1. Bills for water furnished for all purposes shall in general be rendered on a quarterly basis although other payment periods may be used as deemed necessary by the Township; a quarter to consist of any period of approximately 90 days. A fractional part of a quarter shall be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
A. Upon request of any user, and at the sole discretion of the Township, the Township may remove the water meter from the property and discontinue minimum quarterly charges thereon, and will thereafter upon request and payment of a re-connection charge, in an amount as established from time to time by resolution of Board of Supervisors, re-install the meter or a similar meter at the property and re-establish service. [Ord. 2005-08]
2. Usage, service, and minimum charges shall be payable at the Township Office on a net basis to and including the date shown on the bill rendered. Thereafter, the gross bill shall become due and payable. Failure to receive a bill shall not entitle an owner or user to an extension of time for payment. Any owner or user whose account for utility service is in arrears shall pay the gross amount of each bill until all outstanding indebtedness is paid. [Ord. 2005-08]
3. Municipal Lien Filing. Activities which would initiate filing a municipal lien:
A. No payment in full on an account for two billing periods.
B. An overdue amount of $300.
C. Any user fee remaining unpaid as set forth in paragraph .A or .B above, shall be at the option of the Township filed as a municipal lien in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Claims and Tax Lien Act, 53 P.S. § 750, et seq., as amended (the “Act”), or collected under usual means of civil action or as otherwise provided by law. Any bill which remains unpaid after which notice has been given pursuant to the Act, and which shall be entered as a lien pursuant to the Act, shall include all penalties, simple interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum, costs of filing, and attorney’s fees for legal services rendered in connection with the filing, enforcement and removal of the lien in accordance with an hourly rate equal to the Township Solicitor’s regular rate for litigation charges to the Township. [Ord. 2007-07]
4. Authorized Termination of Service. Utility service to any dwelling may be terminated for one or more of the following reasons:
A. Nonpayment of an account where the account is delinquent. For purposes of this Section, “delinquent” means that the account has been continuously past due over the prior 6 months and/or the amount past due exceeds $200. Any delinquent account must be paid in full prior to the next billing cycle to avoid termination of service.
B. Unreasonable refusal to permit access for inspection of meters, service connections, and other property of the utility for purpose of maintenance, repair, or meter reading.
C. Unauthorized interference with or diversion or use of the utility service delivered on or about the affected dwelling.
D. Failure to comply with the material terms of a settlement or amortization agreement.
E. Tampering with meters or other utility equipment.
5. The Township shall not be limited by this remedy but shall, in addition, be authorized to file any criminal charges authorized by municipal or State law. The filing of such criminal charges, however, is not a prerequisite to the election of this remedy by the Township.
6. Days Termination of Service is Prohibited. Except in emergencies, service shall not be terminated for nonpayment of charges or for any other reason during the periods:
A. Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
B. A bank holiday.
C. A holiday observed by the utility where no utility employees are present.
7. General Notice Provision. Notice shall be mailed by certified mail or personally delivered at least 10 days prior to the date of proposed termination and shall include the following:
A. The reason for the proposed termination.
B. An itemized statement of all accounts currently due, including any required deposit.
C. A statement that a fee in an amount to be established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors shall be paid before service is restored.
D. The date on or after which service will be terminated unless: payment in full is received, the grounds for termination are otherwise eliminated, or a settlement or amortization agreement is entered into.
E. A statement that the customer should immediately contact the utility to attempt to resolve the matter, including the address and telephone number where questions may be asked and amortization and settlement agreements entered into with the utility.
F. A statement advising the customer of the Township's procedure where a resident of the customer's household has a serious medical illness.
G. A statement advising the customer of his right to an informal hearing before the Township Manager when he contests the existence or the amount of the obligation.
H. A statement advising the customer that if there is dissatisfaction with the results of the informal administrative hearing, an equity action can be filed with the York County Court of Common Pleas if he contests his obligation to pay the bill in question.
8. Personal Contact. Service shall not be terminated without personally contacting the customer or a responsible adult occupant at least 3 days prior to termination. Personal contact shall mean:
A. Contact the customer or a responsible adult occupant in person or by telephone.
B. Posting the same notice set forth in subsection .6 on their front door.
9. Procedures Upon Customer Contact Prior to Termination. If, at any time prior to issuance of initial termination notice and prior to actual termination of service, a customer contacts the Township, an authorized employee shall fully explain:
A. The reasons for the proposed termination.
B. The possibility of entering into a settlement or amortization agreement with the Township and what agreement the Township would be willing to enter into for a payment schedule.
C. If a customer contests the existence or the amount of the obligation, he shall be notified of his right to an informal, administrative hearing before the Township Manager. The hearing shall be informal and all relevant evidence presented during the hearing shall be admissible. The Hearing Officer shall promptly notify the customer of his findings in writing and the notice shall inform the customer that he has 10 days from the date of such notice to appeal the decision to Court and that all termination proceedings shall be stayed during this 10-day period. Actual water shut-off shall not occur for 10 days after such hearing.
D. The Township shall exercise good faith in attempting to enter into a reasonable settlement or amortization agreement. Factors to be taken into consideration: size of the unpaid bill, the ability of the customer to pay, payment history of the customer, and the length of time over which the bill has accumulated. The Township shall not be abusing the discretion granted to it under this Section where it requires the customer as part of an amortization agreement to pay his or her normal quarterly bill as measured over the course of the last year for each future quarter until all delinquent amounts are paid off and satisfied. These delinquencies must be paid in addition to the current quarterly bills incurred by the customer.
10. Post-Termination Note. When service is terminated, a written statement containing the address and telephone number of the Township where the customer may arrange to have service restored shall be posted on the customer's residence or commercial establishment.
11. Serious Medical Illness. If a notice as set forth in subsection .6 is sent out to a residential customer as opposed to a commercial customer or a landlord and if the utility is informed that an occupant is seriously ill and if a medical certification as set forth in subsection .11 is provided prior to termination, termination shall not occur during the period that the medical certification is in effect. A new medical certification should be provided by the customer every 30 days.
12. Medical Certification. Certifications required in subsection .6 must be by a doctor and include:
A. Name and address of customer in whose name the account is registered.
B. Name and address of afflicted person and his relationship to the occupant.
C. Nature and anticipated length of affliction.
D. Fact that the afflicted has a serious medical illness.
E. Name, office address, and telephone number of the certifying doctor.
13. Additional Procedures For Apartments and Rental. Compliance to the Utility Service Tenants Rights Act, 68, P.S. § 399.1 et seq. In addition to the other notice requirements as set forth in subsection .6, the termination notice given to a landlord shall contain the following information:
A. The fact that the Township will notify tenants of the landlord of the proposed termination of service and the date these notices to tenants will be sent out.
B. The obligation of the landlord to provide the Township with the names and addresses of affected tenants within 7 days.
14. Delivery and Contents of Notice to Tenants. The notice given to tenants shall be mailed by certified mail or personally delivered to the address of each affected tenant, and shall contain the following information:
A. The date on which the notice is rendered.
B. The date on or after which service will be discontinued or terminated.
C. A copy of the landlord's delinquent amount.
15. Termination by Request of Dover Township Sewer Department. If the Township Sewer Department in accordance with procedures established by law and for the reasons set forth in subsection 4. above as they relate to sewer service, requests termination of service, the standards and procedures set forth herein shall apply.
A. If service is terminated under the conditions set forth in subsection 4. above as they relate to sewer service, a fee, in an amount as established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors shall be paid before service is restored. [Ord. 2005-08]
B. The owner of the property served shall be responsible to the Township for payment for all water furnished to the property irrespective of any agreement between the property owner and a third party, and the bill shall in all cases be rendered to the owner of the property unless the Township is notified in writing by said owner to render the bill to some other person, in which case the owner shall nevertheless remain liable for the payment of all water bills.
(Ord. 97-7, 5/27/1997, § 12.8; as amended by Ord. 2005-08, 10/24/2005; by Ord. 2007-07, 9/24/2007, § 2; and by Ord. 2020-02, 3/23/2020, § 1)