A. Residential Service Accounts: Applicants have the following service deposit options:
1. A credit risk assessment/identity verification check may be performed on all individual applicants and coapplicants per service address prior to a utility account being established. The deposit amount shall be based on a risk assessment credit scoring model provided by a credit rating company contracted by the city. The deposit schedule shall be as follows:
Risk Assessment Score | Deposit Amount |
10% or less | No deposit required |
11% to 50% | $200.00 |
51% and above | 400.00 |
2. In lieu of a service deposit, residential service applicants and coapplicants who have an active residential city of Cody utility account which reflects good payment history may forgo the risk assessment and have the deposit waived.
3. Residential service applicants and coapplicants who do not meet the credit history criteria and who do not wish to undergo a credit risk assessment scoring or who do not wish to provide their social security number to establish a utility account may instead pay in advance a five hundred dollar ($500.00) deposit which will be held on the account until the customer terminates service. The deposit shall be used at the termination of service to cover any amounts owed to the city by the customer. Any remaining deposit balance shall be refunded to the customer.
In the case of rental property, the service application, credit risk assessment/identity verification and application fee is not required for the transfer of services from a tenant's account to the property owner's account.
B. Commercial Service And Construction Service Accounts: Applicants have the following service deposit options:
1. A deposit of five hundred dollars ($500.00) per service address.
2. In lieu of a service deposit, commercial service and construction service applicants and coapplicants who have an active commercial city of Cody utility account which reflects good payment history may have the deposit waived.
3. Commercial service and construction service applicants and coapplicants who do not meet the credit history criteria and do not wish to pay the five hundred dollar ($500.00) service deposit may instead provide a personal guarantee from the business owner or officer of the business and undergo a risk assessment scoring to determine the amount of the deposit. The guarantor shall remain on the account as a responsible party for securing payment until a new application for service is received by the city identifying and signed by a new guarantor or the account shows good payment history. It is the responsibility of the customer to provide new guarantor information to the city or request that a guarantor be released from responsibility due to good payment history. If a risk assessment is performed the deposit schedule shall be as follows:
Risk Assessment Score | Deposit Amount |
10% or less | No deposit required |
11% to 50% | $200.00 |
51% and above | 400.00 |
4. In addition to the deposit requirements, commercial service and construction service applicants and coapplicants whose business is structured as a sole proprietorship or partnership are required to provide a personal guarantee from the business owner regardless of the deposit option selected.
For construction service accounts only, multi-unit structures such as duplexes, triplexes and apartment complexes shall be considered one service address for the purpose of this section.
C. Governmental Entities: Governmental entities are exempt from the deposit requirements for both residential and commercial services. For the purpose of this section a "governmental entity" is defined as an agency, instrumentality, or other political subdivision of federal, state, or local government (including multijurisdictional agencies, instrumentalities, and entities).
D. Service Deposits: Service deposits shall be applied to the customer's utility account(s) after eighteen (18) consecutive months if the account reflects good payment history. If not already applied, service deposits shall be used at the termination of service to cover any amounts owed to the city by the customer. Any remaining deposit balance shall be refunded to the customer. As per Wyoming Statutes section 15-7-409, interest will not be paid to customers who post a service deposit.
E. Rental Property: In the case of rental property, the deposit shall be made either by the owner of the property, by his/her agent on his/her behalf or by the party renting the property as they may agree. In the event that service is to be discontinued as a result of the failure of the utility customer to pay the utility bills, notice of the impending disconnect shall be given to the owner if the owner has requested in writing that he/she be notified in the event his/her renter fails to pay utility bills. Service will be rendered for periods in which the property is vacant for any reason and the owner of the property will be assessed all utility charges incurred at the particular property. The property owner shall be responsible for paying all utility charges incurred during the time a property is vacant or in between tenants. If these charges become delinquent utility service may be disconnected and the utility account will remain in the property owner's name and service will not be provided to a tenant until any and all delinquent charges for that property are paid in full.
F. Utility Accounts In Bankruptcy Protection: Customers with city of Cody utility accounts in bankruptcy protection may be required to provide a deposit or other "assurance of payment" as outlined in U.S. Code title 11, chapter 3, subchapter IV, section 366 to continue receiving utility service. The assurance of payment shall be the maximum deposit amount for residential and commercial service as outlined in subsections A and B of this section.
G. Good Payment History: For the purpose of establishing a utility account, "good credit history" is defined as: Beginning from the date of the new application there must be eighteen (18) consecutive months of utility payments on the applicant's and/or coapplicant's active utility account during which there have been no more than one late payment, no payments returned for any reason, and no nonpay disconnect letters or nonpay disconnections. (Ord. 2016-02, 2-16-2016)