(A) Sewer system charges are hereby imposed upon all units of service in a total amount sufficient to pay the costs of the treatment system. Sewer system charges consist of the fixed capital charge (FCC), the reserve capital charge (RCC) and the variable user charge.
(B) The fixed capital charge (FCC) shall be an amount necessary to recover the capital costs associated with the portion of the treatment works capacity currently in use, including, but not limited to, the cost of capital improvements, sewer billing and administration. The total revenue to be raised through FCC shall be in the same percentage to annual capital cost repayment as the fraction of flow and loading treatment capacity currently received at the treatment works. The FCC for participants in the industrial pretreatment program shall be based on their individual flow and loading capacity included in the treatment works capacity. The FCC for all other system users shall be determined at an amount proportional to water meter size.
(C) The reserve capital charge (RCC) shall be an amount necessary to recover the capital costs associated with the portion of the treatment works capacity reserved for future use. The total revenue raised through RCC shall be the difference between the fixed annual capital cost repayment and the amount raised through FCC, and shall be apportioned to system users on the basis of their water meter size. The amount necessary to recover RCC and the RCC for each water meter size shall be determined at the beginning of each billing period.
(D) The variable user charge shall be an amount necessary to recover the annual operation and maintenance costs of the treatment works. The user charge for all connections shall be based upon the flow and load characteristics of wastewater discharged by each user, as estimated by water meter readings, and shall be collected in a total amount sufficient to recover the annual operation and maintenance costs of the treatment works. Each industrial unit of service shall be subject to appropriate metering and monitoring.
(E) An industrial pretreatment charge is hereby imposed upon all industrial units of service subject to national and local industrial pretreatment standards. The industrial pretreatment charge shall be in the amount necessary to recover the administrative costs associated with permitting and monitoring the discharge of industrial wastewater into the treatment system. The costs of laboratory analyses of wastewater constituents shall be borne by each individual unit of service, respectively.
(F) Each user shall pay operation, maintenance and replacement costs in proportion to the user’s proportionate contribution of wastewater flows and loadings to the treatment plan, with the minimum rate for loadings of BOD, TSS and phosphorus being the rate established for concentrations of normal domestic strength wastewater.
(G) The Finance Director shall maintain a proper system of accounts suitable for determining the operation and maintenance, equipment replacement and debt retirement costs of the treatment works and shall furnish the Council with a report of the costs annually.
(H) (1) The Council shall annually determine whether or not sufficient revenue is being generated for the effective operation, maintenance, replacement and management of the treatment works, and whether sufficient revenue is being generated for debt retirement.
(2) The Council will also determine whether the user charges are distributed proportionately to each user in accordance with this subchapter and § 204(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended.
(3) The city shall thereafter, but not later than December, reassess and as necessary revise the sewer service charge system then in use to insure the proportionality of the user charges and to insure the sufficiency of funds to maintain the capacity and performance to which the facilities were constructed, and to retire the construction debt.
(2002 Code, § 3.88) (Ord. 120, Third Series, effective 7-1-1986; Ord. 157, Third Series, effective 12-1-1987)