(a) Mission Statement. Providing the Village of Elmore and its residents a utility system that is safe, efficient, and well-maintained by meeting and exceeding the industries Standards and customers expectations.
(b) Applications. Applications for service are to be filed with the Utilities Clerk prior to service. The Red Flags Rule (Identity Theft Prevention Program) will be followed to protect new applicants.
(c) Deposits. Deposits must be paid prior to service. The deposit for electrical residential service is two hundred dollars ($200.00). This amount is not additive for deposits with water and/or sewer deposits. Deposit applies to renters only.
The basic deposit for non-residential property is determined by the utility department based upon the nature of the property, its intended use, and the anticipated utility service cost during the months when maximum utilities will be used.
Deposit will be maintained until the final bill is paid or applied to the final bill.
(d) Billing. Utility bills are to be mailed before the 15th of every month. They are due on the 5th of the following month.
A contract for electricity will be considered a contract for all utilities (electrical, water and sewer) being furnished and received; therefore, if all utility accounts of the customer are not so paid on the specified date as stated on the bill, the gross charge shall be paid. Such gross charge shall be the net charge as shown on such bill plus a delinquent charge of ten percent (10%).
Any time the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, consumers are extended a one-day period of grace before late charges are applied.
A returned check for payment due to non-sufficient funds or closed account check fee is twenty-five dollars ($25.00). After 2 NSF checks, cash only or electronic payment through the Village of Elmore Online Payment portal will be accepted for payment.
A customer may enter into an agreement with the Village of Elmore due to non-payment whereas the arrears may be paid on six equal payments along with the current billing period for a period of six months. If a customer fails to pay bills as rendered on the equal payment plan, the Village shall have the right to withdraw the plan with respect to such customer and to restore the
customer to billing as provided for in the applicable schedules, in addition to any other rights which the Village may have under such schedules in case of arrearage in payment of bills. Form Village of Elmore Utility Payment Plan Agreement shall be used to document the agreement between the Utility and the customer.
Payment of utility bills by other than cash means, including but not limited to credit card payment, electronic payment, or Internet payment is authorized subject to implementation and acceptance by the Village of Elmore.
(e) Voluntary Termination of Service. Requests for voluntary disconnection of electrical service must be made, in writing, at the Village’s Public Works Department and shall be approved by the customer contractually obligated to pay charges incurred at the service premises.
A customer who intends to move from the service premises or discontinue the use of electrical and/or water service or in any way terminate their liability hereunder, shall give the Village’s Public Works Department a notice of such intention not later than forty-eight (48) hours before moving and the customer shall be liable for all electrical service, and if applicable, water service, and meter charges that may be used upon the service premises until such notice is given and the Village’s Public Works Department has made the final meter reading.
(f) Nonpayment and Disconnection. The charge for reinstalling any meter taken out because of nonpayment of a bill is fifty dollars ($50.00). Meters will be reinstalled on the same day no later than 11:00 pm.
Consumers who are one month behind and/or a one hundred dollar ($100.00) balance shall be sent shut off notices ten (10) days prior to the proposed termination of service. The notice will include the date of the proposed termination, the reason for the termination and a statement that the resident can avoid the termination by paying the current balance. The notice will provide the address and business hours of the office at which payment of delinquent amounts are accepted.
A 20-amp limited meter may be installed when an account is delinquent or at the discretion of the Village Administrator or designee. The 20-amp limited meter will be removed when the agreed amount is paid.
Disconnections must be made on a day on which reconnection is available the following day. The person performing the disconnection should attempt to contact the occupants at the address to be disconnected by means such as knocking at the door. A notice should be delivered to the occupant and placed at the entrance to the service address. The notice should state the reason for the termination, the amount left unpaid and/or fee for reconnection, and the location and hours of the office. The municipal representative will be authorized to accept payment for past due amounts or may contact the office.
Disconnection of service for nonpayment will not occur when disconnect of service would be especially dangerous to health as certified pursuant to the certification provisions of this rule;
however, (when available) a limiter may be installed on your service. Customer may, to avoid disconnect, enter into, and make payment in accordance with an extended payment plan.
No disconnect for residential service will occur for nonpayment at times when temperatures are below freezing on any given day; however, a limiter (when available) may be installed on your service.
When a Village resident changes address within the Village and has a balance at the “old” address, it must be paid in full before utilities can be put in their name at the “new” address.
(g) Electric. The Village of Elmore will maintain the tennis court lights at the school. The Village of Elmore will supply the electricity free of charge and the use of our equipment and servicemen for maintenance. The Kiwanis will purchase and supply the parts. Free electricity to the tennis courts was established by Ordinance #504 in 1976.
The Village of Elmore will extend electric service if fifty percent (50%) of the current homes in an area that requests service, and if it is an area economically feasible for the Village to proceed with the investment.
Underground service will cost five hundred dollars ($500.00) for the 1st seventy-five (75) feet and six dollars and seventy-five cents ($6.75) per additional foot. The minimum charge for new overhead electrical construction will cost four hundred dollars ($400.00) per residence outside the corporate limits. There will be no charge for an overhead service inside the corporate limits.
The Village will contribute fifty percent (50%) aid to construction cost for a consumer with a high demand requiring a 50 KVA transformer or higher. This contribution will be levied to aid in the cost of construction.
(h) Single Billing. If Service Is Supplied Thru Single Service Drop: Where service is supplied through a single service drop either three (3) or four (4) wires extending to a single service entrance and meter location designated by Utility, a single bill will be rendered, whether Utility elects to use single or multiple metering.
Requirements to Qualify for Single Billing: If Consumer arranges his wiring at his cost so that all requirements can be supplied by means of a single three (3) or four (4) wire service drops extending to a single meter location designated by the Utility Department and providing that such service can be supplied from a single transformer bank and metered thru a single meter, a single bill will be rendered for such service.
(i) Multiple Billing. Where service is supplied through multiple service drops: Where service is delivered at different meter locations through individual and separately metered single and 3-phase service drops a separate bill will be rendered for each service drop location.
(j) Meter Testing. When the accuracy of a meter is questioned, upon written request from the Consumer, the Utility will test the meter. If the meter is found to be correct within plus or minus two percent (2%), to partially cover the expense to make such a test, the applicable charge specified in the applicable power rate schedule shall be paid by Consumer to the Utility. Prior to any test, Utility reserves the right to require a Deposit to cover said Charge.
If the meter being tested is found to be more than two percent (2%) slow or fast, no charge shall be made for testing and the Utility will adjust the bill in proportion to the error (either fast or slow) for the period covered by the bill in question and to the date of installation of a new meter but said adjustment period shall not exceed ninety (90) days.
In the event of the stoppage of or the failure of any meter to register the full amount of electricity consumed, the customer will be billed for such billing period on an estimated consumption basis which will be based upon customer’s normal use of electricity in a similar period during the time the meter was registering correctly.
The Village of Elmore Utilities Department shall complete a meter analysis of all meters used on large power users every five years. For all large power users (usage > 30 kW average for 12- month period), testing will occur every year to ensure accuracy of the meter.
(k) Radio Meters. All radio read meters will be operated and maintained in accordance with the same general provisions that apply to the meters.
In the event of a malfunction of a radio meter, a visual reading of the dial on the meter shall govern.
Occasionally, the Department shall verify that the remote register and the meter are on the same reading. If adjustments are needed to make the remote register equal to the meter dial, either a debit or credit shall be applied to the following billing cycle, whichever is appropriate to properly “equalize” the account for the associated meter.
(l) Power Quality. The Village of Elmore will do its’ utmost to provide quality continuous electric power. Unforeseen events can interrupt electric power flow. Computers should be provided with uninterruptible power supplies purchased by the consumer. Voltage disturbances or distortions that originate in customer equipment will not be permitted in excess of ANSI and IEEE guidelines.
(m) Responsibility on Rentals. Ohio Revised Code 743.04 state on property owners, liability “A municipal ordinance which imposes liability on a property owner for water services provided to a tenant on the premises does not violate due process of law……… A city regulation holding landlords ultimately liable for unpaid services that is provided in a tenant’s name to the tenant’s account, by transferring the delinquency to the owner’s account when the tenant vacates the premises, does not deprive the landlords of property without due process.”
Effective February 2015; see Indemnification Agreement for landlord’s rules.
(n) Responsibility of Bills by Property Owner. Upon the effective date of these Rules, in addition to other legal action allowed by law to collect unpaid charges, the Village is entitled to follow the below procedure:
All bills and other charges due customers who are owners and occupy the premises served by utility service, if not paid after same are due and payable, shall be certified to the Auditor of Ottawa County along with certification that the unpaid rents or charges have arisen pursuant to a service contract made directly with the owner who occupies the property served. Such shall be a lien on the property served, and the Auditor shall place same on the tax duplicate of the County, together with the interest and penalties allowed by law and to be collected by the County Treasurer. The lien shall be released only upon payment in full of the certified amount.
See Certification of Utility Charges Due to the Village of Elmore form to be used for these charges. (Ord. 24-23. Passed 11-27-23.)