County reports $365,723 in delinquent solid waste accounts; commissioners direct follow‑up on liens

Colfax County solid waste staff told commissioners they had identified 167 past‑due solid waste customer accounts totaling $365,723 and asked the commission to consider using lien authority under county ordinance to collect unpaid amounts.

The county presenter said the department had problems extracting a reliable report from the Triadic system but, after work with the vendor, produced an accounts list. "It looks like there's 167 solid waste customers that are gonna be in lien status, and the amount, that is owed is $365,723," the presenter told the commission. The largest past‑due account was described as "around ... almost $6,400" and the smallest at $418.

Commissioners discussed practical and legal considerations. One commissioner asked the county attorney to estimate the cost of filing liens because litigation or filing costs could exceed small account balances. Another commissioner recommended filing liens to set a precedent and, if unpaid after statutory timeframes, pursue foreclosure: "If I don't pay my electric bill, it gets shut off. Need to be fair across the board. I say throw the lien on, and if they don't pay it within 3 years, then the county foreclose on the property."

The commission directed staff to obtain a cost estimate for filing liens, to return with a recommended threshold (for example, file liens for accounts above a minimum balance), and to place a follow‑up on a future agenda. No formal vote to file liens was taken at the meeting.