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Should any meter fail to register correctly the amount of water used by a consumer since the previous reading, the right shall exist on the part of the city water department to charge for water and sewer service on the basis of three month’s average.
(1964 Code, § 37-31)
(a) Bills for water and service charges shall become due and payable to the city, in person, over the phone, by mail, online or as otherwise indicated on the customer's bill within 21 days from the date of the bill. If a customer has not paid the bill in full within 24 days of the date of the bill, a late charge shall be assessed against all unpaid current charges on the bill according to the specified in § 35-56(1).
(b) The owner, occupant or tenant of any premises receiving services shall be responsible for the payment of the fees incurred for such premises for services under this article.
(c) When an account becomes delinquent, the director may send the customer a second bill. If the account is not brought current within ten days of the date of the second billing, the city may suspend all city-provided utility services until payment is made in full.
(d) After the city has terminated a customer's service for nonpayment or if the account becomes delinquent, the director may file a lien against the property that received the services in the amount of the delinquent fee. A lien may not be filed against any property that is protected as a homestead by the Texas Constitution.
(e) A notice of lien authorized by this section shall be filed in the real property records in the county in which such property is located. The lien shall contain a legal description of the property and the service account number.
(f) The director may add the amount of delinquent charges, including penalties, filing fees, interest and collection costs, if any, incurred upon the property as of the date of execution of the lien. Should additional delinquent charges be incurred subsequent to the date of the original lien's execution, a correction lien may be executed and filed fixing the additional delinquent charges. The correction lien, when filed of record, shall relate back to the date of recording of the original lien and shall become a part of the original lien.
(g) A lien filed pursuant to this section is inferior to a bona fide mortgage lien that is recorded before the recording of the city's lien. The city's lien is superior to all other liens including previously recorded judgment liens and any liens recorded after the city's lien.
(h) The authority of the director to impose liens on real property for nonpayment of service fees does not apply to property which has been properly declared rental property pursuant to this subsection.
(1) The owner of any property which is rented to another person may declare such property to be rental property not subject to lien if the service account is in the name of the tenant.
(2) The declaration shall be in writing, specifically naming the service address, declaring such to be rental property, and declaring that the owner does not wish such property to be used as security for services provided by the city.
(3) The declaration of rental property shall be valid only so long as the person making the declaration owns the property, and rents the property to another, and the tenant has services provided in his or her name. An owner may revoke a declaration at any time by notifying the city in writing.
(i) A lien shall not apply to the services provided to the tenant prior to the effective date of this section, nor shall it apply to services provided a tenant in the tenant's name after a declaration is filed by the property owner.
(j) A lien may be appealed, modified and released as follows.
(1) Within 30 days after filing a lien pursuant to this section, the director shall give notice to the property owner and the account holder that such a lien has been filed on the property. Notice shall be delivered by certified mail, return receipt requested.
(2) Within 30 days after receiving notice, the property owner may appeal the filing of the lien to the director in writing. The director may hold a hearing on the matter or may make a decision based upon the property owners written appeal.
(3) The director shall authorize the release of the lien if the property owner shows by a preponderance of the evidence that no bill for services to the property is owing or that at the time the lien was filed the property was protected as a homestead under the Texas Constitution.
(4) The director may modify or release the lien to reflect the true amount of delinquency in payment for services to the property if the owner proves by a preponderance of the evidence that a lesser bill is owing than that alleged by the lien.
(5) The person last listed on the county tax rolls as being the owner of the subject property shall be presumed to be the owner for purposes of this subsection (j), and the address listed for the owner on the county tax records shall be presumed to be the address of the owner.
(6) Whenever a person pays all interest, principal, and filing fees of a lien validly filed pursuant to this section, the director shall execute a release of that lien and surrender it to the paying party. The city shall not be responsible for filing the release.
(k) The city attorney, at the request of the director, may file suit to judicially foreclose the lien in a state court of competent jurisdiction.
(1964 Code, § 37-32) (Ord. 18835-09-2009, § 4, passed 9-22-2009, eff. 1-1-2010; Ord. 23990-12-2019, § 4, passed 12-17-2019, eff. 4-1-2020; Ord. 25423-03-2022, § 2, passed 3-29-2022)
(a) Accounting requirements. The director shall keep:
(1) Accurate records of all security deposits, including, but not limited to, the depositor’s name, amounts deposited and deposits refunded; and
(2) Separate accounts of all security deposits.
(b) Administration of deposits. The director shall administer cash security deposits in accordance with the following rules:
(1) A deposit will be applied toward payment of the final bill amount due the city when a service account is closed or becomes inactive due to delinquency, transfer of ownership or other reasons;
(2) A deposit made to secure service to premises may be transferred or applied toward payment of a final bill; and
(3) A deposit, less amounts due for service, will be returned to the customer when service is discontinued, unless the deposit is transferred to another address.
(Ord. 9937, § 2, passed 8-25-1987)
(a) Definition. As used in this section only, the term CUSTOMER means a single-family residence or duplex and shall include a yard meter serving such residence or duplex.
(b) Refund requirements. The director of the water department or his or her duly authorized representative may refund a security deposit to the customer when the customer meets all of the following conditions:
(1) The customer has been receiving service for 12 continuous months;
(2) The customer has acquired a satisfactory credit history with the water department;
(3) The customer has not made payment during the past 12 months with a check returned due to insufficient funds; and
(4) The customer has no delinquent bills outstanding.
(c) Refusal to refund. Notwithstanding subsection (a) above, the director of the water department or his or her duly authorized representative may refuse to refund a security deposit where due to the circumstances of a customer’s account there is a substantial risk of financial loss to the department.
(d) Review for eligibility. The director of the water department or his or her duly authorized representative shall review all customer payment histories at least once each year to determine eligibility for refund. Refunds will be made in the following manner.
(1) A refund will normally be credited to a customer’s bill.
(2) If a refund is greater than the outstanding bill, the remaining portion of the refund will be applied to the subsequent bills.
(3) If a customer no longer has an account for service or, in special circumstances approved by the director of the water department, such refund may be made by a check made payable to the customer.
(Ord. 9937, § 3, passed 8-25-1987)
Cross-reference:
Water and wastewater system facility access fees, see § 35-58.1
Editor’s note:
Ord. 10601, § 1, adopted June 5, 1990, amended the code by adding provisions designated as § 35-58.2. For purposes of classification, said provisions have been included herein as Div. 2, §§ 35-66 through 35-80.1 at the discretion of the editor. Sections 35-56 through 35-65 have been designated as Div. 1. See the Code Comparative Table for a detailed analysis of inclusion. See also the editor’s note at § 35-58.1.
This division is intended to assure the provision of adequate public facilities to serve new development in the city by requiring each such development to pay its pro rata share of the costs of capital improvements necessitated by and attributable to such new development.
(Ord. 10601, § 1(1.02), passed 6-5-1990)
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