(A) All fees and charges payable under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid to the Town Water Utility. The fees and charges as set forth herein or as established in the latest applicable rate schedule of the Town Water Rate Ordinance shall constitute fees payable.
(B) All fees, penalties, and charges collected under this chapter shall be used for the sole purpose of constructing, operating, or maintaining the Town Water Utility facilities, or the retirement of debt incurred for same pursuant to state or federal law.
(C) (1) All fees and charges payable under the provisions of this chapter are due no later than 15 days from the date of billing as set forth in any utility billing of the town ("due date" or "Due Date"). In the event that any service charges are not paid on or before the due date, the unpaid charges are delinquent and shall be subject to a late fee or penalty of 10% of the delinquent amount. In addition to incurring a late fee or penalty charge, in the event that any fee and/or charge is not paid in full within ten days of the due date, and the customer not having before the expiration of said ten days requested a hearing in writing submitted to the Town Clerk-Treasurer before the utility board concerning accrued charges, fees, and penalties, it shall result in the services to the customer being disconnected. Fees and deposits associated with any reconnection of services shall be as set forth in this chapter, and the deposit may increase as a result of a disconnection, pursuant to the deposit requirement schedule. The bill sent to the customer will indicate that if the bill remains delinquent for a period of ten days after the due date thereof, and the customer not having requested the hearing referenced herein, it shall result in the services to the customer being disconnected, and there shall be no further notice provided prior to discontinuance of service.
(2) In addition to any fees and charges, including late fees, in the event that the town takes any action to recover delinquent or unpaid fees and charges, the customer shall be responsible for any and all costs of collection incurred by the town, including, but not limited to, attorney fees and/or any fees paid to a collection agency.
(D) (1) A budget billing plan will be made available to any residential customer in a single family residence upon approval by the Water Utility. A residential customer must be a customer of the Hagerstown Water Utility for a period of at least 12 months in the same residence immediately preceding the time for which budget billing is being requested before making an application for budget billing approval for that residence,
(2) The Hagerstown Water Utility will bill the customer each month one-twelfth of the estimated cost of service for a 12 month period under the schedule set forth in § 52.08 herein, with said 12 month period commencing with the bill associated with the first full month billing term after the request for the monthly billing plan is approved by the water utility, and will continue thereafter month-by-month for ten subsequent months. During this period of 11 months, the cost of each month’s service calculated under the rate will be charged to the customer’s water account, and all payments made by the customer will be credited to his or her water account. The bill rendered for the twelfth month will be properly adjusted for the difference between the actual billing during the first eleven months and the payments made by the customer for service during the period. If at any time during the first eleven months the customer’s consumption, including variable costs of furnishing service, of water increases to such an extent that it is apparent that the estimate for the year’s service and the resultant monthly payments differ by more than 20% from the amount of the budget billing payments, the Hagerstown Water Utility retains the right to revise the estimate and increase the monthly billing accordingly.
(3) The budget billing amount must be paid on or before the due date each month to allow the budget billing plan customer to continue to qualify for budget billing privileges. If the budget billing amount is not paid on or before the due date in two successive or non-successive months within a budget period, the budget billing privilege for the owner-occupant budget billing plan customer will be discontinued and the owner-occupant will not be qualified to apply for budget billing payments for at least 12 months following the end of the current budget billing plan period.
(4) Upon being disconnected, the full balance due for water service will become immediately due and payable and reconnection fees will be added. If disconnect of water service occurs in any month because of non-payment before the published disconnect date, the budget billing privilege for the owner-occupant budget billing plan customer will be immediately terminated. Following the disconnect, the owner-occupant will not be qualified to apply for budget billing privileges for at least 24 months following the end of the current budget billing plan period.
(Ord. 4-1991, passed 12-30-1991; Am. Ord. 1-2008, passed 1-22-2008; Am. Ord. 7-2013, passed 10-21-2013; Am. Ord. 14-2017, passed 12-4-2017) Penalty, see § 52.99