Call Kurtis Investigates: I Reported Illegal Dumping; Where's My Reward?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Robert Asay recalls smelling rotting meat dumped in a South Sacramento alley.
"It smelled like a dead body," he said.
The city and county of Sacramento are two of four places in the state that'll pay you to help with illegal dumping.
Each has a reward program that'll pay up to $1,000 for tips leading to illegal dumpers getting cited or prosecuted. You can alert the city or county by dialing 311. The reward money comes from the proceeds of recyclables you put in your trash bin or fines paid from people caught.
But Asay found it's not so easy to collect. He says for years, he's forwarded Sacramento County investigators photos and information involving offenders including license plates, names, and nationalities. He says to date, he has received no reward money.
"If it says to report it and get a reward then people expect to get a reward," said Asay.
CBS13 has learned of 269 tips the County received between 2013 and mid this year, it's busted six people and paid out $3,000 in reward money.
The City of Sacramento doesn't isolate residential illegal dumping tips, but tells us it's paid out two rewards from 2013 to mid this year totaling $1,500.
We reached out to Sacramento County about Asay's struggles to collect.
A spokesperson for Sacramento County tells CBS13, "not everything people report is exactly what they think they see." The County did agree to look "...at their internal processes so that they can better communicate with the tipsters."
The city of Sacramento is also combating illegal dumping with motion sensor cameras they can move around the city.
"I think we're having success in baby steps," said Darin Noonin with Sacramento Code Enforcement.
They showed us high quality images that lead to fines for two people seen illegally dumping yard waste at night.
"They don't want to get caught, so they'll do it in darkness or first thing in the morning," Noonin said.
If you need to dump something bulky, call your garbage company. They may do a free pickup.
