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Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code to increase the maximum refund approval authorized by a department head from $500 to $1,000 and City Attorney from $5,000 to $10,000 for all refunds; and to establish a standard one-year statute of limitations for individuals or entities seeking refunds. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
In 1989, the City Council adopted an ordinance that amended Section 3.48.040 RefundConditions of Payment of the Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC), which establishes the approval limits for payments of refunds as follows:
A. Refunds of $500 or less require approval of the department head in accordance with conditions imposed by the City Manager.
B. Refunds greater than $500 and less than $5,000 require approval by the department head and the City Attorney's Office.
C. Refunds in excess of $5,000 require City Council approval.
Due to an increase in on-line bill payments, the City has been receiving an escalating number of overpayments especially for utility billings. Despite the user-friendly nature of the website, many customers remit payments that are 100 percent more than the billing. Once discovered, customers are eager to have their overpayments refunded. Banks cannot reverse the payments, so the City has been processing an increased number of refunds of substantial size. In addition, staff is requesting an increase to the thresholds for refunds due to the increased size of utility payments. The original thresholds were established over 16 years ago, from which time CPI growth in the cost of utilities has continually increased the size of payments received.
With the intention of expediting the processing of refunds to meet customers' needs, while maintaining the appropriate controls, new approval limits were discussed with the City Auditor's and the City Attorney's Offices. Based on their concurrence, the following changes to the limits are being proposed:
A. Refunds of $1,000 ...
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