City Considering New Plan To End Trash Ongoing Trash Dumping Problem

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Turning in your neighbor over their illegally piled up trash could make for a big payday.

The mess on one city councilman's block is so bad, he's got city hall putting a spotlight on it.

The city offers a $500 reward to anyone who calls in a tip that leads to prosecution of anyone caught dumping things on the side of the road. And now, city leaders want to increase that reward to $1,000.

"It's getting worse actually," said Tiffany Beaver, a local resident.

It looks like a dump, right outside some homeowners' doors.

On one street in Del Paso Heights, cars have to swerve around piles of trash spilling out into the road. Beaver says the trash is too much.

"Once one person does it, everybody thinks they can dump right there and someone is going to pick it up," said Beaver.

Councilmember Allen Warren says he's seen the problem on his own street. He's even paid for someone to come pick it up.

So far, Sacramento's $500 reward program for turning in illegal dumpers hasn't been successful.

"Maybe they didn't know about it," said Warren.

Warren is hoping that doubling the city's reward, adding surveillance cameras and an extra free pick-up day could help clean up Sacramento.

But not everyone is convinced.

"I don't know who to call. If I knew who to call, I would," said Beaver.

Michael Barrett says the trash trouble is non-stop.

"It's been there for about 2-3 months," said Barrett.

He would turn people in for the reward money if he caught them in the act.

"Most people do things late at night," said Barrett.

It's one of the problems with the reward program. Warren says people try to be elusive and dump their items when no one is looking. But now all eyes are on this Sacramento mess and city hall could be taking action.

"We've been rewarding bad behavior," said Warren.

Warren says there are a number of things people can do if they see someone doing illegal dumping. They can call 311, the police, the city, or take a picture of the license plate and send it in.

The new ordinance will be discussed at Tuesday's council meeting.