Article III. Refuse and Recycling Disposal Charges

§ 11-20. Refuse disposal fee imposed.

The Town of Easton shall impose a fee upon all properties from which refuse is collected by the Town for disposal. The amount of the fee for each property shall be set by Resolution of the Town Council and shall be used to offset the costs of disposing of refuse at the Mid-Shore Regional Landfill, or at such other facilities as the Town may dispose of refuse in the future and any administrative and other costs and fees associated with refuse collection. All monies raised by the fees shall be accounted for separately by the Finance Officer and shall be used only for the purposes of paying tipping fees or similar charges imposed by the Mid-Shore Regional Landfill or other landfill utilized by the Town and any administrative and other costs and fees associated with refuse collection. If the imposition of the fees provided for herein results in a surplus in a given year, the surplus shall be accumulated and used to reduce the amount of the fees imposed in future years. (Ordinance 760 effective 5/30/21, Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200, 293 and 256)

§ 11-22. Refuse disposal fee for multi-family properties.

An annual refuse disposal fee is imposed against each property in the Town of Easton improved by for multi-family housing projects. The annual fee shall be calculated according to the number of dwelling units located upon the property. The term "multi-family housing" includes, but is not limited to residential condominiums, apartment complexes and duplexes. The annual fee per dwelling unit shall be set by Resolution of the Town Council. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200 and 526)

§ 11-23. Refuse disposal fee for commercial and industrial properties.

An annual refuse disposal fee is imposed against all properties in the Town used for industrial or commercial purposes where the Town collects and disposes of refuse for the occupants of the property. The refuse disposal fee for commercial and industrial properties shall be calculated by the volume of refuse generated annually be businesses located upon the property and a commercial property shall be the "commercial refuse unit" which shall equal one hundred and four (104) cubic yards of uncompressed refuse per year. The annual fee per commercial refuse unit shall be set by Resolution of the Town Council. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200 and 526)

§ 11-24. Adjustments to refuse disposal fee for commercial and industrial properties.

The Town Engineer or the staff member designated by the Town Manager shall have the authority to determine how many commercial refuse units should be charged to each commercial or industrial property. The basic rate shall be one (1) commercial refuse unit per property. In the event that the amount of refuse generated by a commercial or industrial property exceeds one (1) commercial refuse unit, the Town Engineer or the designee of the Town Manager may increase the number of commercial refuse units attributed to the property. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200 and 526)

§11-25. Recycling.

All property owners and residents of the Town must recycle and all recyclable materials must be separated from all other refuse and placed at the curb on the designated collection day. An annual recycling fee is imposed against all properties in the Town improved by a single family dwelling and/or multi-family housing. The term “multi-family housing” includes, but is not limited to residential condominiums, apartment complexes and duplexes. The annual fee per dwelling unit shall be set by Resolution of the Town Council. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, business, or company not authorized by the Town to collect recyclable materials from single family dwellings and/or multi-family housing. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012)

§11-25 (a) Recycling Transitional Provisions

Any property which would have an annual recycling fee assessed pursuant to §11-25 which has a contract with a recycling contractor at the time of adoption of §11-25, may file a request for automatic abatement of the annual recycling fee with the Finance Officer within a period of six months following adoption although no automatic abatement shall be allowed after the first full fiscal year following the date of adoption of §11-25. Any such request shall be in writing on forms prescribed by the Finance Officer and must include a copy of the contract with that recycling contractor. Additionally, that contract must be valid until at least December 31, 2012 in order to be eligible for the automatic abatement of the annual recycling fee. No automatic abatement of the annual recycling fee will be authorized or allowed by the Finance Officer effective with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012)

§11-25 (b) Commercial Property Recycling

The Town Council may assess an annual recycling fee on any commercial property which is served by the Town of Easton Public Works Department for Municipal Solid Waste collection if the Town of Easton, or the authorized subcontractor thereof, is actually engaged in the recycling of recyclable material pursuant to the applicable standards of the Public Works Department. The annual fee for any commercial property will be set by Resolution of the Town Council. Any commercial property for which the annual recycling fee is assessed must separate all recyclable materials from all other refuse and place the recyclable material for collection in a manner prescribed by the Town of Easton Public Works Department. No annual recycling fee shall be assessed or collected by the Town of Easton on any commercial property for which the Town of Easton, or it’s authorized subcontractors do not perform recycling activities. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012)

§ 11-26. Manner of collection; personal obligation of property owner; unpaid refuse disposal fee or recycling fee to constitute lien on real property.

The refuse disposal fee and recycling fee shall be billed to the owner of each parcel of real property within the Town as to which the fee is applicable on an annual basis. The refuse disposal fee and recycling fee shall be due and payable thirty (30) days after the date of mailing of the statement to the owner of the property. An unpaid, overdue refuse disposal fee and/or recycling fee shall bear interest at the rate of one and one-half per cent per month until paid. An unpaid refuse disposal fee and/or recycling fee shall constitute a personal obligation of a property owner and shall be a lien against all real and personal property of the owner located within the Town, collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200 and 526)

§ 11-27. Appeal from determination of the Town Engineer or the designee of the Town Manager.

Any property owner who believes that the Town Engineer or the designee of the Town Manager has erred in the interpretation or application of the provisions of this Article in determining:

(1) Whether a refuse disposal fee and/or recycling fee should be charged against the property; or

(2) The amount of such fee may request a review of such determination by the Town Engineer or the designee of the Town Manager. The Town Engineer or designee shall review the matter, adjust the fee if he believes an adjustment is appropriate, and issue a written response to the property owner. If the property owner is not satisfied by the Town Engineer's or designee’s determination, he may appeal the determination to Town Council. Any such appeal must be filed with the Town Office not less than thirty (30) days after the date of the determination by the Town Engineer or designee. Upon receipt of a notice of appeal, the Town Council shall schedule a hearing upon the appeal and shall provide all interested parties with an opportunity to be heard. The Town Council shall issue a written determination of the issue or issues raised by the appeal. The written determination may take the form of an excerpt of the Town Council's minutes. Any party to the appeal before the Town Council may appeal the decision of the Town Council to the Circuit Court for Talbot County in the manner provided by the Maryland Rules of Civil Procedure for administrative appeals. (Ordinance 589 effective 3/13/2012, historical reference 200 and 526)