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Title:
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Consideration of Delegation of Authority for the Approval of Penalty Waivers for Delinquent Refuse Charges.
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City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 10/19/09 Item Number: A-2
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Consideration of Delegation of Authority for the
Approval of Penalty Waivers for Delinquent Refuse Charges
Contact Person/Dept.: Jeff Muir, CFO Phone Number: (310) 253-5865
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas – City Council (10/14/09); (E-Mail)
Fiscal & Budget Issues (10/14/09)
Department Approval:
Jeff Muir (10/08/09)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (10/09/09)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (10/14/09)
City Manager Approval:
Mark Scott (10/14/09)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council consider providing a designated level of authority
to staff for waiving penalties from delinquent refuse charges.
BACKGROUND:
The Culver City Public Works Department provides refuse and recycling services to
the residents and businesses of Culver City. The charges for residential refuse
service, for up to 3 units, are assessed on the property tax bills annually. Funds are
collected by the County and remitted to Culver City. All business, industrial and
residential accounts of 4 units and higher are considered ‘commercial refuse
accounts’. The Accounts Receivable Division of the Finance Department is
responsible for the monthly billing of all commercial refuse accounts, as well as
special collections. The number of accounts billed monthly is currently
approximately 1,600, but has typically been closer to 2,000.
Sections 5.01.075 through 5.01.085 of the Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC)
provide the general parameters for payment due dates and late payment penalties
for commercial refuse accounts. Currently, payments for the preceding month’s
services are due by the last day of the following month. Typically, bills are
generated and mailed during the first week of the month and due by the last day of
that same month. Section 5.01.080(A) provides that any payment received late
(after the last day of the month) is assessed a fifty percent (50%) late charge. This
is a very high late charge, however it provides a real incentive for customers to pay
on time. Section 5.01.080 also allows the City to suspend refuse service to
accounts delinquent for longer than 60 days.
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Agenda Item Report
Section 5.01.085 of the CCMC provides a mechanism for a customer to protest
charges billed for additional solid waste handling (special collections). Under this
section, a customer must make payment for the charges, but can file a written
protest to the “City Accounting Department” (an outdated term which now is the
Finance Department). The Department is provided 30 days to notify the customer of
the decision regarding their protest, and the decision can be appealed to the City
Council.
There is no language in the CCMC that provides any authority for staff to waive late
charges under any situation. The only provision for any kind of appeal is related
specifically to special collection charges, as mentioned previously. There are
occasionally situations where staff feels a waiver of the late charges would be
appropriate. The Finance Department normally gets several such requests per year.
In situations where a customer has a good payment history and a reasonable
excuse, staff feels it would be appropriate and more efficient to have authority to
consider such requests. In the past, when this function was under an elected City
Treasurer, different individuals in that position established their own policy on how
and when penalty waivers might be considered. Since this function now reports
through an appointed employee, the Chief Financial Officer, staff feels that any
authority needs to be formally granted by City Council and reflected in a City Council
Policy, adopted by Resolution.
DISCUSSION:
Currently, the City Council has delegated the authority to settle claims of $10,000 or
less to the City Attorney, and claims of $25,000 or less to the City Attorney, in
consultation with the City Manager. Staff is proposing a similar procedure be
considered with respect to late charges for commercial refuse bills.
Specifically, staff is recommending the following:
• For late charge waiver requests up to and including $250: the City Manager
(or his designee) may approve such requests.
• For late charge waiver requests over $250 but less than $5,000: the City
Manager (or the Assistant City Manager acting on his behalf), may approve
such requests in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer and the Public
Works Director.
• For late charge waiver requests over $5,000: Such requests must receive
City Council approval.
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Agenda Item Report
Additionally, denied requests can be appealed at the next level, whose decision will
be final.
Should the City Council direct staff to present an Ordinance and Resolution for your
consideration and should the City Council adopt such an Ordinance and Resolution,
an Administrative Policy consistent with the Resolution shall be issued by the City
Manager governing the conditions under which such a request could be approved.
Staff believes this method of handling late charge waiver requests is more efficient
than the alternative of bringing all such requests before the City Council. It also
provides some mechanism for recognizing special circumstances in light of our very
high late charges.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There is no fiscal impact from considering this policy item. If the City Council
approves the staff recommendation, there could be occasional and immaterial
waivers of late charges in the future. This would only affect the Refuse Fund.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve the staff recommendation to delegate authority for the waiver of
delinquent refuse late charges and direct staff to prepare the necessary
Ordinance and Resolution for consideration by the City Council;
OR
2. Provide other direction to staff, as deemed appropriate.
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