LIHU‘E — A new fee for garbage collection service will take effect on July 1, county officials said in a news release Tuesday. Notices about the implementation of the residential refuse collection assessment were mailed this week to all Kaua‘i
LIHU‘E — A new fee for garbage collection service will take effect on July 1, county officials said in a news release Tuesday.
Notices about the implementation of the residential refuse collection assessment were mailed this week to all Kaua‘i property owners along with their real property assessments.
Last week, the Kaua‘i County Council was considering a money bill to cover $269,238 in overtime paid to Solid Waste Division workers between July and December 2010. The average overtime per employee during that six-month period was $12,237; the average sick leave was 138.4 hours.
Property owners can review their assessments and make any necessary changes to their RRCA by the May 15 deadline.
A bill amending Sections 21-9.1 and 21-9.3 of the Kaua‘i County Code that authorizes the RRCA was signed into law in September 2010.
Under the new law, all Kaua‘i properties that are eligible for refuse collection services provided by the Public Works Department shall receive an assessment that will be billed with their real property taxes.
The RRCA payment schedule per benefitted property — an individual dwelling unit within a serviceable area for county refuse collection — is as follows:
— Base assessment of $6 a month, which will be used to defray operating expenses at the refuse transfer stations.
— An additional $6 assessment a month for curbside refuse collection with manual service of up to three 32-gallon receptacles or automated service of one 96-gallon receptacle.
— An additional $12 assessment per month for increased curbside refuse collection service for those properties that require additional collections of up to three 32-gallon receptacles with manual service or one 96-gallon receptacle with automated service.
Residents with an adjusted gross income of $40,000 per year or less that qualify for a low-income exemption on their property taxes under Section 5A-11.4 (d) of the Kaua‘i County Code will automatically receive a 50 percent reduction on their refuse collection assessment.
The RRCA will appear as a separate line item on real property assessments and will be due semi-annually at the same time as real property taxes.
FAQs and Ordinance No. 905 relating to the residential refuse collection assessment can be viewed on the county website, www.kauai.gov/rrca.
For more information, call the Solid Waste Division at 241-4837.
