(A) Criteria for discontinuance of water service in the event of nonpayment.
(1) Any bill will be considered delinquent on the 21st day after the billing date shown on the bill. A penalty of 12% per year will be assessed on any delinquent portion of the bill; provided, however, that a delinquent bill on a tenant’s account will not be subject to this penalty once the final bill on the account is issued.
(2) Effective October 1, 2005, if the bill remains unpaid, the next month's regularly scheduled bill will notify the customer of said delinquency and the date that service will be discontinued, which will be 45 days from the original billing date. No further notice shall be given prior to discontinuance, except that an additional 24-hour courtesy notice shall be provided to commercial and hotel/motel establishments and to multifamily housing of ten units or more.
(3) The business day on which the payment is processed is the date of payment.
(‘72 Code, § 36-36(b), (c))
(B) Fees and charges related to discontinuance of service for nonpayment.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (E) and (F) of this section service will not be restored to the premises until all delinquent charges billed for utility services provided to the premises are paid, along with all applicable fees and charges to be established by resolution of the City Commission.
(2) Customers who illegally restore their water service after disconnection will be assessed charges and fines in accordance with § 51.130.
(C) The city’s Code Enforcement Division and the Broward County Health Department will be notified of any discontinuance of service for delinquent accounts when the service has been discontinued for 48 hours or more. (‘72 Code, § 36-44)
(D) Creation of lien for nonpayment.
(1) When water is furnished to the owner, occupant or occupants of premises, the charge for such water service shall be and constitutes a variable and accruable lien against the premises, and shall become effective and binding as such lien from the date upon which the account becomes due, unpaid and in arrears.
(2) Liens accrued as set out in this section shall remain liens superior in dignity to all other liens until paid.
(3) The remedy provided in this section shall be cumulative and shall not be construed to waive the right of the city to require payment of any bill in arrears before renewing water service to the premises in question.
(‘72 Code, § 36-46)
(E) Upon a customer's request to extend payment of a bill, the city may approve, subject to review of the customer's account history, an extended payment agreement not to exceed 12 months.
(1) No individual application may be made more than once in any 12-month period.
(2) Installment amounts due under the monthly payment plan are payable in full together with full amounts billed for current charges and usage, no later than the due date for the current charges.
(3) If a customer notifies the City that he or she is seeking a rate adjustment under § 51.039(C), the amount in dispute will be held in abeyance and the customer will be required to pay, for the period of high use not to exceed the maximum adjustment period allowed under § 51.039(C), the average of the amount billed over the prior six months. Said payment(s) shall be due by the normal payment date for each of the monthly billing periods in dispute, or by the next payment due date of record on the account if customer notification is received after the due date of a disputed month.
(4) The final amount due by the customer, as determined by the City, may be paid by way of a monthly payment plan in accordance with the provisions of this Section, or shall be due by the payment due date of the next monthly billing period upon being billed.
(5) No provision herein will abridge the City’s right in any way to require payment of any amounts past due, in whole or in part, based on the customer’s account history, including occurrences of late payments, service disconnection, returned checks and meter tampering. The City has the right to approve monthly a payment plan in an amount less than what is requested by a customer, and the right to deny a monthly payment plan arrangement, based on the account history of the customer.
(F) (1) Any other provision of this Chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the City shall not refuse services or discontinue services to the Owner of any rental unit or to a tenant or prospective tenant of such rental unit for nonpayment of service charges incurred by a former occupant of the rental unit; any such unpaid service charges incurred by a former occupant will not be the basis for any lien against the rental property under this section or legal action against the present tenant or Owner to recover such charges except to the extent that the present tenant or Owner has benefitted directly from the service provided to the former occupant. This subsection applies only if the former occupant of the rental unit contracted for such services with the City or if the City provided services with knowledge of the former occupant’s name and the period the occupant was provided the services.
(2) The provisions of this division may not be waived through any contractual arrangement between the city and a landlord whereby the landlord agrees to be responsible for a tenant’s or future tenant’s payment of service charges.
(3) Nothing in this division shall be construed to limit the city’s rights, if any, under F.S. § 159.17, as amended from time to time.
(G) Closure of tenant account due to non-payment. In the event that the City discontinues water services to a property due to a delinquent tenant water account and the discontinuance of water services has been for 60 days without full payment on the delinquent balance or receipt of an application for a new water account, the City shall automatically close the existing tenant account and open an account in the name of the Owner.
(Ord. 205, passed - - ; Am. Ord. O-69-143, passed - -; Am. Ord. O-72-206, passed 12-6-72; Am. Ord. O-88-12, passed 3-2-88; Am. Ord. O-93-60, passed 11-3-93; Am. Ord. O-94-44, passed 9-21-94; Am. Ord. O-94-70, passed 12-21-94; Am. Ord. O-2005-04, passed 5-4-05; Am. Ord. O-2010-14, passed 6-2-10; Am. Ord. O-2012-02, passed 2-1-12; Am. Ord. O-2014-15, passed 7-16- 14; Am. Ord. O-2019-18, passed 9-18-19)