San Francisco's attorney on Thursday announced a major legal settlement with Recology, the city's waste and recycling contractor.
The company is accused of overcharging ratepayers by millions of dollars due to lax oversight by the city's disgraced former director of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru. Following Nuru’s arrest, the city launched a public corruption probe into the Department of Public Works.
That investigation found that Recology overcharged ratepayers to the tune of $100 million. City Attorney Dennis Herrera said money will be paid back as a result of a settlement.
"Nearly $95 million of the total will be refunded by Recology directly to ratepayers," Herrera said.
The overcharge dates back to a billing error in 2017 that was never corrected by the Department of Public Works under Nuru.
"DPW did nothing about it," Herrera said. "Recology knew about it at the time, did nothing about it until we subpoenaed them and launched our investigation. Then they came in and they were cooperative. It was clear that lax oversight and (a) cozy relationship there allowed this to happen."
The average refund to Recology customers will be $190.
The company has agreed to lower rates for all San Francisco customers starting April 1 and to not offer gifts to any city employees for the next 40 years.
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