6,348 Residents In Unincorporated RivCo Have Delinquent Trash Bills

MURRIETA, CA — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved placing special assessments totaling $3.39 million on thousands of Riverside County residents' property tax bills to collect unpaid trash collection debts.

According to the Department of Environmental Health, 6,348 residents in unincorporated communities owe the county's four waste haulers for rubbish pickup and disposal services in 2023. That compares to 5,664 who were in arrears the year before, agency Director Jeff Johnson said.

Amounts now in arrears range from a low of $136 to a high of $9,159, according to the special assessment roll. The assessments will be tacked onto delinquent payers' annual property tax obligations.

"This is to make the haulers whole," Johnson told the board during Tuesday's public hearing.
He said letters were sent to all those on the delinquent list. Only 31 responded and have since initiated the process of resolving past-due amounts.

No one spoke in opposition to the special assessments.

In the past, petitioners have presented appeals to the board based on the fact that they oversee their own waste disposal and shouldn't be on the hook for the waste haulers' costs. Sometimes, properties are also under lease, and the owners aren't responsible for paying trash disposal charges.

In a statement posted to the board's agenda, the environmental health director noted that "regular removal of solid waste from residential properties is a basic sanitation practice that protects both the environment and the public."

"The mandatory collection of solid waste and the payment for the collection is critical," he said.

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries previously pointed to instances in which haulers have charged for services never rendered, failing to regularly pick up garbage but still charging as if they have been.

The supervisor did not object to the latest round of assessments, but only expressed curiosity how the roughly 1,100 delinquent property owners in his First District might be eliminating their rubbish if they're not paying for services.

"I think they just burn their trash," he said. "I don't know what they do."

Residents can avoid paying a $77-per-parcel penalty charge attached to the special assessments by satisfying their bills in full on or before July 19, according to Johnson.