A. Monthly Bills; Liability For Service: Water service charges, sewer user charges, and industrial cost recovery charges for service shall be payable monthly. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable therefor to the Village. For purposes of this subsection, an owner includes, but is not limited to, the owner of the parcel or parcels of a mobile home or trailer park and the owner of the parcel or parcels of a multi-unit dwelling or apartment complex. (Ord. 2012-10, 3-15-2012)
B. Defective Meters: If any water meter at any time fails to register the quantity of water running through it, the quantity shall be determined and the charge made based on the amount registered during the billing period preceding the date of such failure or the usage for the same billing period of the preceding year, whichever is greater.
C. Rendition Of Bills: Bills for water and sewer service shall be sent out by the Village on the first day of the billing period succeeding the period for which the service is billed. (Ord. 1999-11, 10-4-1999)
D. Due Date; Late Payment Penalty: All bills, except final bills are due and payable on or by fifteen (15) days after rendition of bill of each month of the same billing period. A penalty of ten percent (10%) shall be added to all bills, including all previous past due amounts, except governmental bodies, not paid on or by fifteen (15) days after rendition of the bill each month. When the fifteenth day from rendition of any month is on a Sunday or a legal holiday, then such bills shall be payable on the next secular day without any additional penalty. If a payment arrangement is entered into pursuant to subsection G of this section, no further penalties shall be applied during the payment arrangement period. (Ord. 2018-60, 11-15-2018)
E. Final Bills: All final bills, or bills that are intended to be the last bill an occupant and/or owner has for a particular property, are due and payable on or within fifteen (15) days after rendition of the final bill. Final bills shall be rendered either to the last known address provided in writing to the Village Water Department or directly to the owner/occupant. A penalty of ten percent (10%) shall be added to all final bills, except governmental bodies, not paid on or by the fifteenth of each month thereafter. When the fifteenth day of any month is on a Sunday or a legal holiday, then such bills shall be payable on the next secular day without any additional penalty. (Ord. 2012-27, 7-19-2012)
F. Delinquent Bills:
1. If the charges for services are not paid within thirty (30) days after rendition of the bill for such service, such charges shall be deemed and are hereby declared to be delinquent.
2. It shall be the duty of the Budget Officer to supply the appropriate Public Works Supervisor with a list of all delinquencies immediately following the thirty (30) day period. At that time, the Public Works Supervisor shall be responsible to see that notices are immediately sent to the delinquent users and to the owner(s) of the property, notifying them that the services will be cut off on the tenth day of the month following delinquency or forty (40) days after rendition of the bill for the water and sewerage service unless payment of the delinquent account is made or a payment arrangement is made in writing with the Mayor or Mayor designee. If the delinquent amount is not paid or a payment arrangement is not made within said notice period, the appropriate Public Works Supervisor will cause an additional disconnection or shut-off notice in such manner as deemed appropriate by such supervisor that the service shall be disconnected at the time specified by such notice. A charge as set forth in section 9-4-13 of this chapter shall be charged for the shut-off notice. Thereafter, if settlement of the delinquent account is not made by the time specified in the shut-off notice, the service shall be disconnected. Upon the disconnecting of any service, a charge as set forth in section 9-4-13 of this chapter shall be made for reconnecting the same, after settlement of the current as well as the delinquent account. (Ord. 2017-15, 4-6-2017)
G. Payment Arrangements: If the charges for services are declared delinquent, the Mayor or his designee may allow a user of services to enter into a payment arrangement, in writing, by which the account holder will be required to pay no less than twenty dollars ($20.00) per month to pay down a delinquent account. The payment arrangement shall only be entered into for the delinquent amount owed and the current bill, but in no case shall a payment arrangement amount exceed two (2) months of billing and it shall not be applied to any future service amounts owing or accruing. A payment arrangement shall not be allowed on any account that owes in excess of five hundred dollars ($500.00). If an account of a rental or leased property becomes delinquent and if the account holder is not the owner of the property, the Superintendent shall notify the owner of the property of the delinquency. The owner of the property shall then either authorize, in writing, that the water service to the property be disconnected or authorize that the account holder may enter into a payment arrangement. If a payment arrangement is entered into, penalties shall not be applied to the payment arrangement amount. If a party defaults under a payment arrangement, then all other remedies, including penalties, shall apply. (Ord. 2018-60, 11-15-2018)