Ellis campaign suggests suspending trash pickup for those who don't pay garbage fees

The campaign of former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis said Wednesday that if he is elected tax commissioner, one option to ensure people pay their garbage fees could be suspending their trash service.

Ellis, who will face interim Tax Commissioner Wade McCord in the May 24 election, said at a Wednesday morning news conference that he would work closely with local officials to push for a new process for handling late garbage fees. Macon-Bibb County has about $7 million in uncollected garbage bills.

"There are ways to collect money without being as draconian as selling people's property on courthouse steps," he said.

His news conference comes a couple of weeks after Ellis pressed McCord for a moratorium on placing liens on properties that are several years behind in paying garbage fees and paving assessments. McCord has said the office has only placed such levies on 41 properties since December 2009 and that the Macon-Bibb charter requires the fees to be treated as ad-valorem taxes.

Reacting to the Ellis campaign's suggestion of not picking up some people's garbage, county officials said that plan could pose health risks and create unsightly streets strewn with containers of uncollected trash.

"There is a very real public health risk to having residences within the county who do not have regular scheduled garbage pickup," McCord said in a statement. "Insect and rodent infestation and the spread of communal diseases are risks public health officials raise when they call for mandatory universal garbage pickup."

McCord said the county code currently doesn't allow for garbage services to be suspended.

David Oedel, legal counsel to the Ellis campaign, said some other communities suspend garbage services after fees are 90 to 120 days delinquent. One benefit of that, Oedel said, is that the property owner would be more likely to be able to pay off those fees than if they accumulated over a longer period of time.

Currently the county does not place liens on homes for nonpayment unless the owners are at least three years delinquent.

Chris Floore, Macon-Bibb spokesman, said suspending services likely would not be a viable solution. The county already gets calls when a trash pickup is late or missed, and "neighbors do not want garbage left on the curb longer than it has to be," he said.

"We would not want to leave full cans or growing piles of waste on the roadside for a missed payment," Floore said in an email. "By doing so, we would have a negative impact on the health of the neighborhood. Imagine piles getting larger and animals (dogs, cats, rodents, etc.) being attracted to these piles."

County Commissioner Ed DeFore said Wednesday he would oppose any proposal to cut off trash service because of late payments.

"Some people suffer and can't hardly pay that (fee)," DeFore said.

In other matters related to the Macon-Bibb County Tax Commissioner's Office, Ellis said that as tax commissioner he would work "hand-in-hand" with the Macon-Bibb County Land Bank Authority and nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity to find new owners for blighted properties. He also said the tax commissioner's website needs to be updated to become more user-friendly. He cited recognition the city of Macon received for its website while he was mayor.

"We want the website to be on the cutting edge of technology," Ellis said.

McCord said the tax commissioner's office already has a relationship with the Land Bank Authority and "it might give (Ellis) some peace of mind that is already being done and has been the case for many years."

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter @stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Ellis campaign suggests suspending trash pickup for those who don't pay garbage fees ."