(A) Wastewater fees are fees assessed against real estate and shall constitute a lien against the property served until paid. Water, stormwater, sanitation, or tall grass and weed abatement fees are fees assessed against real property and may constitute a lien against residential owner-occupied and business properties served. The lien attaches when a notice of lien, described below, is recorded in the office of the County Recorder, except in the following circumstances:
(1) A fee is not enforceable as a lien against a subsequent owner of property unless the lien for the fee was recorded with the County Recorder before the conveyance to the subsequent owner. If the property is conveyed before the lien can be filed, the town shall notify the person who owned the property at the time the fee became payable. The notice shall inform the former owner that payment, including penalty fees for delinquencies, is due not more than 15 days after the date of the notice. If payment is not received, the amount due may be collected in any manner permitted by law. If payment is not received within 180 days after the date of the notice, the amount due may be expensed as a bad debt loss.
(2) A fee for water service is not enforceable as a lien against real property occupied by someone other than the owner.
(B) If the water, wastewater, stormwater, sanitation, or tall grass and weed abatement fees, charges and penalties are not paid within the time fixed by ordinance, they are delinquent. The Clerk-Treasurer, or his or her designee, is charged with the responsibility to collect delinquent water, wastewater, stormwater, sanitation, and tall grass and weed abatement fees, charges and penalties (the "delinquent fees"). The Clerk-Treasurer shall review all delinquent accounts every month, or as necessary and attempt to collect the delinquent fees in any of the following manners, pursuant to I.C. 36-1-3, 36-9-23 and 36-7-10.1:
(1) By filing a civil action in the name of the town against the customer, for the following:
(a) Delinquent water fees, charges and penalties from residential customers, whether or not owner-occupied, and business owners, pursuant to I.C. 36-9-23-31;
(b) Delinquent wastewater fees, charges and penalties from residential customers, whether or not owner-occupied, business owners, or owners of non-owner-occupied residences, pursuant to I.C. 36-9-23-31;
(c) Delinquent stormwater, sanitation, or tall grass and weed abatement fees, charges and penalties from owners or occupants of any property served;
(2) Collection of all outstanding fees, charges and penalties by the County Auditor's and Treasurer's Offices following the recording of a notice of lien pursuant to Indiana's Home Rule Statute, I.C. 36-1-3 and I.C. 36-9-23-33, in the manner described herein; or
(3) By foreclosing a lien following the recording of a notice of lien.
(C) In lieu of collection, the Town Council may write off delinquent fees that are for less than $40, pursuant to I.C. 36-9-23-33(l).
(D) Filing a civil action. The Clerk-Treasurer may cause a civil action to be filed in the name of the town to collect delinquent fees. A penalty of 10% of the amount of the delinquent fees attaches to the delinquent fees, and the amount of the delinquent fees, the penalty, and a reasonable attorney’s fee may be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the town, against the owners, lessees, or users of the property served by the utility or benefit by the services provided, pursuant to I.C. 36-9-23-31 and 36-1-3-6.
(E) Collection through recording a notice of lien. The Clerk-Treasurer may defer enforcing the collection of delinquent fees until the delinquent fees have been due and unpaid for at least 90 days, or when any tall grass and weed abatement fees, charges and penalties have been due and unpaid for at least 30 days. Thereafter, the Clerk-Treasurer may utilize the procedures as described in I.C. 36-9-23-33 to collect the delinquent fees, summarized as follows:
(1) As often as the Clerk-Treasurer determines is necessary in a calendar year, the Clerk-Treasurer shall prepare a notice of lien for each lot or parcel of real property on which fees and penalties are delinquent, listing the amount of fees, charges and penalties which are delinquent, together with the costs of recording and service charges, on the notice of lien.
(2) The Clerk-Treasurer shall record each notice of lien with the County Recorder, and shall then mail to each property owner on the notice of lien a notice stating that a lien against the owner’s property has been recorded. A service charge of $5, a County Auditor’s certification fee of $15, the cost of recording the notice of lien and the costs of recording a release of lien, shall be added to the amount due for each notice of lien.
(3) Not later than ten days after recording each notice of lien, the Clerk-Treasurer shall certify to the County Auditor a list of the liens that remain unpaid for collection in the next May.
(4) The Clerk-Treasurer shall release any recorded notice of lien when the delinquent fees, and service, certification and recording fees described above, have been fully paid.
(5) Upon receipt of the Clerk-Treasurer’s certified list described above, the County Auditor shall enter on the tax duplicate for the town the delinquent fees, penalties, service charges, recording fees and certification fees, which arc due not later than the due date of the next installment of property taxes. The County Treasurer shall then include any unpaid charges for the delinquent fees, penalty, service charge, recording fees and certification fee to the owner or owners of each lot or parcel of property, at the time the next cycle’s property tax installment is billed.
(6) After the Clerk-Treasurer’s certification of liens, the Clerk-Treasurer may not collect or accept delinquent fees, penalties, service charges, recording fees, or certification fees from property owners whose property has been certified to the County Auditor.
(7) If the delinquent fees, penalty, service charge, recording fees, and certification fee are not paid, they shall be collected by the County Treasurer in the same way that delinquent property taxes arc collected.
(8) At the time of each semiannual tax settlement, the County Treasurer shall certify to the County Auditor all fees, charges, and penalties that have been collected. The County Auditor shall deduct the service charges and certification fees collected by the County Treasurer and pay over the Clerk-Treasurer the remaining fees and penalties due the town. The County Treasurer shall retain the service charges and certification fees that have been collected for deposit in the County General Fund.
(9) Delinquent fees, penalties and service charges that were not recorded before a recorded conveyance shall be removed from the tax roll, and a release of lien shall be recorded, for a purchaser who provides a verified demand in writing to the Clerk-Treasurer and the County Auditor, which states that the delinquent fees were not incurred by the purchaser as a user, lessee, or previous owner, and that the purchaser has not been paid by the seller for the delinquent fees.
(10) The Clerk-Treasurer may at any time elect to record a release of the notice of lien, paying the service charges, recording fees and certification fees, decertifying the lien such that collection is not undertaken by the County Auditor and County Treasurer, and seek to collect the delinquent fees by filing a civil action in the manner described above.
(F) Foreclosure of a lien. The town may foreclose a lien for delinquent fees in order to collect the fees and penalties. The town shall recover the amount of the fees and penalties, and a reasonable attorney’s fee. The court shall order the sale to be made without relief from valuation or appraisement law, as provided in I.C. 36-9-23-34.
(Ord. 2003-2, passed 3-10-2003; Am. Ord. 2013-12-9-3, passed 12-9-2013; Ord. 2019-1210, passed 12-10-2019; Ord. 2021-02, passed 2-9-2021)