Hayward property owners are now liable for paying unpaid water or sewer bills through property taxes after Hayward City Council adopted the alternative solution on Tuesday.

Alex Ameri, director of Hayward Public Work Utilities and Environmental Services, recommended the council implement property tax rolls, which would combine water and sewer utility payments with property taxes. For those who miss payments, an initial $50 fee will be added, according to the agenda, and given the circumstances, Hayward City Council would have the power to raise or lower the fine depending on the case.

Ameri, who is the author of the report, said it “would allow the delinquent water and sewer charges to be placed on property tax rolls as special assessments.” He says it “is not a lien on property, but only a special assessment.”

Taxpayers are “basically supporting these faults” of unpaid utility bills, said Ameri. Currently, individual customers who requested the service are held accountable for water and sewer payments to the city. If they are not paid, taxpayers compensate for those unpaid water and sewer bills, according to Ameri. The amended law would put more responsibility on to property owners who cannot pay their water and sewer bills.

A county “fee of 1.7 percent on each assessment” will also be added, noted Ameri. The property tax would then be based on the amount of water used per property for water and sewer bills.

These tax rolls are consistent with the same measures taken as solid waste collection and disposal services activated in February 2010, according to Hayward City Council agenda.

Ameri says residents who fail to pay are sent multiple notices before their water sources are shut off.  He says it “is very effective” for coercing people to pay late payments, but added it could affect people who are reliable cosnsumers.

“Shutting off water sources is not practical, however,” he said. “For properties that only receive sewer services from the city, we have some of them in the city, or for multifamily accounts with common water meters.”

The families who have sewer-only accounts receive their water service from East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), according to the agenda. There are 170 out of 900 “sewer-only accounts that currently are 60 days” past due, said Ameri.  This averages out to about 5.3 percent of people skipping out on their sewer bills.

“Total charges, outstanding charges, are about $115,000,” he says. “So nearly $700 or so per property. We have only one multifamily account that is currently 60 days in arrears, total charges of $3,800.”

According to the agenda, the debt was “much larger earlier this year,” but the amount was lowered by allowing struggling property owners to make payments.

Timothy May, the executive director of Rental Housing Association (RHA), agreed to the proposed ordinance and is willing to supply the City Council with help.

RHA will accept the “procedure for collecting from the party that initiates service in single family properties, since in cases where the bill is in a tenant’s name, owners have no control over payment,” he wrote in an email.

May explained in situations where issues arise, RHA would offer “peer intervention in an attempt to help curb” cases of failed payments.

The city of Hayward will continue to provide assistance through payments for its clients who cannot pay in whole. The tax rolls will be “implemented for the first time in Spring 2013,” according to the agenda.

It states Livermore has a similar property tax bill for sewer payments, while Sunnyvale uses the same process for unpaid water bills. The municipal code in Hayward is currently different than surrounding cities, such as San Leandro, Union City, Fremont, Newark and parts of Castro Valley and San Lorenzo, therefore, the laws are different.