A. Customer Classifications For Billing In Accordance With Established Rates Of Service Applicable To Chapters 1, 2, 3, And 5 Of This Title:
1. Residential: Single-family detached, condominiums served by individual meters, townhouses served by individual meters, duplexes served by individual meters, or mobile homes served by individual meters.
2. Multi-Family And Commercial (High Usage):
Multi-family - Any metered/account serving more than one dwelling unit; i.e., residences with guest houses, duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, apartment complexes, condominiums, town-homes, or mobile homes served by common meters.
Commercial - Retail, offices, hotels, motels, shopping centers, churches, and schools public and private, and high volume users.
B. Time Of Payment: Charges for all accounts will commence upon payment of deposit. Bills are due and payable in full fifteen (15) days after the process date on the billing statement and will be considered past due at the close of business on the fifteenth day. All payments must be received by the due date to be recorded as paid on time.
C. Late Fees: Should an account not be paid by the close of business fifteen (15) days after coming due, a late fee of ten percent (10%) shall be added to the bill after close of business on day fifteen (15).
D. Delinquency; Discontinue Service: If the total amount then due is not paid after the adding of the late fee, the said account shall be deemed delinquent and the Public Works Director may cause the utility services to be shut off from the premises upon which the account is delinquent. The utility services shall not again be turned on until all arrears and a reconnection fee of thirty five dollars ($35.00), for metered services disconnected, is paid in full.
Accounts deemed delinquent will receive a disconnection notice at the same time of regular billing in the mail. The disconnection notice, (colored) advises customer that account is delinquent and services will be disconnected if not paid by the date indicated on the letter. The regular bill, (white) is the monthly statement reflecting the usage information for the month.
If the services are disconnected for non-pay and not paid and brought current three (3) days after being disconnected, account will be closed and deposit applied. Deposit required; subsection 9-6-1E of this chapter. If the deposit on the account has been applied to the account, account must also be paid in full prior to services being reconnected.
E. Reinstallation Fee: In the event that a meter is removed for such nonpayment, the same shall not be reinstalled and service shall not be reinstated until the owner or occupant pays to the City a sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for such reinstallation along with all the arrears paid in full.
F. Lien For Nonpayment: With the exception of subsection H of this section, in addition to any other remedy provided herein for the enforcement and collection of any utility service rate, charge or account, all rates provided for in this chapter shall be charged against the property on which it is furnished, and against the owner thereof, and shall be a lien against the premises to which any utility service may be applied, and a charge against the owner therefor and the occupant thereof using the utility service. If for any cause, any sums owing therefore become delinquent, the utility service shall be shut off, and in no case shall it be turned on to the same property until all such delinquencies shall have been paid in full including accumulation of all late fees, penalties, and interest.
G. Responsibility For Payment: The property owner and occupant shall be jointly and severally liable for debt and money due on open account to the City in an action waged by the City in any court of competent jurisdiction for the amount of all such rates as may be due and unpaid, together with all penalties provided herein and costs, except as delineated in subsection H of this section. No change of ownership or occupancy shall affect the application of this section.
H. Property Owner Disclaimer: Property owners shall file an annual written disclaimer, in accordance with New Mexico Statutes Annotated 3-23-6 subsection C, to relieve themselves from the responsibility delineated in subsection F of this section of any utility charges that their renters may incur, the disclaimer must include the property owner's full name, location and number of rental properties that will be disclaimed. Proof of ownership, such as a warranty deed, of the location proposed for disclaimer shall be provided to the City in conjunction with the annual filing of the disclaimer. The disclaimer does not relieve the property owner of any debt incurred prior to submitting the disclaimer to the City of Deming. Upon receipt of annual disclaimers, the City will date stamp and keep a copy for the records. It is the responsibility of the property owner to maintain proof of filing of each disclaimer on an annual basis, no later than January 10 of each year.
I. Landlord Standby: Landlord standby status is a service available to property owners when an owner's rental property is vacant or between tenant occupancy. Landlord standby service will automatically transfer billed utility services to the property owner when a tenant disconnects utility services or the City disconnects utility services for nonpayment. No additional deposit, disconnection or reconnection fees are applicable as long as the owner is in good standing and no outstanding amounts are due from a previous landlord standby status. Landlords shall annually provide written notice to the Utility Department for each individual property address to be listed under landlord standby.
J. Shutoff Fees: In the event utility service is shut off pursuant to this section and a lock and/or restrictor plate is installed lawfully in or upon the disabled and/or shutoff utility meter by an authorized City of Deming employee, the City of Deming shall collect the following fees from the owner and/or occupant who is responsible for payment of said utility bill to the City of Deming. Once said fees are paid, the City of Deming shall remove said lock or restrictor plate. The fees are codified as follows:
1. If applicable, a fifty dollar ($50.00) unauthorized removal or tampering fee if said lock or restrictor plate is removed by any person other than an authorized City of Deming employee; and
2. A one hundred dollar ($100.00) reinstallation fee per meter in order to reinstall each meter after it is removed.
K. Tampering Or Theft Of A Utility Service: It shall be unlawful for any owner and/or occupant of any real property whose utility meter has been shut off by the application of a lock and/or restrictor plate based upon delinquency in the payment of utility services to remove or cause to have removed the lock and/or restrictor plate from the utility meter for the purpose of any of the following:
1. Stealing said lock and/or restrictor plate which belongs to the City of Deming and whose value is less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00); or
2. Intentional misappropriation of said lock and/or restrictor plate after the utility meter has been locked and/or restricted and whose value of the misappropriated property is less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00); or
3. Converting use of the meter after it has been locked or restricted by the City of Deming with the intent to deprive the City of Deming of water and/or natural gas from said utility meter having previously been shut off by an authorized representative of the City of Deming by placing a lock and/or restrictor plate upon or in the utility meter and said value of the conversion is less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00); or
4. Obtaining or causing to be obtained the services of the utilities of water, wastewater and/or natural gas without paying for same and after a lock and/or restrictor plate has been placed upon or in the utility meter by an authorized representative of the City of Deming with the intent to cheat or defraud the City of Deming out of water and/or natural gas and the person obtaining the services is obtaining a value of less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00); or
5. Improper removal of any lock and/or restrictor plate from a City of Deming utility meter consists of any person removing any lock and/or restrictor plate from a City of Deming utility meter after said utility meter has been shut off by an authorized representative of the City of Deming for nonpayment of said utility service.
Any person who violates this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be fined and/or imprisoned in accordance with title 1, chapter 4 of this Code. For enforcement informational purposes only, in the event the value of the theft, misappropriation, conversion, obtaining of the service, and/or improper removal noted in subsections K1 through K5 of this section is greater than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) but less than five hundred dollars ($500.00), it may be referred to the 6th Judicial District Attorney for prosecution as a full misdemeanor under the laws of New Mexico. A value above five hundred dollars ($500.00) up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00), it may be referred to the 6th Judicial District Attorney for prosecution as a fourth degree felony; a value above two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00), it may be referred to the 6th Judicial District Attorney for prosecution as a third degree felony; and above twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00), it may be referred to the 6th Judicial District Attorney for prosecution as a second degree felony. (Ord. 1266, 9-11-2017; amd. Ord. 1325, 12-19-2023)