Weekly ups and downs banged up Dena and Joe Priolo’s old trash bin. So they recently called the City of San Jose. The tech who dropped off the can also dropped a bomb: “He goes, ‘well, you’ve got a 32 gallon can, but you’re paying for a 64 gallon can,’” Dena Priolo recalled.
The big can is double the price of the small can.
“We did the math,” Priolo said. “That’s like $13,000 we’ve paid, out of pocket since 1987.” That year is when the Priolos moved in.
The couple complained to the city. Then, they said the city offered to refund three years of overpayment.
Dena remarked incredulously, “three years? Really?”
The total the city offered to refund them was about $1,500. The Priolos wanted more and called NBC Bay Area Responds because there’s more to this story -- and possibly more people who are overpaying.
Tracking Down Trash Collection Fees
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In San Jose, you don’t get garbage bills. The trash collection fees are rolled into your property tax bills, and they are not clear. “There’s nothing on the bill about the size of the can,” Priolo noted.
If you want to find out which size garbage can the city’s charging you for, you have to call 311 and have the operator look up your account. There's a good reason to: more than 28,000 people currently pay for big bins.
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We asked how often homeowners like the Priolos discover they're overpaying. The City of San Jose said, “billing discrepancies occur about a few times a year.“
If there’s an error, you can ask for an adjustment. That’s what Dena and Joe asked us to do. Long story short, the city is refunding some more of the Priolo’s overpayments, but not all the way back to 1987.
“We reviewed their case and were able to make a recommendation and a determination that we could go back to 2015,” said Valerie Osmond with the City of San Jose.
Why 2015? That’s when the city stopped sending separate trash bills. What about all those other years? We asked to see records. The city said it doesn’t have old bills to show how long the Priolos had a 32-gallon can but were billed for a 64-gallon one.
“What we don’t know is how far back,” Osmond said. The city also said the Priolos should have noticed they were overpaying earlier. “I do believe there is some level of responsibility on the resident as well to bring those concerns forth,” Osmond noted.
The city is giving the Priolos a little more than $3,000 back and says future bills should be accurate. The Priolos are disappointed, but they did score a win for everyone else.
How to Avoid Overpaying
The city just updated its website so you can compare sizes and prices against your property tax bill to verify what you’re paying. Priolo says everyone should look up their account or call 311.
“I recommend they call the city of San Jose. And find out what they’re paying for,” she said.
Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.
