Taft council authorizes county collection of refuse and sewer charges, keeps landscaping assessment at $86; approves chamber funding

The Taft City Council on July 15 adopted a series of resolutions allowing the Kern County tax collector to collect refuse, street‑sweeping and standby charges for vacant commercial properties, and to collect sewer and standby sewer charges; the council also approved the Landscape & Lighting Maintenance District No. 1 assessment for fiscal year 2025–26 and passed consent calendar items that included a 25% allocation of transient occupancy tax to the Taft Chamber of Commerce for January–March 2025.

The measures to place refuse, street‑sweeping and sewer assessments on the county tax roll were presented as routine items during public hearings. Acting city manager Von Boire introduced the refuse and street‑sweeping item; a separate staff presentation opened the sewer item. No members of the public spoke in support of or opposition to either hearing. The council passed both resolutions on unanimous 4–0 roll calls.

For the Landscape & Lighting Maintenance District No. 1, staff reported that the engineer's report (received 06/18/2024) proposed keeping the parcel assessment at the same level as the previous year: $86. Staff said assessments would be collected by the county and disbursed for landscape and lighting maintenance. No public comments were offered during that hearing; the council adopted the resolution and made CEQA findings that the actions were not projects under the California Environmental Quality Act, citing the CEQA guideline provisions listed in staff reports.

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