(A) General requirements. Each utility shall determine the creditworthiness of an applicant pursuant to Rule 12b in an equitable and nondiscriminatory method without regard to the economic character of the area, or any part thereof, wherein the applicant or customer resides and shall determine the creditworthiness solely upon the credit risk of an individual without regard to the collective credit reputation of the area in which he or she lives.
(B) New applicants. Each new applicant for utility service shall be deemed creditworthy and shall not be required to make a cash deposit as a condition of receiving service if the applicant satisfies the following conditions:
(1) If the applicant has:
(a) Been a customer of any town utility within the last 2 years;
(b) Owes no outstanding bills for service rendered by any utility;
(c) Did not have during the last 12 consecutive months that the service was provided more than 1 bill that was delinquent to any utility; or if service has been rendered for less than 12 months, has not had any delinquent bills in such a period; and
(d) Within the last 2 years did not have a service that was disconnected by a town utility for nonpayment of a bill for services rendered.
(2) Any applicant who has not been a customer of a town utility during the previous 2 years shall be deemed creditworthy if he or she meets the following requirements: Applicant either owns or is buying his or her own home or has had utility service in his or her name at a rental property that he or she has occupied for 2 or more years and has not had more than 2 delinquent utility bills during that time.
(3) If the applicant fails to establish that he or she is creditworthy pursuant to the above criteria, the applicant may be required to make reasonable cash deposit for each utility.
(C) Present customers. A utility may require a present customer to make deposits when the customer has been mailed disconnect notices for 2 consecutive months or any 3 months within the preceding 12-month period, or when service has been disconnected pursuant to the rules for nonpayment of bills.
(D) Refunds.
(1) Any deposit shall be refunded at the end of the first 12-month period, provided that the customer has not had more than 1 delinquent utility bill within that period. In the event that the customer has had more than 1 delinquent bill, then the deposits will be retained for another consecutive 12-month period with the same conditions for refund being applicable.
(2) Following the customer’s request for termination of service, the utility shall apply the deposits to the final billing and refund any excess amount to the customer.
(3) Each utility shall maintain a record of each applicant or customer making a deposit as prescribed by the State Board of Accounts.
(4) Each customer shall be provided with a written receipt from the utility at the time his or her deposits are paid in full. The utility shall provide a reasonable method by which a customer, who is unable to locate his or her receipt, may establish that he or she is entitled to a refund of his or her deposit.
(E) Former customers seeking to reestablish service. In order to improve collection of delinquent utility accounts, it is necessary to increase the security deposit for former customers who seek to reestablish utility service with the town if the customer failed to pay for utility services within the time frame set forth by the town code.
(1) Regular security deposits for residential utility customers shall be exactly double (2 times) the standard deposit amount for any returning customer who voluntarily or involuntarily terminated utility service with the town and had an unpaid balance that remained on the account for over 90 days.
(2) The following security deposit schedule is directly referenced to the language in division (E)(1) of this section.
Deposit Type | Amount |
Residential water deposit | $80 |
Residential sewer deposit | $80 |
Residential gas deposit | $200 |
Residential electric deposit | $100 |
Residential electric only deposit | $300 |
(3) Residential electric only is defined as a residence with no gas service.
(Ord. 2006-4, passed 9-15-2006)