Politics & Government

Judge Finds Gwinnett's Trash Plan Constitutional

A Superior Court judge ruled against a Loganville couple who sued Gwinnett County, claiming the current trash plan and method of collecting payment was unconstitutional.

A superior court judge has found the fees for solid waste and stormwater services issued by Gwinnett County are legal and constitutional, according to Gwinnett County officials.

In a press release, officials said Wednesday that Superior Court Judge Michael Clark found in favor of the county, giving his findings in a court order on June 9. Clark’s ruling was in reply to a lawsuit filed by Verlin and Milagros Gilliam of Loganville.

“He said the county has the authority to contract with private companies to provide those services, to charge the fees on the property tax bill and to collect the fees as far in advance as is reasonably necessary,” officials said in the release.

Find out what's happening in Snellvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Gilliams filed the lawsuit against Gwinnett County and the five private residential haulers awarded contracts by the county. In the suit, they claimed it was illegal to require all unincorporated residents to have trash service and to be billed in advance for those services on their property taxes. In the Gilliam’s case, the mortgage company paid the fees from an escrow account set up with their mortgage.

The case went to the Superior Court in September 2010. Officials said Clark’s findings in favor of the county put to rest a number of issues related to the new solid waste plan that went into effect a year ago. A copy of the court documents can be found in images.

Find out what's happening in Snellvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Attempts to reach the Gilliams Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.

This article originated at Loganville Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here