(A) Bills.
(1) General provisions. Rates or charges shall be payable monthly. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof, and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to the premises, and the service is furnished to the premises by the village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant, and user of the services are jointly and severally liable therefore to the village. Bills for sewer service shall be sent out by the village collector on the fifth day of the month succeeding the period for which the service is billed.
(2) Rental properties. Monthly water, sewer, and garbage bills for property occupied by an entity or person other than the owner of that property shall be sent directly to the owner of the property. The owner and occupant of the property shall remain jointly and severally liable for the water, sewer, and garbage bills for the property.
(3) Due date and penalties. All water and sewer bills are due and payable 15 days after being sent out. A penalty of 10% shall be added to all bills not paid before the sixteenth day after they have been issued. Such penalty shall be added to the principal amount owed in computing payoff balances for delinquent service recipients.
(B) Delinquency. Whenever a bill for water and/or sewer service remains unpaid five days after the due date, such monies owing, inclusive of applicable penalty, interest, and fees, shall constitute delinquent service payments.
(C) Notice of delinquency. Where a delinquent water and/or sewer service payment is triggered by non-payment for five calendar days following the due date, as provided in division (A)(3) above, the Village Collector shall send the owner and occupant, if other than the owner, a notice of delinquency. The notice of delinquency shall specify the premises served; a copy of the bill(s) for which payment has not yet been tendered, the amount presently due and owing, including any applicable penalties, interest, and fees; a notice that service shall be discontinued, as provided in division (D) below, within five calendar days of the notice of delinquency, unless the payoff balance is tendered in full. The notice of delinquency shall also set forth that the delinquent charges having accrued shall become a lien on the premises served if the payoff balance is not tendered in full within five calendar days.
(D) Disconnection for late payment.
(1) It is the policy of the village to discontinue utility service to customers by reason of nonpayment of bills only after notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard on disputed bills. The village’s form for application for utility service and all bills shall contain, in addition to the title, address, room number, and telephone number of the official in charge of billing, clearly visible and easily readable provisions to the effect that:
(a) All bills are due and payable on or before the date set forth on the bill;
(b) If any bill is not paid by or before that date, a second bill will be mailed containing a cutoff notice that if the bill is not paid within ten days of the mailing of the second bill, service will be discontinued for nonpayment; and
(c) Any customer disputing the correctness of his or her bill shall have a right to a hearing at which time he or she may be represented in person and by counsel or any other person of his or her choosing and may present, orally or in writing, his or her complaint and contentions to the village official in charge of utility billing. This official shall be authorized to order that the customer’s service not be discontinued and shall have the authority to make a final determination of the customer’s complaint.
(2) Requests for delays or waiver of payment will not be entertained; only questions of proper and correct billing will be considered. In the absence of payment of the bill rendered or resort to the hearing procedure provided herein, service will be discontinued at the time specified, but in no event until the charges have been due and unpaid for at least 30 days.
(3) When it becomes necessary for the village to discontinue utility service to a customer for nonpayment of bills, service will be reinstated only after all bills for service then due have been paid, along with a turn-on charge in the sum of $25.
(E) Notice of lien.
(1) Whenever a bill for water and/or sewer service remains unpaid for 15 days after it was originally mailed, and five calendar days following issuance of the notice of delinquency provided in division (C) above, the village may file with the County Recorder of Deeds a notice of lien in the county in which the real property receiving the services is located. This notice of lien shall consist of a sworn statement setting out:
(a) A legal description of the premises served;
(b) The amount of money due for such service plus all penalties, interest, and fees; and
(c) The date when said amount became delinquent.
(2) A copy of the notice of lien shall be sent to the record owner and may be sent to any occupants of the premises subject to the lien, with any and all delinquency notices affixed thereto. The failure of the village to record the lien or to mail the notice or the failure of the owner to receive the notice shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for unpaid bills as mentioned in the foregoing section. In the event a notice of lien is recorded, the owner of the property shall be responsible for payment of the following additional fees, and the lien shall not be released until such fees are paid:
(a) Notice of lien: $50;
(b) Recorder fees per the County Recorder; and
(c) Release fee per the County Recorder.
(F) Foreclosure of lien.
(1) Property subject to a lien for unpaid charges shall be sold for non-payment of the charges, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied to pay the charges, after deducting costs, as is the case in the foreclosure of other statutory liens. Foreclosure shall be by bill-in-equity and in the name of the village.
(2) The Village Attorney is hereby authorized and directed to institute proceedings in the name of the village in any court having jurisdiction over such matters against any property for which the bill has remained unpaid 90 days in the case of a monthly bill after it has been rendered.
(G) Restoration of service. Utility service shall not be restored to the property after shut off unless all delinquent utility bills, late fees, and a $25 fee to assist in covering the cost of the disconnection and a $25 fee to assist in covering the cost of reconnection is paid in full. Once the utility service is turned off at a property, the village will only accept payment in the form of cash, certified check, or money order.
(H) Revenues.
(1) All revenues and moneys derived from the operation of the sewerage system shall be deposited in the water sewer and garbage account of the sewerage fund. All such revenues and moneys shall be held by the village separate and apart from private funds and separate and apart from all other funds of the village and all of said sum, without any deductions whatever, shall be delivered to the Village Treasurer not more than ten calendar days after receipt of the same, or at such more frequent intervals as may, from time-to-time, be directed by the President and Board of Trustees.
(2) The village shall receive all such revenues from the system and all other funds and moneys incident to the operation of such system as the same may be delivered to him or her and deposit the same in the account of the fund designated as the Waterworks and Sewerage Fund of the village. Village Treasurer shall administer such fund in every respect in the manner provided by the State Municipal Code.
(I) Accounts.
(1) The Village Treasurer shall establish a proper system of accounts and shall keep proper books, records, and accounts in which complete and correct entries shall be made of all transactions relative to the sewerage system, and at regular annual intervals, he or she shall cause to be made an audit by an independent auditing concern of the books to show the receipts and disbursements of the system. Separate accounts shall be kept for water and sewerage portions of the system. Accounts shall be kept as provided by the Village Board or otherwise in compliance with any applicable laws.
(2) In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the waterworks facilities and wastewater facilities, including a replacement cost, to indicate that the sewer service charges under the waste cost recovery system and capital amounts required to be recovered under the industrial cost recovery system do in fact meet these regulations. In this regard, the financial information to be shown in the audit report shall include the following:
(a) Flow data showing total gallons pumped to the water distribution system;
(b) Flow data showing total gallons received at the wastewater plant for the current fiscal year;
(c) Billing data to show total number of gallons billed for water use and sewer use;
(d) Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year;
(e) Number of users connected to the system;
(f) Number of non-metered users; and
(g) A list of users discharging non-domestic wastes (industrial users) and volume of waste discharged.
(J) Access to records. The State Environmental Protection Agency or its authorized representative shall have access to any books, documents, papers, and records of the village which are applicable to village system of user charges or industrial cost recovery for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts, and transcriptions thereof to ensure compliance with the terms of the special and general conditions to any state grant.
(Ord. 2016-12, passed 12-20-2016)