A customer’s creditworthiness will be considered to have been impaired when the customer has been mailed disconnect notices for two consecutive months or any three months within the preceding 12-month period, or when the service has been disconnected for nonpayment. Such customers shall be required to submit a deposit. Said deposit shall be in an amount equal to two months of the customer’s average service fees as based on the customer’s average monthly usage over the preceding three months (hereinafter “deposit amount”). In the event service fees, late fees, reconnection fees, or other fees and charges for water service are not paid, the deposit will be forfeited and applied toward such delinquent fees and charges as occur, and the water service will be discontinued.
(A) Customers may make weekly payments toward fulfilling the required deposit (deposit payment plan) amount provided the following conditions are met:
(1) Customer must obtain advanced, written approval from the Clerk-Treasurer’s office approving customer’s proposed deposit payment plan.
(2) No deposit payment plan may permit more than nine weeks for customer to make payment in full of the deposit.
(3) All deposit payment plans shall require that the customer make at least one payment per week toward the required deposit.
(4) In the event customer fails to make payment in full of the required deposit per the deposit payment plan, the utility may discontinue service to customer’s property. The reinstatement of service discontinued under this section must be in accordance with § 50.09.
(5) In the event customer fails to make a timely payment of any service fee before the deposit is paid in full, the utility shall apply any deposit funds already in the utility’s possession toward the service fee.
(a) The customer will still be required to make payment in full of the required deposit by the end date of the customer’s deposit payment plan.
(b) Under such circumstances, no extension of the deposit payment plan will be permitted.
(B) In the event the utility is forced to apply deposit funds toward the payment of a late or otherwise unpaid service fees, customer shall be required to replace said funds with funds sufficient to meet the required deposit amount for customer.
(C) Once a deposit is required, it shall be retained by the utility until customer meets one of the following conditions:
(1) Customer makes timely payment in full of all service fees for the utility for 12 straight months.
(2) Customer ceases to be customer of the utility. For the purposes of this section, a customer whose service is terminated due to non-payment shall not be considered to have ceased being a customer of the utility.
(D) Service deposits held for a period exceeding 12 months shall bear simple interest, at the rate of 6% per annum, from the date of deposit until service is discontinued, the deposit funds are applied toward unpaid services, or utility makes a refund of such deposit.
(Ord. 03-02-2021-1, passed 3-16-21)