A. All fees become due and payable on the twentieth day of each month following the billing period by the owner at the office of the city clerk. If the owner feels there is a discrepancy in the bill, the owner may appeal to the city clerk for an adjustment up to the twentieth day of the month. If bills are not paid by the twentieth day following the first day of each month, the same shall become delinquent. The owner should be notified of this delinquency with their next month’s billing. A delinquency fee of five dollars ($5.00) will be assessed if payment is not received by the 25th day of the month in which payment is due. If the bill is not paid in full before the twenty third of the month after service of this notification on the owner, any right to receive water shall cease and be terminated.
If it is determined by the city clerk that an error was made in calculation of the bill or because of faulty equipment, he is authorized to make the necessary adjustments to the account. He may use his discretion to make adjustments in cases of long term shutoff of service by utilizing the reduced rate format as described in subsection 8-1-2A of this chapter.
The city shall require the owner to pay the delinquent water and sewer bills attributable to their use, the current water and sewer bills, plus a twenty five dollar ($25.00) turn on charge as a condition of receiving water service again.
B. All arrangements for late payments will be made through and approved by the city clerk. The city clerk is hereby authorized to collect delinquent payments by any legal method as approved by the city attorney. At such time as any delinquency shall become inactive for a period of time exceeding one year, or in the case of bankruptcy proceedings, said debt may be deemed uncollectible. The city clerk may prepare a request for write off of the account for the city council’s consideration.
C. Writing off a delinquent account shall not act as a forgiveness of the underlying obligation. Notwithstanding any other section of this code nor any other remedy permitted by state statute or city ordinance, in the event an owner should fail to pay a water or sewer bill and allows the bill to become delinquent, in addition to any other remedies provided by law, the city shall have the following remedies: 1) the city may turn the account over to a collection agency for collection; 2) the city may attach the unpaid obligation to a different water or sewer account in the owner’s name, whether the account is in existence or subsequently created and continue to bill the original account; 3) refuse to offer new water or sewer services to the ratepayer until the account is paid in full.
D. In the event the owner of a property connected to the sewer system who is not connected to the water system fails to pay when the sewer usage fee becomes due and payable, the fee shall become delinquent. After the fee becomes delinquent, the city may discontinue sewer services to the property. To discontinue sewer services, the city may take whatever action is necessary to keep waste from the property, which is subject to the delinquency from accessing city lines or other city sewage facilities. This may be accomplished by inserting inflatable bladders in appropriate locations, disconnecting sewer lines where necessary or by taking whatever actions are deemed necessary to discontinue the service. In addition, the city may file a lien against the property using the service and may foreclose the lien in a judicial proceeding or the city may assess the lien as a tax against the property.
Any violation of this subsection is punishable as a misdemeanor by a fine as provided in section 1-4-1 of this code. (1984 Code § 7-3D-3; amd. 2014 Code; Ord. 591, 1-12-2015; Ord. 676, 11-23-2020)