direct contacts via phone and email, including several in-person meetings with the Department Director and Board of Supervisor staff. In many instances, site visits were conducted by either DIWM staff or the haulers to confirm cart delivery, the customer's ability to use the service, and/or to confirm occupancy of the dwelling unit. All these steps are taken to ensure property owner complaints have been reviewed, and that proper notification has been received.  This also confirms that the haulers and DIWM have given each property owner the ability to bring their solid waste account into good standing or apply for the Low Income Discount Program offered by each hauler and/or set up a payment plan prior to this public hearing.  In 2022, only four parcel owners reached out to set up payment plans to assist in paying off the debt and avoiding lien. Therefore, these four parcels have been removed from the lien report even though they have past due amounts owed. In good faith, we are working with each of them to resolve their account payment issues without liening the property. The original list of 341 parcels (delinquent accounts) was in the amount of $177,297 has now been reduced to 119 parcels in the amount of $75,439 due to these efforts.  You will find the recommended list in Attachment B - Lien Report.

While the lien list was reduced, there still is an unusually higher amount than in previous years due to the implementation of SB 1383 required services. The DIWM conducted extensive community engagement from 2017-2020 to prepare residents for this rollout and the corresponding universal service requirements:

Due to the extensive outreach provided and multiple attempts to reach the remaining 119 parcel owners, IWM staff recommends that the Lien Report (Attachment B) be approved.

County Counsel has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form. Division staff internally worked with the Assessor's Office and the Department of Financial Services and externally with WM and Recology to ensure the process was followed per Solid Waste Franchise Agreement Nos. 19-248 and 19-249, Solid Waste Ordinance No. 1529 and Government Code 25828.