A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A
SERVICE FEE FOR 2006 FOR SOLID WASTE FACILITIES, ASSESSING THE FEE ON REAL PROPERTY, AND ESTABLISHING THE MANNER OF COLLECTION OF THE SOLID WASTE FEE
WHEREAS, K.S.A. 65-3410, as amended, authorizes a schedule of solid waste fees to be imposed on real property within a county; and
WHEREAS, it is deemed in the best interest of Marion County, Kansas, for solid waste disposal fees to be imposed on all real property within Marion County on which solid waste is or may be generated. Such fees shall not be for purpose of collection of solid waste or its transportation to a solid waste facility.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MARION COUNTY, KANSAS:
Section 1. The following definitions shall apply throughout this Resolution:
"Business" shall mean any building, structure or place, whether in commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental or other non-residential use, that generates or may generate solid waste.
a. Each hotel or motel shall be a business.
b. A retirement home without independent living units shall be a business.
c. Home occupations or other home-based businesses shall be businesses upon determination by the County Sanitarian that the generation of solid waste by such use routinely exceeds the volume of solid waste generated by similar nearby residences.
"Collection fee or charges" means any fees or charges imposed by solid waste collectors, public or private, for providing the service of collection of solid waste at the site of its generation, and transportation of such waste to a solid waste facility.
"Construction and demolition waste" means lumber, masonry, concrete, other building materials and the resultant mixture with soil or other solid waste resulting from construction, remodeling, repair or demolition of buildings, structures, pavements, bridges and similar projects.
"Disposal fee" means the solid waste assessment paid by residential and business real property owners to the Marion County Treasurer in accordance with this Resolution. Such assessment shall be utilized to pay for the costs associated with the handling of solid waste at the Marion County transfer station or any other solid waste facility designated by the Board of County Commissioners, and for the costs of transportation to and final disposition at a disposal area. The disposal fee established by this Resolution does not encompass collection fees or charges for the collection of solid waste at its site of generation or its transportation to the Marion County transfer station or other solid waste facility.
"Garbage" means the animal and vegetable waste or the mixture thereof, resulting from the handling, processing, storage, packaging, preparation, sale, cooking and serving of meat, produce, and other foods and shall include unclean containers. The definition is intended to include all material defined as "garbage" in K.S.A. 12-2101(1).
"Generator" means the person actually bringing into existence, generating or producing solid waste and includes its point of generation of origin.
"Hazardous wastes" means solid and liquid wastes which require special handling and/or disposal to avoid illness or injury to persons or damage to property and to protect and conserve the environment and shall include, but not be limited to: pesticides, acids, caustics, other dangerous chemicals, pathological wastes, radioactive materials, flammable or explosive materials, oils, solvents and similar chemicals, and materials that are significantly contaminated with one or more of the above enumerated wastes, and shall also include containers, materials and solid wastes that have been contaminated with hazardous wastes. Hazardous wastes include materials or substances which, by reason of their composition or characteristics, are:
a. Hazardous waste as defined in the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6901, et seq., or the regulations thereunder, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Subtitle D, and applicable Kansas statutes or the regulations thereunder, and any similar or substituted legislation or regulations or amendments to the foregoing.
b. Any other materials which any governmental agency or unit having appropriate jurisdiction shall determine from time to time are harmful, toxic or dangerous.
"Person" means any individual, firm, trust, partnership, company, association, corporation, institution, or government department or agency.
"Residence" shall mean any living quarters designed for occupancy by a single family that generates or may generate solid waste. For purposes of calculating the monthly disposal fee:
a. Each manufactured home/mobile home shall be one residence.
b. Each of the living quarters in an apartment building shall be one residence.
c. Each independent living unit in a retirement center shall be one residence.
"Sewage" means sewage as defined by K.S.A. 65-164, which includes any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrementitious or other discharges from the bodies of human beings or animals, or chemical or other wastes from domestic, manufacturing or other forms of industry.
"Solid waste" means garbage, trash, commercial garbage, commercial trash, and all other discarded materials (including recyclable materials), but is not limited to, useless, unwanted, or discharged solid or liquid (other than sewage) material relating to or produced by agricultural, commercial, domestic, industrial or manufacturing activities and other containers, packing materials, vegetation, ashes, furniture, manure, street sweepings and mud trap accumulations. The term "solid waste" does not include any uncontaminated earth, stone, or minerals or junk vehicles or hazardous wastes, although "solid waste" may include small amounts of non-regulated and spent or empty containers of hazardous wastes mixed with regular refuse. The term "solid waste" also does not include construction and demolition waste in volumes in excess, per household and per business, of one cubic yard per pickup.
"Solid waste service area" means the unincorporated and incorporated areas comprising Marion County, Kansas.
"Trash" means non-putrescible materials, including all materials defined as "trash" in K.S.A. 12-2101(2).
"Unit of solid waste" shall mean two (2) cubic yards or less of solid waste collection one (1) time per week over a period of one (1) year.
Section 2. The owners of real property in the Marion County solid waste service area, on whose property solid waste is or may be generated, shall pay the following per unit disposal fee for each residence and/or business located on their real property:
a. Residences
For each residence located in Marion County, as defined in Section 1 above, the assessed fee shall be $6.75 per month, to be billed at the annual rate of $81.00, for one (1) unit of solid waste.
b. Businesses
Each business located in Marion County, as defined in Section 1 above, shall be assessed a minimum of one (1) unit of solid waste annually, at the rate of $11.00 per month, to be billed at the annual rate of $132.00, per unit. Businesses that generate more than one (1) unit of solid waste, as the result of more than one dumpster collection per week, shall be classified, assessed and billed as follows:
Classification # of Units Annual Assessment
A 1 $132.00
B 2 $264.00
C 3 $396.00
D 4 $528.00
E 5 $660.00
F 6 or more *
*The annual assessment for any business that generates six (6) or more units of solid waste per week shall be fixed by the Board of County Commissioners.
c. Seasonal or Temporary Generators
The owners of any residence or business located in Marion County which is in use and generating solid waste for a period of time of six months or less in a calendar year may apply for a seasonal or temporary generator classification. Any real property so classified shall be assessed at one-half (1/2) the residence or business assessment otherwise applicable. Application for such classification must be made annually.
d. Intermittent or Occasional Generators
The owners of any business located in Marion County which is in use and generating solid waste in low volume due to the intermittent or occasional nature of such generation, may apply for an intermittent or occasional generator classification. Any real property so classified shall be assessed at two-thirds (2/3) business assessment otherwise applicable. Application for such classification must be made annually.
e. Disposal Fee Adjustments
The disposal fees set forth in this section shall be those assessed by the County Board for calendar year 2005. All fees assessed for calendar year 2006 and years thereafter shall be established by resolution in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 65-3410.
Section 3. The County Sanitation or his or her designee is hereby authorized to determine the number of units of solid waste each business generates above the one (1) unit minimum, by contacting the City Clerk if collection is by municipal waste collection service or the private collection service if otherwise, to determine the number of two (2) cubic yard dumpsters serviced at each business and the number of times per week the solid waste is collected. The County Clerk shall then impose the proper solid waste assessment fee on the real property of each business as provided herein.
Section 4. All solid waste assessments shall be collected on an annual basis, and shall be billed with the ad valorem property tax statements. Owners of tax-exempt real property on whose property solid waste is generated shall be sent a notice of assessment by the County Clerk at the same time that the ad valorem property tax statements are issued. In the event more solid waste is generated by a business than originally established and assessed, an additional assessment shall be certified by the County Clerk or his or her designee and forwarded to the owner of said real property.
Section 5. Solid waste assessments which accompany the ad valorem tax statements are for the calendar year - January 1 to December 31 - following the year in which the solid waste statement is dated and mailed. For example, the assessments mailed in the last quarter of the year 2003 are for the calendar year 2004. Solid waste assessments are due and payable at the office of the County Treasurer at the same time that the general property tax bill is due and payable. Delinquent solid waste assessments shall be subject to the same penalties, interest, and procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for ad valorem property taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of County ad valorem property taxes shall be applicable to solid waste assessments.
Section 6. A real property owner may file an appeal of the solid waste assessment to the County Clerk or his or her designee, after the solid waste assessment statement is mailed each year until the 20th day in December of each year. The real property owner may present information at the appeal before the County Clerk or his or her designee. The County Clerk or his or her designee may adjust the solid waste assessment to the proper classification. If necessary, a refund shall then be issued by the County Treasurer to such property owner. A notice of the appeal provision deadline date of the first Monday in December of each year, and provisions for filing an appeal shall be listed either on the schedule of the solid waste assessment fees or the solid waste assessment statement. In any year following a denial of an assessment appeal, an appeal involving the same property will not be allowed unless the real property owner claims, and provides satisfactory evidence of, a change of use or other change of circumstances which relates to the generation of solid waste at the real property.
Section 7. Refunds for solid waste assessments may be authorized for the current year and the year immediately preceding. Should it be verified by the County Clerk or his or her designee that a business has been under-assessed, Marion County may collect the proper fee for the current year and the preceding year from the owner of real property on which the solid waste was generated. The services of the County Sanitarian may be utilized to assist in verification.
Section 8. If at any time prior to the mailing of the solid waste assessments, a real property owner on whose property solid waste is generated believes that a classification error has occurred, such owner shall supply the County Clerk or his or her designee with a verified application for re-classification. Upon review of and agreement with the request, the County Clerk or his or her designee shall re-classify the subject property and certify to the Marion County Board of Commissioners the correct classification and assessment.
Section 9. Should an assessment be made on the business or residence which is uninhabited, vacated or otherwise unused and on which no solid waste was generated during the previous complete assessment year (calendar year), the owner may submit to the County Clerk or his or her designee a written, verified application for a refund of said assessment for the assessment year for which the property was uninhabitable or vacated or unused. The full assessment shall be paid unless the County Clerk or his or her designee makes a finding that the property was vacant for the entire calendar year. Upon review and agreement with such application by the County Clerk or his or her designee, an assessment shall be refunded to the real property owner by the County Treasurer. An application for refund of solid waste assessment shall be required to be submitted annually.
Section 10. For new residences or businesses, solid waste assessments shall go into effect at a time and rate set by resolution adopted by the Board of County Commissioners.
Section 11. Should any residence or business which is not assessed solid waste fees and is not served by a solid waste collection service, take its solid waste to another location where the residence or business is paying a solid waste assessment and collection fee, the units of solid waste at the collection locations shall be increased to conform with the number and classification of solid waste generators served.
Section 12. In accordance with K.S.A. 65-3410, the County Clerk or his or her designee shall cause to be mailed annually a schedule of the solid waste assessment fees to each owner of real property on which solid waste is or may be generated in Marion County. Said schedule of fees may be mailed with the annual solid waste assessments.
Section 13. In accordance with K.S.A. 65-3410, on or before September 30th of each year the Board of County Commissioners shall prepare a report of delinquent owners of real property on which solid waste is generated.
Section 14. This Resolution shall be effective from and after its adoption by the Board of County Commissioners. The County Clerk is hereby authorized, ordered and directed to cause publication of this Resolution one time in the official County newspaper.
ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Marion County, Kansas, this 20th day of June, 2005.
