Opinion ID: 1396711
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: s00a1164 constitutionality of county ordinance.

Text: 2. A county may enact regulations to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the public under its police powers. [3] In addition, the home rule provision in the Georgia Constitution gives counties the legislative power to adopt clearly reasonable ordinances relating to their property, affairs, and local government for which no provision has been made by general law and which is not inconsistent with the constitution. Among their enumerated powers, counties may provide garbage and solid waste collection and disposal. [4] The Georgia Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act additionally provides that municipalities, counties, authorities, and special districts have the power to adopt and enforce additional regulations, not in conflict with this part, imposing further conditions, restrictions, or limitations with respect to the handling or disposal of [residential and commercial] solid waste. [5] OCGA § 12-8-56 gives any authority the power to operate a project and pay its cost from the proceeds of revenue bonds, contributions, loans, or user fees, which the authority is authorized to receive, accept, and use. OCGA § 12-8-39.3 further gives cities, counties, and authorities that operate a solid waste handling facility or provide solid waste collection services the power to enforce the collection of taxes, fees, and assessments by ordinance or resolution in the same manner as authorized for enforcing the collection of state taxes, fees, or assessments. [6] Thus, state law clearly gives both a county and a solid waste management authority the authority to collect and dispose of garbage and solid waste within a county; to charge, collect, or receive a tax, fee, or assessment for the service; and to enforce collection and payment of the fees by an ordinance or resolution enacted by a county governing authority. The Georgia Constitution requires that regulations enacted as part of a county's police powers must not be unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, and that the means adopted must have some real and substantial relation to the object to be attained. [7] In Bowery Savings Bank v. DeKalb County, [8] the owners of recently acquired property argued that it was unreasonable, irrational, and unfair to require them to pay for delinquent water, sewer, and sanitation services since they did not contract for the services or receive them. Rejecting their argument and adhering to previous cases, we concluded that delinquent charges for water, sewer, and sanitation services constitute a lien against the property served. [9] We do not, of course, mean to rule that one who orders water is not liable to pay for it, but are simply showing the right of the city to enforce payment for water furnished by making the amount due for it a charge on the property supplied with it. [10] Since DeKalb County had a valid governmental interest in satisfying its liens against the bank's property for delinquent accounts and the enforcement provisions of the ordinances were related to their objectives, we held that the ordinances in that case did not violate equal protection or due process. Just as property owners have been held liable for a previous owner's or occupant's failure to pay for water, sewer, and sanitation services, property owners who rent their property may be liable for a tenant's failure to pay for similar county services. The Atkinson County ordinance, like the ordinances upheld in previous cases, makes the solid waste collection fee a charge on the property. It is reasonable to make property owners ultimately responsible for the payment of garbage collection fees on their property since they may include the monthly fee as part of the rent charged to their tenants. [11] The fact that the property owner does not personally produce the garbage does not preclude the county from assessing the owner for the cost of the service and placing a lien on the property for nonpayment. Therefore, we conclude that our State Constitution, statutes, and case law permit Atkinson County to enact an ordinance requiring a property owner to pay for solid waste collection services provided to a mobile home on his or her property. Judgment reversed.