City Council
May 3, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Erin Roseman
City Administrator Director, Finance
Department
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL – Mandatory
Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and
2022
DATE: April 22, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date: Apr 26, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
A Resolution Accepting And Confirming Reports Of The City Administrator For Delinquent Trash Service Fees With Administrative And Special Assessment Charges As Necessary Pursuant To Chapter 8.28 Of The Oakland Municipal Code, And Directing The Notice Of Special Assessment Charges Be Turned Over To The County Tax Collector For Collection For The Monthly Periods Of July, August, September, October, November, December 2021, Quarterly Periods Of October-December 2021, and January-March 2022 (Option 1); or
A Resolution Overruling Protests And Objections And Accepting And Confirming Reports Of The City Administrator For Delinquent Trash Service Fees With Administrative And Special Assessment Charges As Necessary Pursuant To Chapter
8.28 Of The Oakland Municipal Code, And Directing The Notice Of Special Assessment Charges Be Turned Over To The County Tax Collector For Collection For The Monthly Periods July, August, September, October, November, December 2021, Quarterly Periods Of October-December 2021, and January-March 2022 (Option 2)
REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL
The focus of this supplemental report is to respond to questions and concerns raised at the March 15, 2022 City Council meeting. The specific issues below, raised by the members of the City Council and the public were associated with the notification process and the subsequent handling of inquires that took place prior to the public hearing.
1) What is the purpose and community benefit of the special assessment delinquency process?
The purpose of the special assessment delinquency process, as codified in the Oakland Municipal Code Section 8.28.210 and incorporated into the contract with Waste Management, Inc, is to ensure continuation of services, as in uninterrupted weekly solid waste collection services, including recyclables and organic materials, regardless of status of payment. Absent this process, Waste Management and California Waste Solutions would suspend weekly collection services for non-payment. The consequence of not having
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 2
City Council
May 3, 2022
weekly collection services could have detrimental impacts to the environment and public health and safety impacts to the community.
2) When are property owners notified of delinquent Waste Management bills by Waste Management Inc?
Currently Waste Management notification of delinquency is on day 45 and day 61 from the initial issuance of the original invoice if left unpaid by the property owner. See Table 1 below:
Table 1: Waste Management Agreement – Significant Noticing Dates
Dates Noticing Action
Day 1 Waste Management sends initial invoice to customer.
Day 45 Waste Management sends delinquency notice to customer and may apply late fees.
Day 61 Waste Management sends final delinquency notice to customer with a past due balance notifying them of the termination of service on 90th day if account is not paid in full.
Day 91 The City subscribes on customer’s behalf for the abatement of the trash nuisance and imposes a cost recovery administrative fee.
Day 100 The City sends a Special Assessment Notice to the subject property owner informing them of the City’s subscription for garbage service on their behalf and notice of administrative and Council hearings. A list of subject properties is provided to the City Clerk for public viewing.
Day
190-195
(approx.)
City Council public hearing to consider adoption of resolution accepting and confirming the City Administrator’s report and authorizing the placement of a special assessment and securing the lien in the amount of delinquent customer account balance against the related parcels with the County of Alameda’s Assessor’s office.
3) When and what is included in the notification to the property owners upon delinquent charges become eligible for special assessment?
Upon becoming delinquent, Waste Management Solutions, monthly, provides a list of accounts to the Finance Department. Following the receipt of the list of delinquent solid waste charges on day 90, the City then subscribes to trash service on behalf of the account holder and then the Finance Department sends a notice to the property owner on day 100.
This notice outlines the following sequence of actions that property owner needs to take (example notice provided as Attachment A):
1. The date, time, and location of an administrative hearing to discuss their delinquency and to offer them the opportunity to provide evidence to support their position. It is at Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 3
City Council
May 3, 2022
this administrative hearing that property owner can request for a payment plan if the owner is having financial difficulty.
2. The date and time of the public hearing for City Council to consider the placement of the outstanding service fees and administrative fees on the Alameda County secured property tax roll. Staff is also available prior to the public hearing for the owner to make arrangement to resolve their delinquency and remove the placement of the special assessment on their property.
4) What, if anything, changed that resulted in members of the public raising issues related to the latest round of noticing?
The number of affected accounts that were represented at the March 15, 2022, City Council meeting was larger than any other meeting, due to the continuation and postponements of previous hearings. Additionally, the Council meeting start time was changed, from 1:30pm to 11:00am causing a post card notification to all 9,190 affected property owners of the time change. The sequence of events is as follows:
On October 16, 2021, notices were mailed to 4,688 the affected property owners for the periods of July 2021, August 2021, September 2021 (monthly) and October through December 2021 (quarterly). Within this notice affected property owners were notified of a December 7, 2021 public hearing date.
City Council postponed this meeting on October 27, 2021, which caused the Finance staff to issue 4,438 postcards notifying affected property owners of the postponement of this hearing. On February 22, 2022, 4,282 postcards were issued to affected property owners informing them of the new public hearing date for March 15, 2022. The decrease of postcards sent in February was due to 406 property owners resolving their delinquent subscription charges via the administrative hearing process, which was conducted on November 2, 2021 and subsequent payments or resolutions thereafter.
On January 18, 2022, notices were mailed out to 4,752 affected property owners for the periods of October 2021, November 2021, December 2021 (monthly) and January through March 2022 (quarterly). Within this notice, a public hearing time was listed for 1:30 pm.
On March 3, 2022, Oakland City Council changed the upcoming meeting to a Special Concurrent meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Successor Agency/City Council which changed the start time to 11:00 am. The Finance staff issued 4,282 postcards notifying affected property owners of the meeting time change on March 8, 2022. The decrease in postcards sent was a result of property owners resolving their delinquent subscription charges with the City of Oakland within the administrative hearing process on February 1, 2022, of which 470 accounts were resolved.
During the City Council, public hearing of March 15, 2021, an alternate remote Zoom room was staffed by a representative from Waste Management Inc and staff from the Revenue Bureau to hear concerns and provide additional review of affected property owners. This Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 4
City Council
May 3, 2022
meeting was attended by 31 affected property owners of which 13 were removed from the special assessment.
5) How does Finance handle incoming phone calls?
The Finance Department’s Citywide Lien Unit, comprised of five members, answers an average of 700 phone calls a month.
When staff is not available to answer calls due to the number of simultaneous calls, the caller receives the pre-recorded message providing instructions on how staff can assist with requests related to the placement of liens on the property. The pre-recorded message is set to repeat until a staff member is available to answer the call. The current system does not have the capability of informing caller the estimated wait-time. It is during the wait-time that many callers decide to disconnect.
Since the public hearing of March 15, 2020, staff has changed the pre-recorded message with a more detailed message, informing callers of the longer wait times (without providing the actual estimated wait time) and alternative means to reach staff through email or the live chat feature available during the business hours. Callers also can leave a voice message with an expected callback within 45-60 minutes.
In addition to providing callers with other means to contact staff, Finance Department staff had also met and coordinated with members of the Waste Management team to ensure customer related inquiries are being handled promptly.
6) How has the Covid-19 pandemic has affected delinquent solid waste charges?
An analysis of the delinquent invoices pre-and post-pandemic reflects a decline in invoices.
There has been a 14% decrease in invoice delinquency from the pre-pandemic outstanding invoices of 2019.
Calendar Year 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Delinquent Invoices 17,212 17,239 18,420 17,972 15,831
In addition to the questions and answers provided above, the following tables shows the breakdown of delinquent solid waste charges based on the City Council district and their respective outstanding amount.
Table 2 July-September 2021
Council
District Total Single
Family
Multi-
Family/Other Admin Fee Service Fee Totals
CD1 444 244 200 $51,801.51 $138,038.76 $189,840.27
CD2 259 130 129 $30,958.16 $112,112.49 $143,070.65
CD3 98 97 1 $36,798.82 $142,651.44 $179,450.26
CD4 393 306 87 $45,949.31 $110,217.46 $156,166.77
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 5
City Council
May 3, 2022
Council
District Total Single
Family
Multi-
Family/Other Admin Fee Service Fee Totals
CD5 371 215 156 $44,176.67 $138,820.38 $182,997.05
CD6 939 719 220 $110,314.89 $285,407.66 $395,722.55
CD7 860 831 29 $121,824.41 $281,340.96 $403,165.37
Unspecifi
ed
6 4 2 $812.00 $1,906.07 $2,718.07
Total1 3,370 2,546 824 $442,635.77 $1,210,495.22 $1,653,130.99
Table 3 October-December 2021
Council
District Total Single
Family
Multi-
Family/Other Admin Fee Service Fee Totals
CD1 480 291 189 $55,858.56 $144,289.90 $200,148.46
CD2 295 161 134 $34,845.17 $110,524.48 $145,369.65
CD3 314 120 194 $42,727.17 $176,407.72 $219,134.89
CD4 451 358 93 $52,609.77 $121,532.36 $174,142.13
CD5 404 261 143 $47,131.51 $127,438.18 $174,569.69
CD6 1,067 945 122 $126,539.97 $318,777.76 $445,317.73
CD7 1,211 945 266 $140,930.64 $318,101.16 $459,031.80
Unspecif
ied
6 5 1 $696.00 $1,582.19 $2,278.19
Total 4,228 3086 1142 $501,338.79 $1,318,653.75 $1,819,992.54
Table 4 January-March 2022
Council
District Total
Single
Family
Multi-
family/Other Admin Fee Service Fee Total
CD1 469 277 192 $54,543.12 $135,207.90 $189,751.02
CD2 307 156 151 $36,685.25 $117,368.28 $154,053.53
CD3 341 110 231 $41,919.76 $142,513.64 $184,433.40
CD4 451 353 98 $52,795.80 $113,973.97 $166,769.77
CD5 451 287 164 $52,712.97 $134,934.25 $187,647.22
CD6 1,093 856 237 $127,267.01 $271,611.91 $398,878.92
CD7 1,217 958 259 $141,722.50 $300,076.84 $441,799.34
Unspecified 11 0 11 $1,276.00 $2,655.85 $3,931.85
Total 4,340 2,997 1,343 $508,922.41 $1,218,342.64 $1,727,265.05
1 The July-September 2021 is scheduled to be re-noticed and brought to City Council for consideration in June/July 2022.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 6
City Council
May 3, 2022
Citywide Liens unit’s staff has made efforts to contact the property owners who were present at the March 15, 2022 City Council meeting. However, to allay City Council’s concerns regarding proper noticing of affected property owners, the Citywide Liens unit sent 8,458 notices on March 31, 2022 advising of an additional administrative hearing via Zoom and telephone on April 12, 2022 along with the rescheduled public hearing date of May 3, 2022. On April 5, 2022, 8,458 reminder postcards were sent to the same affected property owners.
At the April 12, 2022, Administrative Hearing, 14 affected property owners were in attendance with three properties removed from the delinquent property list. After the administrative hearing, an additional 245 properties have since been removed from the delinquent list. .
As of April 18, 2022, dally in-person appointments have been available to the public with a modified walk-in schedule to begin May 2, 2022.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject:– Mandatory Delinquent Trash Fees 2021 and 2022 Date: May 3, 2022 Page 7
City Council
May 3, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Accepting And Confirming Reports Of The City Administrator For Delinquent Trash Service Fees With Administrative And Special Assessment Charges As Necessary Pursuant To Chapter 8.28 Of The Oakland Municipal Code, And Directing The Notice Of Special Assessment Charges Be Turned Over To The County Tax Collector For Collection For The Monthly Periods Of July, August, September, October, November, December 2021, Quarterly Periods Of October-December 2021 and January-March 2022.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Rogers Agaba, Acting Revenue and Tax Administrator, at (510) 238-7009.
Respectfully submitted,
ERIN ROSEMAN
Director of Finance
Finance Department
Reviewed by:
Rogers Agaba
Assistant Revenue and Tax Administrator
Prepared by:
Nicole Welch, Revenue Operations Supervisor
Revenue Management Bureau
Attachments (1):
A: CITY – SUBSCRIBED TRASH SERVICE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE
c!l!:
-
-
OAKLAND
CITY OF OAKLAND, CITYWIDE LIEN SECTION
150 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA, SUITE 5342 OAKLAND, CA 94612
(510) 238-7474 [email protected]
CITY- SUBSCRIBED TRASH SERVICE SPECIAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE
SERVICE ADDRESS
PARCEL NUMBER
OWNER NAME
ADDRESS
CITY SUBSCRIPTION CHARGE
CITY INVOICE NUMBER
NOTICE DATE
SUBSCRIBED PERIOD
WM CUSTOMER#.
1/18/2022
JAN, FEB, MAR 2022 (Q1)
$116.00
Waste Management (WM) has identified your account for the service address listed above as delinquent. Because your payment for OCT/NOV/DEC 2021 was!lQ!received by 12/30/2021 to Waste Management, the City of Oakland has subscribed to service on behalf of the property owner for the service period of JAN, FEB, MAR 2022 (Q1}. The City is initiating a special assessment, and imposing a City Subscription Charge of $116.00 or 10% (whichever greater) for all late and unpaid billing period(s) on behalf of the property owner until payment is made in full.
The subscription charge above is payable to the "City of Oakland." Mail payment to the City, using the coupon below in the envelope provided by March 11, 2022. The amount due to Waste Management must include the current service charge, past due amount and late fees.
See the back of this notice for information about making payment to Waste Management.
To dispute these charges:
The City of Oakland will conduct an Administrative Hearing to hear protests regarding the proposed imposition of the special assessment for the service period listed above. The administrative hearing will beconducted remotely via Zoom and telephone on February 1. 2022 from 9am to 12 noon. To participate in the Administrative Hearing and protest the proposed imposition of the special assessment, please complete the enclosed Administrative Hearing questionnaire and return it to the City no later than January 281 2022.
A Public Hearing will be conducted on March 15. 2022 at1aQ.PM at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, City Council Chambers in Oakland or via a remote teleconference link as indicated on the City Council meeting agenda, where the City Council will consider placing a special assessment against your property. If payment for the amount approved by City Council is !lQ! made prior to August 11 2022 this amount will be transferred to the Alameda County Tax roll and will appear as a special assessment on your property tax statement.
SERVICE ADDRESS
PARCEL NUMBER
SUBSCRIBED PERIOD
INVOICE NUMBER
--JAN, FEB, MAR 2022 (Q1)
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE
$116.00
CITY OF OAKLAND
MANDATORY GARBAGE
P-O- BOX 45282
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94145-0282