(A) Accounts. Except in the case of multiple-occupant premises, all accounts shall be carried in the name of the owner. Except in the case of multiple-occupant premises, the owner shall be liable for all utilities servicing the property, whether he or she is occupying the property or not, and any unpaid charges shall be a lien upon the property.
(B) Billings, due date, and delinquency. All utility accounts shall be billed monthly, unless a different period is provided in the fee ordinance, and each billing statement shall designate a due date of ten days from the billing date. An account which is not paid as of the close of business on the due date shall be considered delinquent. After an account has been delinquent for ten days, a penalty shall be added to, and become a part of, the delinquent account, at the rate specified by ordinance or regulation.
(C) Adjustments and time limitation on utility charges. When a determination is made that a customer has been overcharged or undercharged for utility service, whether by reason of inaccurate metering, clerical errors, or other unintentional causes, the error shall be remedied as promptly as possible, and an adjustment shall be made for the dollar amount of the overcharge or undercharge for the time period that the erroneous charges occurred, not to exceed one year prior to the date the city became aware of the error for undercharges, and the two years prior to the date that the city became aware of the error for overcharges.
(D) Refund of overcharges. When a customer has been overcharged, the overpaid amount will be refunded to the customer by the city within 60 days of the calculation of the amount of overcharge with interest.
(E) Collection of undercharge. When a customer has been undercharged, the customer shall be promptly notified of the cause and amount of the adjustment, and the undercharged amount shall be billed to the customer separately. The customer will be offered a payment agreement, which allows for payments of equal installments over a period of time equal to the time over which the undercharge occurred. No interest or delinquency fee will be charged. In the event that the customer has discontinued utility service or does so before full payment of the undercharged amount, the customer shall continue to be responsible for the payment of undercharge on the same payment terms.
(F) Exceptions. Refunds for overcharges and collection of undercharges shall not apply to situations in which deliberate or intentional acts of the customer or anyone acting on behalf of or for the benefit of the customer have resulted in the undercharge to the customer for utility service. In such cases, the city reserves all legal rights to collect the full amount of the unpaid utilities without regard to the time limitation and installment payment provision set forth herein.
(G) Application of payments to customer accounts. All customer payments for utility services shall be applied in the order of priority set forth below, with all amounts being applied first to the highest applicable category of priority, any balance being applied to the next lower applicable category of priority, and so on successively until the full amount of payment has been applied. The categories of priority, from highest to lowest, shall be as follows:
(1) Administrative charges.
(2) Late payment charges.
(3) Past-due electric charges.
(4) Current electric charges.
(5) Past-due water charges.
(6) Past-due solid waste charges.
(7) Past-due sewer charges.
(8) Current water charges.
(9) Current solid waste charges.
(10) Current sewer charges.
(Ord. passed 8-4-08)