(A) Payment for user services.
(1) Billing for user charges shall be made monthly, and bills shall be mailed on or about the fifteenth through the twentieth day of the month.
(2) Payment for user charge shall be due on the fifth day of the following month.
(3) In the event that user charges are not paid on or before the fifth day of the following month, a 10% penalty shall be added to the said charge.
(4) Delinquent users shall be notified of unpaid bills by written notice mailed to the premises (as shown as the billing address for said user charges) one month following the due date.
(5) In the event that user charges are not paid by the date stated in the written notice, the water supplying user’s premises shall be terminated. Requests for exceptions to this rule must be made to the Village Administrator prior to the shut-off day. The Administrator may delay shut-off for a short period of time for payment to be made. The Administrator shall determine to delay shut-off on a case by case basis.
(6) In the event that user charges are not paid within the date stated in the written notice, such charges shall be deemed and are hereby declared delinquent and therefore such delinquency shall constitute a lien upon the real estate for which water and wastewater services are supplied, and the Village Administrator shall be and is hereby authorized and directed to file sworn statements showing each such delinquency in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of the county and the filing of such statements shall be deemed notice of the lien for such user charges.
(7) It is the duty of the user to keep the Administrator’s office informed regarding the current mailing address of user. Failure of user to receive billings for user charge shall not excuse user from responsibility to pay said user charges or liability therefor.
(B) Multiple dwelling user’s charges.
(1) Property owners offering separate dwelling quarters (apartments) for rent or lease will be billed user charges for each apartment or separate dwellings, whether such dwelling is occupied or empty, unless a separate meter to measure water usage is provided for each apartment dwelling.
(2) If an apartment or dwelling space has its own water meter, then an owner may notify the village, in writing, of temporary vacancies and the village will turn off the water and charge only the debt service portion of the bill, until the village is notified, in writing, to turn the water on and the said water is, in fact, turned on. A $35 shut-off fee and a $35 turn-on fee shall be added to the user charge each time a metered unit is turned off and on.
(3) If each apartment or dwelling unit is metered, bills for user charges will be sent directly to tenants, upon written request from the property owner. However, the property owner shall be primarily and personally liable for payments of the user charge and in the event that such user charges are not timely paid and become a lien, the said lien shall be against the real property owned by the property owner.
(C) Temporary shut-off for vacations and other temporary vacancies. In the event that user desires to have user charges removed for periods during which the user premises are vacant due to vacations or some other reason, upon user’s notice to the village, the village will cause the water at the user premises to be turned off and upon notice by the user to the village, the village shall have the user water turned on again. The user shall pay only the debt service and debt service reserve portion of the bill, during the period in which the water is turned off. A $35 charge shall be added to the user charge each time the water is turned back on. This division (C) shall not apply to multiple unit dwellings, the policy for such units being set forth in division (B) of this section.
(D) Meter policy.
(1) Property owners shall be required to provide access and right of ingress and egress to the village, its agents, employees and designated representatives, to each property served by the village for the purpose of installing, maintaining, checking or removing meters.
(2) Property owners shall be responsible for any meter damage whatsoever which occurs and shall be charged for the cost of repairs and replacement.
(3) Charges for the initial meter purchase and installation shall be paid prior to installation. Charges for repair or replacement of damaged meters shall be billed to the first billing period after such repair or replacement. The village shall have the right, at all times, to change, replace, repair, remove or upgrade any or all meters in the village system at any time.
(4) In case of meter malfunction, the previous year’s average for a similar billing period will be used.
(Ord. 2017-12, passed 10-2-2017)