A. Period: Water charges shall commence on the date when the water is turned on in accordance with application for service and shall continue until notice is received by the Village to discontinue the service and a final reading is taken.
B. Responsibility For Charges: The owner of a premises shall be liable to pay for the service to such premises. Water service is furnished to a premises by the Village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises is liable therefor to the Village. A property owner who has moved to another premises within the Village shall be subject to the provisions of section 9.13 of this chapter at the new water service location for charges due from the previous water service.
C. Procedure For Change In Occupancy: In the event a property owner, tenant or occupant to whom a permit for water service has been granted vacates the property served, he/she shall notify the Finance Department who shall cause the meter to be read. The service shall be shut off when the property is vacated, unless a new property owner's, property owner's tenant's or occupant's application for permit has been approved for continuous service. The Finance Department shall render a final bill which shall be due immediately upon receipt. A new property owner, tenant or occupant shall notify the Finance Department of his desire for water service by making application for a permit.
D. Change Of Customer; Transfer Fee: In the event that the name of the consumer for any premises is changed by virtue of sale, transfer, re-letting or other change in occupancy which necessitates a final meter reading bill and a new consumer occupying the premises, the Village shall be promptly notified of such change and a registration transfer fee shall be due and payable as set forth in schedule S9 of this Code. It is the intent of this provision that the transfer fee shall cover the cost of final meter reading, final billing, and new or re- registration of the new consumer, and the indirect costs thereof.
E. Meter Failures: Whenever any water meter fails to properly register the water passing through it, the consumer shall be charged with the amount billed for a corresponding time for the previous year. If no record of the previous year exists, then the amount of water consumed during the time such meter failed to register shall be estimated by the Village and the consumer shall pay for the amount so estimated by the Finance Department. The owner of the premises shall be liable to pay for the service.
F. Charges Based Upon Meter Reading: Unless otherwise specifically provided herein, the owner shall be liable for payment of all water charges based upon the flow registered by a water meter, and no reduction shall be made or rebate allowed, on account of leakage into or from any pipe, tank or other apparatus.
G. Reading Meters: Meters shall be read through the AMR meter reading system. If access to the meter reading is not available through the AMR system, the Village will obtain the reading by manually reading the meter. If a manual read is necessary, a fee for this service will be charged as set forth in schedule S9 of this Code. No water customer will be allowed to report the meter reading by any other method. The Village may estimate bills and estimated bills are payable by the user as rendered. The owner of the premises shall be liable to pay the estimated bill for the service in the event the user is a tenant or occupant. Adjustments to bills will be made in the next succeeding bill.
H. Billing: Bills for water service shall be rendered by the Finance Department to the customer on a bi-monthly basis. The Village reserves the right to bill customers on an alternative schedule. Bills shall be due and payable twenty (20) days after being rendered. Non-receipt of the bill does not exempt the customer from liability for payment. Water bills shall be payable at the Village Hall or other designated locations, through the mail, or online. Alternatively, water bills may be paid via the Village automatic bill payment plan, upon customer execution of the requisite authorization agreement for the automatic bill payment plan. Execution of said agreement by the customer shall entitle the Village to directly debit the customer's designated bank account for payment of amounts due on any and all water bills rendered following the date of execution of the agreement. In the event the Village charges to the customer are refused by any financial institution, the Village shall be entitled to collect any and all fines, penalties and additional charges which are specified by ordinance or other applicable law. The customer desiring said automatic bill payment service shall be responsible for securing all necessary approvals from, and for paying any charges imposed by, the designated financial institution. The Finance Director is hereby authorized to levy and collect a charge as set forth in section S9.15 of this Code for a returned check or refused debit to a designated account. Said NSF charge shall be in addition to any and all other costs, fees, charges or remedies available to the Village.
I. Rates: Water shall be furnished to consumers at metered rates only. The rates adopted are as set forth in schedule S9 of this Code. (Ord. 18-03-05)