Rolling Hills Estates committee backs policy-first approach to inconsistent refuse billing

The Solaris Committee of Rolling Hills Estates moved to recommend a policy-based fix to inconsistent refuse billing that city staff said has reduced refuse-fund revenues since fiscal 2020.

City staff member Robert told the committee that a shift in spring 2020 toward visually auditing routes to identify temporarily unserved parcels produced inconsistent annual billing and, by his review, left about 15 parcels that have never been billed. "Starting in fiscal 2020 there was a decline in the number of parcels that were billed because of this," Robert said, adding that the city lacks customer-account data and that Republic Services' compensation is paid on an averaged parcel count rather than per-stop billing.

The committee's direction: ask staff to draft a policy that (1) resumes annual billing for developed parcels even if they are temporarily unoccupied or under construction, (2) treats truly undeveloped/vacant parcels as a separate category with an opt-in if owners want service, (3) not pursue an ordinance now, and (4) send notices to property owners of identified undeveloped parcels and present the draft policy to full council (a blue-folder item) for review. Committee members said the policy can be revised later if enforcement or equity problems emerge.

Why it matters

Committee members said the inconsistent billing has contributed to a growing shortfall in the city's refuse fund that has been covered by the general fund. Robert estimated that adopting either a policy or an ordinance to capture parcels currently presumed temporarily out of service would increase annual revenue by roughly $25,000'$40,000, but that amount is far short of the roughly…