(a) The drainage fee for metered property shall be billed and collected monthly with the monthly City’s services utility bill for those properties utilizing the City utilities and billed and collected separately as stormwater drainage fees for those properties not utilizing other City utilities. The Water Department shall render all such bills for drainage fees monthly. The drainage fee for those properties utilizing City utilities is part of a consolidated statement for utility customers, which is generally paid by a single payment. In the event that a partial payment is received, the payment shall be applied pro-rate to each account billed on the consolidated statement in the proportion that an individual account bears to the total consolidated statement of all current charges for all accounts. The drainage fee for unmetered property shall be billed monthly. All bills for drainage fees shall become due and payable in accordance with the rules and regulations established by the Water Department pertaining to the collection of the drainage fees.
(Ord. 14-2003. Passed 3-18-03.)
(b) If the bill for the drainage fee is not paid in full within twenty-one (21) days of the billing date posted on the bill received by the customer, the gross charge will be due. This will be equal to the net charge plus 10%. The City shall be entitled to recover attorney's fees incurred in collecting delinquent Drainage Fees. Any charge due hereunder which shall not be paid when due may be recovered in an action at law by the City of Bucyrus. In addition to any other remedies or penalties provided by this or any other ordinance of the City of Bucyrus, failure of any user of City utilities within the City of Bucyrus to pay said charges promptly when due shall subject such user to discontinuance of utility services and the Director or the Director's Designee may enforce this provision as to any and all delinquent users. The employees of the City shall, at all reasonable times, have access to any premises served by the City for inspection, repair or the enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter.
(c) All Drainage Fees assessed pursuant to this chapter shall be a lien upon the property to which such fee is associated from the date said fee becomes due until such fee is paid. The owner of every building, premises, or house shall be obligated to pay the fee for all service provided for this premises, which obligation may be enforced by the City by action at law or suit to enforce the lien in the same manner as the foreclosure of mortgages. In the event of such action, the City shall be entitled to recover all court costs and reasonable attorney fees for such collection. In the case that a tenant in possession of any premises or building shall pay said charges, it shall relieve the land owner from such obligation and lien; but the City shall not be required to look to any person whatsoever other than the owner for the payment of such charges. No changes of ownership or occupation shall affect the application of this chapter, and the failure of any owner to learn that he purchased property against which a lien for Drainage Fees exists shall in no way affect his responsibility for such payment. (Ord. 62-2000. Passed 8-8-00.)