Minnesota Statute 444.075 allows Cities to “charge a charge against the owner, lessee, occupant or all of them and may provide and covenant for certifying unpaid charges to the county auditor with taxes against the property served for collection as other taxes are collected”. City of Edina City Code section 28-52 through section 28-57 allow for the certification of water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and recycling delinquent accounts.  The City of Edina has certified unpaid utility bills to the county for collection for many years.  Hennepin County requires council resolution prior to certification.

Utility accounts (water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and recycling) with balances over $50 and delinquent one month or longer were notified in writing of the pending certification and the time and date of the hearing in a letter dated September 6, 2017. Customers who have not paid as of today will be charged a $30 administrative fee to cover the additional costs associated with the certification process. Customers will continue to have the opportunity to pay their overdue balances up until November 17, 2017. After November 17, payments for the certified portion of customer bills are no longer accepted by the City and certification balances as of the end of business that day are certified to Hennepin County. Delinquent utility amounts certified to Hennepin County will also include an interest rate of 6.5%, per City policy.

In September 2017, 1,031 properties were sent notices for a total of $453,930. This is an increase over September 2016, when 787 properties were sent notices for a total of $407,090.  In 2016,  the final certification included 329 properties for $227,354. The delinquent utility list attached to this report includes those properties that remain on the 2017 certification list as of Wednesday, October 11, 2017.  There are a total of 428 properties with a delinquent amount of $281,104 on this list.  Staff expects that the final total certified to the County on November 17 will be less.

The City is also responsible for certifying delinquent utilities  for the following cities that provide service to properties located in Edina:

St. Louis Park - 4 accounts

Richfield - 3 accounts

Minneapolis - 2 accounts

Eden Prairie - 1 account

These 10 properties are also included in the delinquent list to be certified by the City of Edina.

To respect the privacy of delinquent customers, the attached list omits the names of property owners.