(A) Bills for the charges as established in this subchapter contemplate a regular monthly reading of the user's meter, and shall be sent monthly. In the event that the user's meter reading is not possible on account of inaccessibility of the remote reading device for whatever cause, reading may be estimated for one month, and notice shall be sent to the user, by certified mail, notifying them of the problem encountered, and that service will be discontinued within 30 days following the mailing if the problem is not remedied by the user. All bills shall be payable on the twenty-fifth day of the month in which billed and shall be paid at the office of the Clerk-Treasurer. If any charges for service of the waterworks system shall not have been paid by the twenty-fifth day of the month in which it became due and payable, a delinquent payment charge of 10% shall be added thereto and collected therewith. If any such monthly bill shall remain unpaid on the twenty-first day of the following month, the waterworks may discontinue service to any such delinquent customer. If the twenty-first day of such month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, such discontinuance of service may be postponed until the next working day. If any bill for the service of the waterworks system shall remain unpaid, the water supply for the lot, parcel of land, or premise affected shall be cut off and shall not be turned on again except on payment in full of the delinquent charges therefor, in addition to the payment of a turn-on/service charge of $25.
(B) A reasonable grace period following the delinquent date indicated on the bill in which delinquent charges may be waived, may be granted by the collection and billing authority to customers for any of the following reasons:
(1) Delays in mail delivery, delays from collection of payments made at off-premise collection sites and delays due to a holiday period;
(2) Incidents of the timing in receiving pension and/or Social Security payments;
(3) A history in which the customer has not been late in making payment in the previous 12 months; or
(4) Delay following the death of a customer or a delay of payment from an estate of a decedent.
(C) All water charges shall attach to the premises served as well as to the customer. The property owner shall be responsible for unpaid water charges on any rental properties and on properties being purchased on contract. If water service charges are left unpaid by a customer upon vacation of the premises served, the utility shall withhold water service to said premises/person until the charges are paid. Moving from one location to another in no way absolves the customers from any unpaid charges incurred at a previous location. A customer’s service may be discontinued at any location for failure to pay any unpaid charges due, regardless of the premises with respect to which the charges were incurred.
(D) Bills for irrigation systems that are separately metered shall be rendered monthly with such billing activity to commence in May and continue until the month of October. In all other months no bill will be rendered.
(E) Where water is taken through more than one meter, and where such arrangement is for the convenience of the customer, that each meter shall be read and billed separately, where water is taken from more than one main or more than one meter for the convenience of the utility, then the meter readings shall be aggregated and billed as one reading.
(F) Rental properties. The bill for all monthly utility services shall be sent to the tenant at the specified address. However, the landlord may direct the Clerk-Treasurer, in writing, to send the bill to an alternate address. If said tenant’s service is disconnected due to nonpayment, the following will occur:
(1) First occurrence: $25 turn-on/service charge will be assessed; all past due amounts and fees must be paid in full before reconnection of service.
(2) Second occurrence: Future bills will be mailed to and considered the responsibility of the landlord.
(Ord. 46, passed 1-7-75; Am. Ord. 46A, passed 12-1-75; Am. Ord. 84-006, passed 5-10-84; Am. Ord. 05-015, passed 12-5-05; Am. Ord. 06-008, passed 3-25-06)