Ventura Councilman Underbilled on Trash Service

A Ventura city councilman’s business is one of only two commercial accounts in the city that has been consistently underbilled for trash service by the city’s trash hauler, city officials have announced.

The billing discrepancy came to light during the summer when the City Council’s environmental committee did its annual review of trash rates. An internal audit by E.J. Harrison & Sons, the city’s trash hauler, found seven “apparent mistakes” in the 2,880 commercial accounts it services in the city.

Five of those seven mistakes turned out to be clerical or categorical errors. The audit concluded that the other two--a restaurant and Councilman Jim Monahan’s business--were clients who were paying less for their trash service than they should have because Harrison sent them incorrect bills.

Harrison’s audit showed that Monahan should have paid about $1,250 for the trash service he received, but instead paid only about $460. Monahan and Harrison officials, however, have since agreed that the bin used by a company renting from Monahan was too large. They concurred that he should have paid about $860--the charge for a bin half the size of the one Harrison gave him--and have agreed that he still owes about $400.

The restaurant that was undercharged has settled its bill, officials said.

But some city officials think that amount is still too low and that Monahan should have to pay the entire balance due on the original $1,250 sum. Because of that, the committee will make a recommendation today on whether Monahan should pay about $790 more or, as he has requested, only the smaller $400 balance.

Monahan said he did not deliberately underpay the trash hauler, E. J. Harrison & Sons. “I only paid what I was billed,” he said.

Monahan paid for his tenant to throw away two 64-gallon barrels of trash every week from February, 1993, through June, 1994, the trash hauler’s records show.

However, the tenant was actually receiving a 600-gallon trash bin, according to the records. Monahan’s tenant, a company called Total Equipment Rental, is next door to his firm, American Welding Co. Monahan says his tenant never needed anything bigger than a 300-gallon bin.

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Councilman Gary Tuttle says Monahan should pay back the larger amount.

“If it was me, I would’ve paid it all and not made an issue of it,” he said. “We’re city council members and should be held to a higher standard. I’m surprised he’s fighting it.”

Monahan responded that he is not requesting an unusual privilege.

“I expect to be treated like other businesses,” he said. “I’m not asking for any special treatment.”

On that count, Harrison officials agree with Monahan. It is their standard business practice, they say, to back charge a customer only for the service that customer says was needed. The hauler then monitors the amount of trash picked up from that customer’s location for a month or two, to see if the customer’s claim is correct.

In Monahan’s case, his tenant uses less than the 300-gallon trash bin that is now in the side yard, and might qualify for a smaller container than that, said Tom Chiarodit, Harrison’s recycling coordinator.

But that, city officials say, may not be the point.

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Harrison and the city recently signed an exclusive franchise agreement, giving Harrison a regulated monopoly on trash pickup in Ventura. That means Harrison operates, in effect, as a private arm of the city government and should be held up to the same standards as a municipal agency, said Steve Chase, Ventura’s environmental affairs coordinator.

“This may make great business sense, but we have a different obligation here,” Chase said. “First, we’ve got the obligation of fairness in a public setting. Secondly, there’s our fiduciary responsibility. No one customer should subsidize another customer for the services he receives.”

Chase said he was elected to take his concerns back to the committee, rather than to deal with the issue himself. “I don’t believe that’s the kind of decision that should be made behind closed doors at City Hall,” he said.

Monahan said if the committee recommends today that he pay the higher bill, he will consult with the city attorney and appeal the matter to the full council, if necessary.