Item #03
Date: January 4, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jennifer Styczynski, Finance Director
James Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Amending Portions of Chapter 6.04 of the Marysville Municipal Code Entitled “Sewers and Sewage Disposal”
Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to waive the second reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1438 amending portions of Chapter
6.04 of the Marysville Municipal Code
Rationale for Recommendation:
Staff recommends approving the amended Ordinance as it relates to the City of Marysville’s sewer customer payment policy. The Ordinance modifies the City’s Municipal Code such that all changes in sewer service and new sewer service shall be in the name of the owner of record as shown on the Yuba County Property Tax Roll. Further, sewer accounts will be transferred to the owner of record when a tenant is more than 30 days delinquent unless a payment plan has been negotiated.
Background:
Over the past year, staff has increased its efforts to understand payment trends from the City’s sewer enterprise customers. Staff has utilized Dan Bergmann of IGS along with working closely with the City’s billing agent, Utility Management Services (UMS). In formulating a solution to improve payment from customers, Mr. Bergmann also collaborated with the City Attorney and staff. The IGS report, “Customer Payment Improvement Plan, November 2021” is attached to this staff report following the proposed ordinance to provide further background and analysis.
Discussion & Analysis:
Results show that many single-family tenants are not paying ongoing sewer bills, and many homeowners are deferring sewer payments to assessment on property tax bills. The proposed improvement plan includes the above changes to the Marysville Municipal Code and recommends that the City resume charging the late fees already established in the Municipal Code. Late fees provide an incentive for property owners to pay sewer bills monthly directly to Marysville, rather than through assessment on property taxes. The plan provides for thorough notification to tenants and owners of payment policy changes.
Item #03
Fiscal Analysis:
IGS projects increase collections from tenant-occupied, single-family dwellings to be approximately $50,000 per year. IGS further projects revenue from late fees to be approximately $10,000 per year.
More timely cash flow is also expected as owners pay monthly instead of through property tax assessment.
Attachments:
1) Proposed Ordinance No. 1438
2) Report of IGService, “Customer Payment Improvement Program, November 2021”