Council approves refuse charges on county tax roll after property-owner protest

At the June 10 meeting the Lindsay City Council voted to place annual refuse charges on the Tulare County property tax roll to comply with the city’s franchise agreement with Mid Valley Disposal.

City staff explained the practice dates to earlier franchise terms adopted to improve collection rates and that the county bill process allows the city to collect refuse charges via property taxes in December and April. Staff and council also discussed exploring monthly billing options in the future; staff said switching to monthly billing would require an amendment to the franchise agreement and coordination with Mid Valley Disposal.

Property owner Amelia Palopol spoke during the public hearing to protest a lien being placed on her property for a delinquent trash account she said belonged to former tenants. Palopol said she received no timely notice of the delinquency, has not been given an itemized accounting and was surprised to learn an amount may be assessed against her property. "We were never provided timely notice that the account had become delinquent or that the city intended to transfer this debt to our property," she said.

Council members asked staff to follow up with Palopol after the meeting and to research whether additional notice to property owners or duplicate notification to landlords is feasible; staff noted legal and privacy constraints may limit what can be released about tenant accounts but committed to providing more information to the speaker.

Council approved the requested annual levy resolution and directed staff to continue discussions about potentially moving refuse billing to a monthly system in future years.