[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lackawanna 6-16-2014 by L.L. No. 1-2014. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Solid waste — See Ch. 190.
A.
Pursuant to the City of Lackawanna's home rule powers, the City
of Lackawanna hereby establishes user fees to fund the public collection
of solid waste. There shall be fees for all users. "Users" shall be
defined as any person, resident, commercial establishment or other
entity for which the City collects solid waste. Except as provided
herein, each user shall pay a fee for each unit said user owns for
which the City collects solid waste.
B.
The Council shall have the power to enact appropriate authorizing
ordinances or resolutions for user fees for the public collection
of solid waste, and the Commissioner of Public Works is hereby authorized
to adopt appropriate rules and regulations pursuant to this section
and pursuant to local laws, ordinances or resolutions adopted pursuant
to this section. The fees charged pursuant to this section shall be
in such amounts as shall apportion the entire cost of the solid waste
collection and disposal services and among the users of such services
in a fair and equitable manner. The factors for such apportionment
may include the cost of collecting solid waste, the fees charged to
the City for disposal of solid waste, administrative and labor costs,
capital costs for maintaining the system, the frequency of collection,
the type of waste collected, revenues derived from recycling, other
sources of revenue, fixed and incremental costs of service, and other
appropriate factors.
A.
No person, except City employees in the performance of their official
duties and City contractors, shall engage in the collection of residential
solid waste. No solid waste collector or regulated substance collector
shall collect residential solid waste unless authorized by the Commissioner.
B.
The Department of Public Works shall collect and dispose of solid
waste originating in the City, as further limited by this chapter.
The City shall not collect infectious waste, regulated materials,
regulated medical waste or hazardous waste. The Commissioner may promulgate
regulations covering the items of collection and disposal of solid
waste as he or she may deem necessary, provided that such regulations
are not contrary to the provisions of this chapter.
C.
Solid waste shall not be accumulated except in accordance with the
regulations of the Commissioner and prepared by owners and occupants
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
A.
There shall be established user fees for collection of solid waste.
The user fee for the 2014-2015 budget year shall be $155 per user.
Thereafter, the fees shall be set by the Council.
B.
All users shall be billed for public solid waste collection and disposal
services.
C.
All user fees shall be due on the same day that the corresponding
City tax bills shall be due, and if not received by said due date,
there shall be added to that bill a collection processing charge at
the rate of 2% per month from the due date on the total amount owing
until paid in full, and any fees, charges, and costs of collection,
including (without limitation) attorney's fees, will be in addition
to the amount owing.
D.
The bill shall be rendered as an annual statement with provision
for both payment in its entirety of the annual amount stated or by
payment of a semiannual statement. If the owner chooses to pay the
semiannual installment, that semiannual payment must be made on or
before August 31 and on or before January 31.
E.
In the event a user fee bill is referred to a collection agency,
the collection agency's charges shall be added to the fees with
interest due and owing.
F.
Any user who owns multiple units may, on or before August 31, request
an exemption for a unit which is not occupied, provided he makes a
sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury that a unit is unoccupied
and that the unit shall not be occupied during the fiscal year for
which the user fee applies. Said unit shall be subject for a semiannual,
random inspection by Code Enforcement to determine whether said unit
is occupied. The owner of such a unit shall be required to inform
the City within five days of said unit being occupied. The user fee
for such a unit shall be prorated so the owner shall pay the user
fee for said unit for the time that said unit is occupied. Failure
to comply with the provisions of this section shall be punishable
by a fine of $2,500, together with the portion of the user fee which
accrued while the unit was occupied.
Unpaid user fees, including interest, costs, administrative
and legal expenses and collection charges incurred, shall be the personal
liability of the owner and shall also be a lien upon the real property
in connection with which solid waste collection is offered as and
from the due date for services billed and to be offered in the fiscal
year commencing on that date. Notwithstanding any ordinance or local
law to the contrary, this lien shall be superior to any and all other
liens, excepting those for general taxes and local assessments, which
lien can be enforced by foreclosure proceedings instituted at the
expiration of one year from the date of the creation of the lien,
in addition to and notwithstanding any and all other remedies available
to the City for the collection of unpaid user fee bills.
The Comptroller shall establish and maintain a separate fund
to record and report the financial activity related to the public
collection and disposal by the City by of refuse, recyclable and other
solid waste material as designated by the Commissioner and shall be
known as the "Special Revenue Fund." This fund shall be maintained
on the same fiscal year as that of the City. Notwithstanding any other
law to the contrary, the fees, charges, late fees, interest and other
costs and disbursements charged and collected pertaining to public
collection of solid waste shall be paid into the Special Revenue Fund.
[Amended 7-19-2016]
This chapter shall take effect upon its filing with the Secretary
of State or August 1, 2014, whichever is later.
