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(A) The city hereby establishes a sewer service charge system whereby all revenue collected from users of the wastewater treatment facilities will be used to affect all expenditures incurred for annual operation, maintenance and replacement and for debt service on capital expenditure incurred in constructing the wastewater treatment works.
(B) Each user shall pay its proportionate share of operation, maintenance, and replacement costs of the treatment works, based on the users proportionate contribution to the total wastewater loading from all users.
(C) Each user shall pay debt service charges to retire local capital costs as determined by the City Council.
(D) Sewer service rates and charges to users of the wastewater treatment facility shall be determined and fixed in a sewer service charge system developed according to the provisions of this subchapter. The sewer service charge system shall be the system enacted prior to the adoption of this code. The city fee schedule adopted pursuant to § 36.01 of this code may be amended from time to time to include subsequent changes in sewer service rates and charges.
(E) Revenues collected for sewer service shall be kept in a separate fund known as the Sewer Fund. Income from revenues collected will be expended to off-set the cost of operation, maintenance and equipment replacement for the facility and to retire the debt for capital expenditure.
(F) Sewer service charges and the sewer service fund will be administrated in accordance with the provisions of § 53.116.
(G) A connection fee as adopted pursuant to § 36.01 of this code, as that section may be amended from time to time, shall be charged to each user connecting a new service to the sanitary sewer system. The connection fee shall be due and payable prior to the connection of the new service.
(Am. Ord. 2014-05, passed 11-10-2014)
Penalty, see § 53.999
(A) The city hereby establishes a Sewer Fund as an income fund to receive all revenues generated by the sewer service charge system, and all other income dedicated to the operation, maintenance, replacement and construction of the wastewater treatment works, including taxes, special charges, fees and assessments intended to retire construction debt. The city also establishes the following accounts as income and expenditure accounts within the sewer service fund:
(1) Operation and Maintenance Account;
(2) Equipment Replacement Account; and
(3) Debt Retirement Account.
(B) All revenue generated by the sewer service charge system, and all other income pertinent to the treatment system, including taxes and special assessments dedicated to retire construction debt, shall be held by the City Treasurer separate and apart from all other funds of the city. Funds received by the sewer fund shall be transferred to the Operation and Maintenance Account, the Equipment Replacement Account, and the Debt Retirement Account in accordance with state and federal regulations and the provisions of this chapter.
(C) Revenue generated by the sewer service charge system sufficient to ensure adequate replacement throughout the design life or useful life, whichever is longer, of the wastewater facility shall be held separate and apart in the Equipment Replacement Account and dedicated to affecting replacement costs. Interest income generated by the Equipment Replacement Account shall remain in the Equipment Replacement Account.
(D) Revenue generated by the sewer service charge system sufficient for operation and maintenance shall be held separate and apart in the Operation and Maintenance Account.
(Am. Ord. 2014-05, passed 11-10-2014)
The sewer service charge system and sewer fund shall be administrated according to the following provisions:
(A) The City Treasurer shall maintain a proper system of accounts suitable for determining the operation and maintenance, equipment replacement and debt retirement costs of the treatment works, and shall furnish the City Council with a report of those costs annually in December. The City Council shall annually determine whether or not sufficient revenue is being generated for the effective operation, maintenance, replacement and management of the treatment works, and whether sufficient revenue is being generated for debt retirement. The Council will also determine whether the user charges are distributed proportionately to each user in accordance with § 53.113(B). The city shall thereafter, but not later than the end of the year, reassess and as necessary revise the sewer service charge system then in use to ensure the proportionality of the user charges and to ensure the sufficiency of funds to maintain the capacity and performance to which the facilities were constructed, and to retire the construction debt.
(B) In accordance with federal and state requirements, each user will be notified annually in conjunction with a regular billing of that portion of the sewer service charge attributable to operation, maintenance and replacement.
(C) In accordance with federal and state requirements, the City Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining all records necessary to document compliance with the sewer service charge system adopted.
(D) Bills for sewer service charges shall be rendered on a bi-monthly basis succeeding the period for which the service was rendered and shall be due 25 days from the date of rendering. Any bill not paid in full 25 days after the due date will be considered delinquent. At that time, the city shall notify the delinquent owner/occupant in writing regarding the delinquent bill and subsequent penalty. The penalty shall be computed at 10% of the original bill. Discontinuance of services for late payment shall follow the procedures established in Chapter 51.
(E) The owner of the premises shall be liable to pay for the service to their premises, and the service is furnished to the premises by the city only upon the condition that the owner of the premises is liable therefore to the city.
(F) Each unit of a multiple business or dwelling using one sewer connection shall pay for each unit as a separate user.
(G) Any additional costs caused by discharges to the treatment works of toxics or other incompatible wastes, including the cost of restoring wastewater treatment services, clean up and restoration of the receiving waters and environs, and sludge disposal, shall be borne by the discharger of the wastes, at no expense to the city.
(Am. Ord. 2014-05, passed 11-10-2014)
POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS
The Utilities Superintendent or other duly authorized employees of the city, bearing proper credentials and identification, are authorized, with the permission of the licensee, owner, resident or other person in control of property within the city, to enter all properties for the purpose of inspection, observations, measurement, sampling and testing pertinent to the discharges to the city's sewer system in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. If the licensee, owner, resident or other person in control of property within the city does not permit the entrance to the property, the city shall obtain an administrative search warrant as provided for in § 10.20 before entering the property, except in emergency situations.
(Am. Ord. 2014-05, passed 11-10-2014)
The Utilities Superintendent or other duly authorized employees are authorized to obtain information concerning industrial processes which have a direct bearing on the type and source of discharge to the wastewater collection system. An industry may withhold information considered confidential; however, the industry must establish that the revelation to the public of the information in question might result in an advantage to competitors.
(Am. Ord. 2014-05, passed 11-10-2014)
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