§ 23-2. Collection fee.

(a)

Each residential unit within the city shall be charged the sum of $9.63 per month for garbage collections, plus $1.82 for the collection of recyclable materials, which is the sum of $11.45.

(b)

The fee specified herein shall be adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of doing business, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers, (CPI) published by the department of labor, bureau of labor statistics. At the start of the fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2017, and every fiscal year thereafter, the fee shall be adjusted by a percentage amount equal to the percentage in the CPI for the previous calendar year or five percent whichever is less.

(c)

Each residential unit shall be sent a bill at the address of the unit or at such other address as the owner shall indicate to the City. The owner is responsible for the payment of the bill. If the bill for the services is not paid within 60 days of its due date, the city shall serve separate 30-day notices by certified mail to the owners as listed on the property tax rolls.

(d)

Thereafter, the contractor may withhold solid waste collections serviced to the unit, and the city shall have, when duly recorded in the records of St. Tammany Parish, a lien and privilege upon the real property of such owners for the reimbursement of such expenses including attorney's fees, and such amount shall be carried as an assessment against the property upon the tax rolls and may be collected in the same manner as are all taxes of the city.

(e)

When solid waste collection services are withheld to a unit because of nonpayment of fees due, it shall be the duty of the resident and owner separately to have the solid waste removed from the premises weekly and to see that no undue accumulation has occurred. Failure to do so is hereby deemed a misdemeanor punishable as provided in section 1-12 of this Code.

(Ord. No. 3178, 4-27-2004; Ord. No. 3588, 11-16-2010; Ord. No. 3737, 7-22-2014)