Oroville council approves sending unresolved Recology balances to property tax roll after resident complaints

The council voted unanimously to allow Recology to submit unresolved delinquent garbage accounts to the county property-tax roll, a step Recology said is intended to secure collection of unpaid balances accrued March-to-March.

Sarah McGrath, Recology customer-service lead (speaker 14), said the company sends three rounds of notice directly to property owners and works with customers who contact the company to resolve balances before submission. "We do our best to work with customers and lienable balances are something that accrue annually from March to March," McGrath said, adding Recology sends multiple notifications to the property owner, not just tenants.

A resident at the meeting described buying a duplex and later receiving a $500 bill for a prior occupant's unpaid service. The resident said she had not been the landlord when the debt accrued and was struggling to pay on social security. Council and staff clarified that the city does not control billing practices; the city ccepts Recology—ertified lists to add unpaid balances as liens on the tax roll but does not itself bill customers. "The ordinance is for the city to put the lien on a tax roll, but we don't get involved in any of the billing practices of Recology," a staff speaker (Ruth, speaker 21) said.

After questions from council about notice periods and dispute handling, Recology said property-owner notices are typically sent in February and March with additional follow-up notices in May and June, and the company handles disputes on a case-by-case basis via its customer-service team. Council then approved resolution 9467 to place unresolved balances on the property-tax roll.

What happens next: Recology will submit unresolved balances per contract; property owners who dispute inclusion should contact Recology directly to seek resolution prior to tax-roll submission.