Who’s minding the store? By KAREN KENNEDY I’ve been wondering how Meade County is doing with collecting its Meade County Solid Waste (MCSW) and Recycle monthly fees. In the past, there were a number of people who flatly refused to pay. To learn more about what’s going on with bill payment and collections, during the month of March I submitted an open records request to MCSW. Below are my questions as well as answers provided by the MCSW coordinator, which were also approved by the 109 Board. I’ve adjusted the format of some of the answers but not the content of the answers. What’s the total number of MCSW customers? 7,614 How many accounts are in arrears? 1,054 (includes those just one quarter behind) What constitutes a delinquent account? Can you give me a breakdown of the number of customers who haven’t paid in the last 30 days, 60 days, etc.? An account becomes delinquent the 15th day of the month following the service month. We bill once each quarter for a three-month period. As of 03/08/06, 427 customers are “Age Two” customers, and they are four to six month behind for a total of $27,304.50 in arrears. 627 customers are “Age Three” and are seven-plus months behind for a total of $90,102.01. What are the penalties for late payments? Are there financial repercussions, such as late charges? A 10 percent late fee is added after the 15th of the month of the service month and one percent is added on any prior balances. What are the penalties for someone who has gone a long time without paying? They receive a delinquent notice. If they don’t respond, they are filed in small claims court. If we can get them served and into court we get an agreed judgment, judgment, or default judgment. If they own any real estate, we file a lien at some point if the judgment remains unpaid. How many cases do you take to court per week, month, etc.? As a rule, ten cases are filed in court per week. This is the maximum that the Circuit Court Clerk is able to accept at this time. What types of fines/penalties does the judge assign? The judge typically issues a judgment or a default judgment unless the customer has signed an agreed judgment to make payments? What are reasons people don’t pay? Do people state their reasons and can you tell me what some of them are? People give several reasons for not paying. 1. They forgot. 2. They gave their spouse the money and their spouse didn’t pay the bill. 3. They don’t have the money. 4. It’s the bill that they give the lowest priority. 5. They are against county-wide garbage pickup. Are we taking the most aggressive approach to collect money? Just how aggressive can MCSW be as far as penalties? Liens on properties? We do take an aggressive approach to collect money. Liens are filed. These go against real estate and also can go against personal property. If the 109 Board chooses to do so, delinquent solid waste bills can be added to property tax bills. First, a judge assigns the judgments and then MCSW places the liens. Are we treating all customers fairly and equally re: delinquent bills? Each quarter, Age Three balance are prioritized from the highest to the lowest amounts owed. Each week, complaints are filed starting at the top and working down the list. Favoritism is not given to anyone. There’s some talk about putting the MCSW bill on the property tax bill. How could this be accomplished? Is MCSW considering this? What would it take to make it happen? KRS 109.310 allows the board to collect solid waste pick-up fees which are delinquent three consecutive months or more by combining the delinquent fees with the property tax bill for the property where the solid waste pickup is made. Ordinance 830.52 (amends 830.51) allows the MCSW and Recycling board of directors (109 Board) to request that the Fiscal Court, acting through the Meade County judge executive, combine solid waste bills that are delinquent nine months or more with a customer’s property tax bill. For all solid waste bills, per Ordinance 860.61 (and amendments 00.04 and 01.01), the MCSW District is a non-taxing district. As far as putting solid waste bills on property tax bills as a line item tax, Meade County might have to create a solid waste taxing district. In order to ensure everyone is held responsible for paying their MCSW trash collection bill, should Meade County create a solid waste taxing district? Readers, what’s your opinion? Got a topic you’d like to see discussed? Contact Karen Kennedy at 422-2155 or send an e-mail to messenger@bbtel.com. The Messenger will consider all topics and select those that best lend themselves to the column’s format. All comments in response to the column should be sent to the Messenger in the form of a Letter to the Editor.
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