Loading...
The following words and phrases whenever used in this article shall be construed as defined in this section, unless otherwise defined:
(a) “Dwelling Unit” shall mean one or more rooms which has a kitchen and is designed for residential occupancy.
(b) “Single Family Dwelling” shall mean a building designed for residential occupancy, and containing one or two dwelling units.
(c) “Multiple Dwelling” shall mean any building, structure, unit or location designed for residential occupancy, exclusive of “Single Family Dwelling.”
(d) “Household Refuse” shall mean any combination of rubbish and garbage, as those terms are defined in Article 6 of this chapter, generated at a single family dwelling or a multiple dwelling.
(e) “Customer” shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, fraternal organization, corporation, estate trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, syndicate, the United States, any state, any county, city and county, municipality, district or other political subdivision of any state or of the United States, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(a) For all costs related to the collection, transfer, recycling, recovery of waste resources and/or disposal of solid waste collected by the City of Los Angeles including, but not limited to: salaries, direct and indirect overhead, equipment, ancillary equipment, refuse and recycling containers and vehicles, landfill costs, whether for disposal or for resource recovery facilities or refuse to energy and fuel facilities or closure of City owned facilities, development, acquisition, construction, operation and maintenance of equipment, alternative fuel infrastructure, buildings or facilities used in the collection, recycling, recovery of waste resources and/or disposal of solid waste or storage of solid waste related equipment, transfer facilities, resource recovery facilities or transfer equipment, maintenance of transfer facilities or equipment, or for facilities and equipment used in the recovery of waste resources in the form of energy, alternative fuels or manufacturing feedstocks, there is hereby imposed for all related costs of the services provided in the collection, the availability of collection, transfer, recycling, the availability of recycling, the recovery of waste resources, disposal and the availability of disposal of solid waste the following charges for the dwelling classifications listed: (Amended by Ord. No. 177,478, Eff. 6/4/06.)
(1) Single-Family Dwelling. $26.00 per month, or any fraction of a month for each single dwelling unit, effective through August 31, 2008; $36.32 per month, effective September 1, 2008, until further amended by the City Council. (Amended by Ord. No. 180,116, Eff. 9/8/08.)
(2) Multiple-Family Dwelling. $17.16 per month, or any fraction of a month for each dwelling unit within a multiple-family dwelling from which refuse is collected by the City, effective through August 31, 2008; $24.33 per month, effective September 1, 2008, until further amended by the City Council. No charge shall be imposed on any multiple- family dwelling where the City does not collect refuse. (Amended by Ord. No. 180,116, Eff. 9/8/08.)
(b) Reductions and Exemptions. (Amended by Ord. No. 181,410, Eff. 12/29/10.)
(1) An exemption from the charge imposed pursuant to Subsection (a) of this Section shall be provided for single family dwellings as to which City collection service cannot be provided because of physical limitations restricting access by City collection vehicles.
(2) The charge imposed pursuant to Subsection (a) of this Section shall be reduced by sixty-five (65) percent as of the effective date of this ordinance, and the charge shall be reduced by thirty (30) percent as of July 1, 2011, for any senior citizen or disabled customer who applies for a reduction and would qualify for a tax exemption pursuant to the provisions of Section 21.1.12 of this Code. A customer who applies for and receives the reduction shall be entitled to the reduction so long as the customer would qualify for a tax exemption pursuant to the provisions of Section 21.1.12 of this Code. The Office of Finance, with the assistance of the Bureau of Sanitation, shall every two years verify the continued eligibility of each customer granted a reduction pursuant to the provisions of this Subdivision, and if the Office of Finance determines that a customer is no longer eligible, or has failed to provide evidence of eligibility as requested by the Office of Finance, then the customer shall be charged the full amount of the charge imposed pursuant to Subsection (a) of this Section on the first bill sent to the customer following the Office of Finance determination. Customers who are charged the full amount of the charge imposed pursuant to Subsection (a) of this Section because of an Office of Finance determination that they are no longer eligible, or that they failed to provide evidence of eligibility, may submit a new application for a reduction pursuant to the provisions of Subdivision (4) of this Subsection.
(3) No more than 51,400 customers may receive a reduction pursuant to the provisions of Subdivision (2) of this Subsection at any one time. (Amended by Ord. No. 182,230, Eff. 9/30/12.)
(4) Applications for a reduction authorized pursuant to the provisions of Subdivision (2) of this Subsection shall be made upon forms supplied by the Office of Finance, who, with the assistance of the Bureau of Sanitation, shall review all applications and notify applicants in writing if it is determined that the applicants are not entitled to a reduction. The Office of Finance and the Bureau of Sanitation shall review the reduction percentage amount every five years and report to the City Council with recommendations as to the appropriate percentage.
(c) (Added by Ord. No. 179,070, Eff. 9/16/07.) For all costs related to the collection, transfer, recycling, and/or disposal of bulky items collected from multi-family apartment dwellings by the City of Los Angeles including, but not limited to, salaries, direct and indirect overhead, equipment and debt, there is hereby imposed a Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee (BIF) for the dwelling classifications listed:
(1) Owners of Separately Metered Apartment Buildings. $0.64 per month or any fraction of a month for each apartment unit, effective October 1, 2007.
(2) Owners of Master-Metered Apartment Buildings. $1.11 per month or any fraction of a month for each apartment unit, effective October 1, 2007.
(3) Apartment Tenants (Residents). $0.64 per month or any fraction of a month for each apartment tenant, effective October 1, 2007.
(4) Low Income Discount, Apartment Tenants (Residents). $0.44 per month or any fraction of a month for certain Low Income Apartment Tenants. Apartment Tenants (Residents) qualifying for DWP Low Income Discounts will be charged the discounted rate, effective October 1, 2007.
(d) Exemption. An exemption from the BIF imposed pursuant to the provisions of Subsection (c) of this Section shall be provided for any senior citizen or disabled customer who would qualify for a tax exemption pursuant to the provisions of Section 21.1.12
of this Code. Applications for an exemption shall be made upon forms supplied by the Office of Finance, who, with the assistance of the Bureau of Sanitation, shall review all applications and notify applicants in writing of their entitlement to an exemption. (Amended by Ord. No. 181,410, Eff. 12/29/10.)
(e) (Added by Ord. No. 179,070, Eff. 9/16/07.) Certain Apartment Complexes may qualify for full or partial exemptions to the fee. The Department of Public Works may grant exemptions or discounts under the following conditions:
(1) There are at least four staff members on site dedicated to trash disposal.
(2) The complex is a self-contained community, located on private streets, with no direct access by tenants to public property.
(3) There is private collection of bulky items at least twice per week.
(4) There is tenant outreach informing residents of the proper way to dispose of bulky items.
(5) There are no recorded bulky item service requests made in or around the complex, adjacent alleys, sidewalks or streets.
(6) Extraordinary circumstances resulting in a substantial number of vacancies for an extended period of time.
(f) (Added by Ord. No. 179,070, Eff. 9/16/07.) The following multi-family apartment complexes are exempt from payment of the Multi-Family BIF:
(1) Park La Brea (4,253 units).
(2) Oakwood Toluca Hills (1,151 units).
(Amended by Ord. No. 173,293, Eff. 6/30/00, Oper. 7/1/00.)
(a) The collection of the charges imposed under this article shall be under the direction, supervision, and control of the Director of Finance.
(b) The Director of Finance shall arrange for the billing and collection of, and accounting for, the charges imposed under this article through and by available facilities of the Department of Water and Power insofar as possible. The Director of the Office of Administrative and Research Services shall arrange for the payment to the Department of Water and Power of its costs of such services. To the extent the billing and collection by the Department of Water and Power is not deemed possible or practical by the Director of Finance, separate billing and collection services at reason- able intervals shall be provided by the Director of Finance.
(c) The charges imposed under this article shall be billed to and paid by the customer in whose name the electric meter serving each dwelling unit is listed upon the records of the Department of Water and Power, or, in the absence of such listing, as may be determined by the Director of Finance with the assistance of the Department of Public Works.
(d) The duty to collect the charges imposed under this article from each customer billed by the Department of Water and Power shall commence with the first billing submitted by said Department to each customer on or after the operative date of this article or as soon thereafter as administratively possible.
(e) The charges imposed under this article shall be billed by the Department of Water and Power in accordance with its regular billing practices, shall be added to and included on each applicable electric bill, as the case may be, and shall be due and payable to the City of Los Angeles through the Department of Water and Power at the time and in the manner of payment of said electric bill, and other charges made thereon.
(f) Where the Department of Water and Power does not supply electricity to a individual dwelling unit to which the City furnishes household refuse collection services, the customer liable for payment of the charges, as provided for in this article, shall be billed separately by the Director of Finance with the assistance of the Department of Public Works.
(g) All bills for the charges imposed under this article are due and payable upon presentation. Bills not paid within sixty (60) days after the date of presentation shall be deemed delinquent.
(h) Whenever the Director of Finance determines that a customer billed has deliberately withheld, failed or refused to pay all or any part or portion of the charges imposed under this article billed to said customer, or has failed to pay charges, or whenever the Director of Finance deems it to be in the best interest of the City, the Director of Finance shall serve notice on the customer billed of the customer’s delinquency.
Whenever the Director of Finance determines that a customer billed as provided for in this article has deliberately withheld, failed or refused to pay all or any part or portion of the charges imposed under this article billed to said customer by the Department of Water and Power, or has failed to pay said charges, or whenever the Director of Finance deems it to be in the best interest of the City, the Director of Finance may relieve the Department of Water and Power of any obligation it may have to bill or collect, or both, said charges from said customer billed, and assume the billing or collection, or both, thereof for the periods involved. If the Director of Finance, for whatever reason, assumes from the Department of Water and Power the direct billing or collection, or both, of the charges imposed under this article the Director of Finance may at said time so notify the customer billed and notify the customer of the customer’s delinquency, if such be the case.
The notice in either event shall be served on the customer billed by handing it to the customer personally, or by deposit in the United States mail, postage prepaid thereon, addressed to the customer billed at the address to which billing was made by the Department of Water and Power, or, if said address has been changed or the customer was not billed by the Department of Water and Power, then to the customer’s last known address. If the customer billed is delinquent and fails to pay the Director of Finance within fifteen (15) days from the date of service of the notice upon the customer which shall be the date of mailing if service is not accomplished by personal delivery, a penalty of twenty- five percent (25%) of the amount of the delinquent charges imposed under this article, but not less than $5.00, shall thereupon be imposed. The penalty shall be required to be paid in addition to all billings for the sanitation equipment charge.
(i) Whenever a payment mailed to the City is received after the time prescribed in this article for the receipt thereof, the Director of Finance or the Department of Water and Power, as the case may be, may accept proof that there had been a timely deposit thereof in the United States mail and that the no delinquency or penalty is applicable thereto.
(Amended by Ord. No. 173,293, Eff. 6/30/00, Oper. 7/1/00.)
(a) The Director of Finance shall have the power and duty, and is hereby directed, to enforce all of the provisions of this article, and may make such rules and regulations as are consistent with the provisions of this article as may be necessary or desirable to aid in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(b) For the purpose of determining the number of dwelling units contained in any building the Bureau of Sanitation may estimate the number of dwelling units contained in said building, after full consideration of all information within the Bureau’s knowledge.
(c) The Director of Finance, on behalf of and in the name of the City of Los Angeles, may enter into a written agreement, in a form approved by the City Attorney, with any customer indebted to the City pursuant to the terms of this article, obligating said customer to pay such indebtedness to the Director of Finance in monthly or more frequent installments, but in no event over a period greater than one year. In any such agreement such customer shall acknowledge the obligation owed to the City and the customer’s indebtedness thereon, shall agree that in the event of the customer’s failure to make timely payment of any installment thereof that the whole amount unpaid may be determined by the Director of Finance to be immediately due and payable, and shall agree to pay all costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by or on behalf of the City in the collection thereof or for any legal proceeding commenced for that purpose.
(d) Whenever the amount of charges and penalty imposed under this article, or either of them, is determined by the Department of Water and Power or by the Director of Finance to have been overpaid, paid more than once, or to have been erroneously collected or received by the City in whole or in part, the Department of Water and Power or the Director of Finance, as the case may be, may provide for correction thereof either by refund or by credit on future bills in their discretion. Any claim for such a refund or credit shall be filed with the Director of Finance by the person paying the alleged overpayment within six months of such payment.
(e) Where there is a dispute with respect to the charges or penalty imposed under this article, or both, the Director of Finance, with the written approval of the City Attorney and subject to the provisions of the Charter of the City of Los Angeles, may compromise the City’s claim for said charges or penalty, or both, where the portion of the claim proposed to be released is less than $5,000.00; and, with the approval of the City Attorney and the City Council, may compromise such a claim where the portion proposed to be released is $5,000.00 or more.
Loading...