MOULTRIE, Ga. — About two years ago, unpaid garbage bills of 90 days or more for Colquitt County came to $714,704. At that time, County Administrator Chas Cannon launched an effort through the county’s Solid Waste Department to get these funds collected.

“Since that time, we have had four rounds of tax sales between December 2014 and March 2017 in an attempt to collect some of the past due garbage bills from those who received our solid waste service but were not paying for it. Our fifth tax sale will be in March of 2018,” said Cannon.

Past due accounts as of August 1 now tally $465,123.

Not only were some people not paying their garbage bills, but some were receiving the service without even having an account.

At the outset of this recovery effort, Cannon, who had just been named county administrator, said he didn’t understand how the garbage service ever got in that shape.

The solid waste service operate as an “enterprise fund” which means it must be self-sufficient from revenues generated by the monthly garbage bills. The service receives no funding from taxes.

Of the $465,123 stilled owed, Cannon said he expects the county to have to write off $241,399. These unpaid bills are older than 2009 and have surpassed the statute of limitations that would allow the county to collect via the fifa process.

“That leaves us with $223,724 remaining that we  will still attempt to collect,” Cannon said. “So, overall, we’ve collected about $249,581 since Jan. 15 and have about $223,724 more to go.”

Cannon said for those who have high past due balances, the county has worked one-on-one with citizens to come up with tailored pay plans that help reduce the balances over a period of time.

“Folks seem to appreciate that,” Cannon added.

The garbage fees are the responsibility of the property owner. How a property owner works that out with a renter is between those two but the fifa process is applied to property when the bills aren’t paid, meaning property could be sold at public auction.

Hundreds of letters have been mailed to property owners during this collection effort explaining the details of the service and where the responsibility of garbage fees lies.