Jul 13, 2022 2 min read

Canonsburg Borough Council is cracking down on past-due trash bills.

Together, 49 homes owe the borough a total of about $165,000 in delinquent trash bills. Council unanimously approved Jordan Tax Services to take legal action against them at Monday’s meeting.

“These are several years’ delinquents we’re taking action (against). It’s a significant amount,” said council President Eric Chandler, noting council is targeting homes that owe $300 or more.

The past-due bills are something council has been working to rectify.

“That’s actually something that we’ve been looking into, and working with Jordan Tax … to get that information to us. We finally got the report,” Chandler said. “This is what we have now; this is what we’re going to go ahead and do.”

Homeowners will be notified once paperwork is filed with the county court. The process can end if an account is brought current, council said.

If the account remains delinquent, a lien may be placed against the home. Houses will then go up for sheriff’s sale, council said.

Councilmen Rich Russo noted upfront costs may seem steep: The borough pays $131.75 per home to file initial paperwork, and there is a county court fee and sheriff’s sale fee, too.

But some proceeds from sheriff’s sales will go directly to the borough, with a potential profit of at least $45,000.

“It’s still a net win if things play out how they’re supposed to,” Russo said.

Also Monday, the borough approved the purchase of a new backhoe for public works, with $80,000 down and a five-year lease, and approved a payment to WG Land Co. $120,635 for Town Park pool house renovations.