Upland committee considers moving residential sewer, trash and storm drain charges to county tax roll

Upland’s Public Works Committee met April 8 to review a staff proposal that would add residential solid-waste, sewer and storm‑drain charges to the San Bernardino County property tax roll, a change staff said would cut billing costs and improve collection of delinquent accounts.

Chris Ollanes, Public Works project manager, told the committee the change would stop the city issuing separate bimonthly invoices for those residential services and instead include fixed utility fees on the annual property tax bill. Ollanes said the county charges the city approximately 30 cents per tax‑roll line item (about 90 cents for three lines) compared with the city’s current $2.09 per‑household billing cost, representing a savings of about $1.19 per household per month on the billing component. He said the change would not include commercial customers or water service, which will continue to be billed separately.

The staff presentation explained the change is intended to reduce the city’s unpaid‑bill shortfall, which staff described as “over a million dollars” annually for sewer and trash delinquency combined and cited a trash delinquency figure of $463,802. Ollanes said the city’s traditional enforcement tool — water shutoffs — was constrained by state law (SB 998) and a COVID‑era moratorium, limiting the city’s ability to collect unpaid fees and prompting a shift toward administrative collection options and property tax assessments.

Why it matters: Upland’s sewer, trash and storm‑drain programs operate as enterprise funds intended to pay for maintenance and capital improvements. Staff said collection shortfalls reduce funds available for capital improvement projects (staff listed projects that could be delayed if revenue remains short) and put pressure on reserves. The presentation recommended the committee provide input and forward a recommendation to the City Council; a public hearing is scheduled for May 12.

Public comment was largely critical or cautious. Several residents said the proposal would surprise homeowners, could create large lump‑sum charges for people whose mortgage servicers do not escrow property taxes, and could expose homeowners to liens. Karen Casey, a longtime Upland resident, urged approval, saying she supported staff efforts to save the city money. Mark Walters, Mike Nunez and other residents questioned whether the county late‑fee structure and postcard notices would create hardship and alleged favoritism toward the city’s trash vendor (comments about vendor political donations were raised but not substantiated in the staff presentation).

Committee members and staff discussed alternatives and details. Staff described three options: maintain the status quo; put residential fixed fees on the county tax roll; or contract with a third‑party collection agency (the third‑party option would, staff said, increase monthly costs by about $3.35 per household). Staff also described the county “Teeter” program as a possible follow‑up; if the city enrolls, the county could pay the city up front for assessed charges after a year of participation, but Teeter enrollment requires county approval.

Several technical and implementation points discussed on the record: - Effective date if approved: staff said the change would take effect July 1 of the next fiscal cycle and convert six billing cycles to two (property tax installments). - Scope: residential single‑family fixed charges for sewer, solid waste and storm drain only; commercial accounts and water were excluded. - Cost details provided by staff: the city’s current billing cost is $2.09 per household; county tax‑roll processing would be 30 cents per line (three lines = 90 cents). - Collection and timing: staff contrasted the city’s current long collection lag for delinquencies with the county’s faster process; staff said the county collects roughly 97 percent of assessed funds and that teeter enrollment and county timing could make the city “whole” more quickly than current lien processes. Staff also noted converting delinquent accounts to owner‑only billing and other internal steps are underway to reduce nonpayment.

Staff noted several resident concerns they will address before the May 12 hearing, including county late fees, how variable trash bin sizes will be handled on a tax bill, impacts for homeowners whose taxes are not escrowed by mortgage servicers, landlord/tenant account conversions and how penalties tied to state recycling laws (SB 1383) would be billed. The committee directed staff to continue outreach and return a report and recommendation to City Council following committee feedback.

Ending: Committee Chair James Breitling (council member, District 2) closed public comment after a roughly 90‑minute discussion and said the item will return to the City Council process. Staff recommended additional outreach (postcards, social media and informational materials) before the May public hearing.