Users who, at their own expense, install a meter which measures water not entering the sanitary sewer system shall be eligible for deduction of that water use throughout the year.
(A) Any such meter shall be of approved design, shall be registered with the City Treasurer prior to use, and shall be used only by the user to whom it is registered and at the service location to which it is assigned.
(B) Thereafter, the user shall bring said meter to the City Treasurer's office in October of each year where it may be read and those readings utilized to determine any meter usage since the previous reading.
(C) The City Treasurer shall then credit the user's sewer account by subtracting the previous reading from the current reading as taken from the meter and multiplying the difference by the sewer charge and then deducting 100% of that product from the next billing cycle.
(D) The City Treasurer shall have authority over the installation of the meters used for deduction and from time to time may test the accuracy of said meters. Any necessary repairs to such meters shall be at users expense.
(E) No deductions shall be granted for users of the sewer system who are delinquent in their payments to the city for such service.
(F) (1) The Treasurer and/or his or her designee may make adjustments downward in readings of water usage for sewer billing when there is evidence of a water leak; extensive watering of grass, flowers, shrubs and/or trees; and filling and maintaining a swimming pool. The city's "history" of water usage may be used to substantiate adjustments. EXTENSIVE is defined as three or more units of CCF usage, 30 units of DCF usage or 22 units of CGL usage beyond what the "history" shows to be the norm. A CCF unit is 748 gallons, a DCF unit is 74.8 gallons and a CGL unit is 100 gallons. Further, three units of CCF usage, 30 units of DCF usage or 22 units of CGL usage beyond a customer's typical usage during only one billing cycle will qualify for an adjustment. When there is sufficient history, adjustments shall be made by averaging the water usage for a minimum of three months before the abnormal usage, and then using that average for figuring the monthly bill(s). When there is insufficient
history, the norm for billing may be established by using either the water consumption of the months immediately following the period for a requested adjustment or the Environmental Protection Agency's rule of thumb that each individual in a household will use 2,992 gallons of water a month, i.e., four units CCF, 40 units of DCF or 30 units CGL.
(2) Adjustments due to water leaks will be made when proof that a leak has been repaired is received.
(3) The period of time for "extensive" watering of grass, flowers, shrubs and trees and the filling and maintaining of swimming pools is defined as from May through September, and although requests for adjustments may be made at any time, only one adjustment per year will be made, usually in October.
(4) Individuals who currently have deduction meters are encouraged to continue to use them. This especially applies to those who have sprinkler systems.
(5) Decisions made by Sewer Collection Department personnel may be appealed to the City Treasurer. The City Treasurer's decisions are not subject to appeal.
(1960 Code, § 38-3-3) (Ord. 4945, passed 4-6-1992; Ord. 4996, passed 9-21-1992; Ord. 7633, passed 10-15-2012; Ord. 7970-2016, passed 7-18-2016; Ord. 8025-2017, passed 3-20-2017)