New trash fees not illegal

PRESCOTT – As expected there’s a lot of turmoil concerning the Nevada County Quorum Court’s passing an ordinance to impose a $100 trash fee on county residents.

Some residents appear to be under the impression the court’s move was illegal. However, this isn’t the case and there’s a state law concerning trash collection and giving county government the right to collect fees for the pickup.

Other counties in the state charge residents to for curb pickup. Nevada County held out as long as it could before instituting the fee. This was not a decision the court arrived at quickly or easily. The justices of the peace debated the issue more than two months, imposing an initial fee of $120 a year, then voting to reduce the amount to $100 a year. Bills were sent out earlier this month notifying county residents of the change.

The trash bills are tied with personal property taxes, but can’t be paid with personal taxes. Anyone not paying their trash bill will have a freeze placed on their tax account and won’t be able to get tags for their vehicle(s) until the trash bill has been paid.

Getting upset and cursing at county employees won’t change anything. The new law is in place, fees included. As Nevada County Judge Mark Glass has said at the meetings, the county doesn’t have any choice. The Upper Southwest Solid Waste Management Authority in Nashville, where the county sends its household garbage, has raised its transportation rates by $50 per load this year and will raise these rates again by $50 next year. This doesn’t include tipping fees.

The court has been told repeatedly of the fiscal problems in operating the Solid Waste Department, and was recently informed of the need to replace the compactor and other pieces of equipment. The problem is the county doesn’t have the money to replace them and imposing a collection fee for trash was the only way the court could raise the needed funding.

The law, part of the state’s environmental laws, in its entirety is as follows:

(a)(1) Each county of the state is authorized to provide and shall provide a solid waste management system adequate to collect and dispose of all solid wastes generated or existing within the boundaries of the county and outside the corporate limits of any municipality in the county.

(2) By agreement or contractual arrangement, the county may assume responsibility for solid wastes generated within municipalities whether within its county or other counties.

(3) A county may enter into agreements with other counties, one (1) or more municipalities, a regional solid waste management district, governmental agencies, private persons, trusts, or with any combination thereof, to provide a solid waste management system for the county or any portion thereof, but the agreement shall not relieve the parties to the agreement of their responsibilities under this subchapter.

(b)(1)(A) A county government may levy and collect the fees and charges and require the licenses that are appropriate to discharge the county’s responsibility for a solid waste management system or any portion thereof. Each fee, charge, and license shall be based on a fee schedule contained in an ordinance.

(B)(i) A county may provide by ordinance that responsibility for payment of the fees and charges rests on the occupant of the property.

(ii) The ordinance shall provide that the owner of the property is the occupant unless, before the fifth day of the month of service, the owner registers with the county the name and address of the tenant occupying the property and either the date that the lease is to expire or that the lease is month-to-month.

(2)(A)(i) A county government may collect its fees and service charges by using its own system of periodic billing or by entering the fees and service charges on the county tax records and then collecting the fees and service charges annually with the personal property taxes.

(ii)(a) If a tenant has been registered as an occupant under subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section, then the tenant is responsible for paying the fees and charges, and the county may collect the fees and charges annually from the tenant’s personal property taxes.

(b) The county may also assess an additional annual fee of ten percent (10%) for invoicing and collecting the delinquent fees and charges from the tenant rather than the owner.

(iii) If a tenant has not been registered as an occupant under subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section, then the owner is responsible for paying the fees and charges, and the county may collect the fees and charges annually from the owner’s personal property taxes or real property taxes.

(B) Further, a fee or service charge billed periodically by the county that is more than ninety (90) days delinquent or is delinquent as of the date set by the quorum court by ordinance may be entered on the tax records of the county as a delinquent periodic fee or service charge and may be collected by the county with personal property taxes or with real property taxes from the owner of the property in accordance with a county ordinance, except as provided in subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section.

(C)(i) A county collector shall not accept payment of property taxes if an annual fee or service charge or a delinquent periodic fee or service charge appears on the county tax records of a taxpayer unless the fee or service charge due is also receipted.

(ii) These funds shall be receipted and deposited into an official account of the county collector, who shall settle the account at least quarterly.

(iii) The amount of the fees and service charges collected shall be paid to the county treasurer by the county collector, less four percent (4%) to be retained by the county collector. In addition, when the county collector maintains a separate tax book for the fees and charges, the county collector may charge an additional two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for collection.

(3)(A) In counties in which the fees are entered on the tax records for yearly collection or if the periodic fees and service charges are more than ninety (90) days delinquent or are delinquent as of the date set by the quorum court by ordinance, the fees and service charges shall be entered on the tax records of the county by the county clerk and shall be collected by the county collector with the personal property taxes or with real property taxes from the owner of the property in accordance with a county ordinance, except as provided in subdivision (b)(1)(B)(ii) of this section.

(B) The fees and service charges to be collected shall be certified to the county clerk by December 1 each year by an appropriate municipal official or the mayor.

(4) Annual fees and service charges or the delinquent periodic fees and service charges which remain unpaid after the time other property taxes are due shall constitute a lien on the real and personal property of the taxpayer which may be enforced against such property by an action in circuit court.

(c) A county may accept and disburse funds derived from federal or state grants, from private sources, or from moneys that may be appropriated from any available funds for the installation and operation of a solid waste management system or any part thereof.

(d) A county is authorized to contract for the lease or purchase of land, facilities, and vehicles for the operation of a solid waste management system either for the county or as a party to a regional solid waste authority.

(e) A county shall have the right to issue orders, to establish policies for, and to enact ordinances concerning all phases of the operation of a solid waste management system, including hours of operation, the character and kinds of wastes accepted at the disposal site, the separation of wastes according to type by those generating them prior to collection, the type of container for storage of wastes, the prohibition of the diverting of recyclable materials by persons other than the generator or collector of the recyclable materials, the prohibition of burning of wastes, the pretreatment of wastes, and such other rules as may be necessary or appropriate, so long as such orders, policies, and ordinances are consistent with, in accordance with, and not more restrictive than, those adopted by, under, or pursuant to this subchapter or any other laws, rules, regulations, or orders adopted by state law or incorporated by reference from federal law, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, or the regional solid waste management boards or regional solid waste management districts, unless:

(1) There exists a fully implemented comprehensive area-wide zoning plan and corresponding laws or ordinances covering the entire county; or

(2) The county has made a request to the board or district to adopt a more restrictive rule, regulation, order, or standard and no public hearing has been held within sixty (60) days or the request has not been acted upon within ninety (90) days.

(a) The owner or operator of any permitted facility or site shall establish and maintain such records, make such reports, install, use, and maintain such monitoring equipment or methods, take such samples, perform such tests, and provide such other information to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality as the Director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality may reasonably require.

(b) The department or any authorized employee or agent may examine and copy any books, papers, records, or memoranda pertaining to the operation of the facility or site.

(c) The department or any authorized employee or agent may enter upon any public or private property for the purpose of obtaining information or conducting surveys or investigations necessary or appropriate for the purpose of this subchapter.

(d)(1)(A) Any records, reports, or information obtained under this subchapter and any permits, permit applications, and related documentation shall be available to the public for inspection and copying.

(B) Upon a satisfactory showing to the director that the records, reports, permits, documentation, or information, or any part thereof, if made public, would divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets, then the director shall consider, treat, and protect such records, reports, or information as confidential.

(2)(A) As necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter, information afforded confidential treatment may be transmitted under a continuing restriction of confidentiality to other officers, employees, or authorized representatives of this state or of the United States if the owner or operator of the facility to which the information pertains is informed at least two (2) weeks prior to the transmittal and if the information has been acquired by the department under the provisions of this subchapter.

(B) The provisions of this subdivision (d)(2) shall not be construed to limit the department’s authority to release confidential information during emergency situations.

(3) Any violation of this subsection shall be unlawful and constitute a misdemeanor.

(a) An applicant for a new permit under this subchapter or the modification or transfer of a permit shall be a person, partnership, corporation, association, the State of Arkansas, a political subdivision of the state, an improvement district, a sanitation authority, or a solid waste board.

(b) This section shall not apply to permits for landfills where a private industry bears the expense of operating and maintaining the landfill solely for the disposal of wastes generated by the industry or wastes of a similar kind or character.