§ 35.03 SANITATION FUND.
   (A)   Establishment. A fund is hereby established, to be known as the Sanitation Fund, and shall be appropriated by the city to partially or wholly fund the budget of the Sanitation Department of the city, including, but not limited to, salaries, wages, operating expenses, equipment purchases and maintenance for the Department.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.010)
   (B)   Use. The Fund shall be composed of the user fees prescribed in division (C) below.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.020)
   (C)   Fees.
      (1)   (a)   A sanitation fee is hereby established which shall be assessed as a base fee rate in the amount of $10.50 per user per month. A user, for the purposes of this section, is provided by the city.
         (b)   If two or more businesses located within the same structure are owned and operated by the same person or his or her spouse, then the businesses shall be considered a single user. If more than one apartment or other business exists within a structure or mobile home park which has one water meter, then the number of users shall be based upon the total number of apartments or businesses and the Clerk-Treasurer shall determine the number of users.
         (c)   Any person who believes that the Clerk-Treasurer has erred in assessing the number of users per water meter may appeal the decision to the Board of Works within 60 days of the Clerk-Treasurer’s determination, otherwise the right to appeal the determination is waived.
      (2)   (a)   The base fee rate, for the purposes of this section, refers to the sanitation fee assessed to each residential and small business customer, and the base rate is limited to two 30-gallon bags or cans of trash per week.
         (b)   Additional 30-gallon bags or cans will be picked up with a permit attached to each bag or can. The permit fee for each 30-gallon bag or can shall be $1.
         (c)   Larger items such as furniture, bedding, televisions and the like shall require a permit, with fees as follows.
Item
Permit Fee
Item
Permit Fee
Box springs
$15
Carpet, construction debris and other items not specifically set out herein shall be appraised by the Sanitation Supervisor
Chair
$10
Mattress
$15
Sofa, love seat or other settee for two or more people
$15
Television, larger than 30 inches
$10
Television, 30 inches or less
$5
 
      (3)   For the purposes of this section, the permit tag shall be in the form of a four and one- fourth-inch by five and one-half-inch tag that shall bear the customer’s name, address, fee and type of article permitted. The permit tag shall be purchased at the Utility Office. All permit forms will be serially numbered, and a duplicate shall be retained in the office for records management.
      (4)   Extra bags, cans and large items which do not have permit tags will not be collected by the Sanitation Department. Items not collected must be removed from public view and must not be placed for pickup until permits are obtained. Persons leaving unpermitted items on the curb past pickup day may be cited for creating a public nuisance.
      (5)   Sanitation crews may leave a printed notice advising the customer of these rules.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.030)
   (D)   Commercial rate. In order to equalize the sanitation fee by each, the Sanitation Department shall determine which businesses require extraordinary or excessive services. The Sanitation Department shall offer to the businesses a pickup service for its trash and garbage at a rate of $52.50 per month, and the businesses may elect to use city services or to hire private haulers in the event they do not wish to use city services.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.060)
   (E)   Monthly fees. The fee for residential customers shall be established at $20.10 per month. The fee for businesses shall be established at $68.50 per month.
   (F)   Yard waste and leaf collection rules and fees.
      (1)   Tree limbs/brush for curbside collection shall not exceed a volume of five cubic yards. Tree limbs/brush shall be prepared for collection according to currently-promulgated and in-force rules and regulations established by the head of the Sanitation Department. A minimum fee of $5 per cubic yard shall be charged for the collection of each cubic yard of tree limbs/brush in excess of five cubic yards. An additional fee of $40 per hour will be added for every hour exceeding one hour of actual time required for collection. The fees authorized herein may be suspended in the event of debris from natural disasters, such as ice storms, windstorms, tornados and the like, for a time specified by the Mayor or the Board of Public Works and Safety.
      (2)   During the months of October and November, a fee of $1 shall be assessed and charged to the utility bills of residential customers.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.035)
   (G)   Additional yard waste and leaf collection rules and fees.
      (1)   Anytime that customers of the Sanitation Utility deposit tree limbs/brush for curbside collection by the Sanitation Utility and said tree limbs/brush exceeds in amount five cubic yards or said tree limbs/brush is not prepared by the customer for collection in a manner required by the rules and regulations currently in force, a minimum fee of $5.15 per cubic yard over the five cubic yards shall be paid by the customer prior to collection. In addition, a fee of $46.35 per hour shall be paid by the customer for every additional hour over one hour of actual time spent on the collection of limbs/brush. The aforementioned fees may be suspended for the disposal of debris from natural disasters, such as ice storms, wind storms, tornados and the like, for a specified period of time set by the Mayor or the Board of Public Works and Safety.
      (2)   A fee of $2.32 shall be assessed to all residential customers of the Sanitation Utility on the November utility bill. The assessed fee is for the curbside collection of leaves.
   (H)   Escrow account for repair and replacement of equipment. Revenues generated by the sanitation fee shall be deposited by the Clerk-Treasurer in a separate and distinct fund and shall be appropriated from time to time by the Common Council to provide for sanitation purposes only. Per month, $1,500 of said funds shall be placed in an escrow account and used for the sole purpose of the replacement of equipment or the emergency repair of equipment required by the Sanitation Department after lawfully appropriated by the Council. All fees collected and deposited in the Sanitation Fund shall be used for Sanitation Department expenses and for expenses incurred in the collection and disposal of solid and organic wastes.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.040)
   (I)   Placement of refuse collection truck for customer use.
(Prior Code, § 3.47.070)
   (J)   Late fee. All rates and charges not paid when due are hereby declared to be delinquent, and a penalty of 10% of the rates and charges shall thereupon attach thereto. The time at which all rates and charges are due is fixed at 15 days after the date of mailing the bill.
   (K)   Delinquent fees and penalties as liens. Delinquent charges for Sanitation Department user fee charges, rates, services, applied penalties and recording fees constitute a lien upon the property and may be collected in accordance with the provisions of I.C. 36-9-23, as amended.
   (L)   Violations, enforcement and penalties. Failure to pay Sanitation Department user fees and charges when due shall constitute a violation of this section, which shall be enforced by the city and such person as the city may appoint for such purpose, which shall also include the cost of recovery, including attorney fees, other costs of collection and recording fees.
(Ord. 1208, passed 7-18-1988; Ord. 1276, passed 12-4-1989; Ord. 1310, passed 12-31-1990; Ord. 1311, passed 3-4-1991; Ord. 1994-1395, passed 12-5-1994; Ord. 2003-15, passed 12-1-2003; Ord. 2011-01, passed 3-7-2011; Ord. 2012-06, passed 3-5-2012; Ord. 2012-17, passed 10-1-2012; Ord. 2014-03, passed 2-3-2014; Ord. 2019-13, passed 12-2-2019; Ord. 2021-09, passed 6-7-2021)