(A) Customer accepts service. The rates, rules and regulations contained in this title shall constitute and be considered a part of the contract with every person, company or corporation who is supplied with utility services from the water and sewer systems and every person company or corporation hereinafter called a “customer” who accepts and uses utility services shall be held to have consented to be bound thereby.
(B) Not liable for interrupted service. The city shall endeavor at all times to provide a regular and uninterrupted supply of service; however, in case the supply of service shall be interrupted or irregular or defective or fail from causes beyond its control or through ordinary negligence of employees, servants or agents, the Department shall not be liable therefor.
(C) Using services without paying. Any person using utility services from the city without paying therefor or who shall be found guilty of breaking the seal of any meter or appurtenances or bypassing any meter shall be guilty of violating this code and upon conviction, shall be fined a sum as provided in Chapters 30 and 31.
(D) Destroying property. Any person found guilty of defacing, tampering, injuring or destroying, or in any manner, limiting the use or availability of any meter or any property of the utility systems, or erecting signs on the property of the utility systems without permission shall, upon conviction of such act, be fined as provided in Chapters 30 and 31.
(E) Service obtained by fraud. All contracts for utility services must be made in the name of the head of the household, firm or corporation using the established spelling of that person’s or firm’s name. Attempts to obtain service by the use of other names, different spellings or by substituting names of other persons or firms shall be considered a subterfuge and service shall be denied. If service has been discontinued because of non-payment of bills or any unpaid obligation and service has again been obtained through subterfuge, misrepresentation or fraud, that service shall be promptly disconnected and the whole or such part of the advanced payment as may be necessary to satisfy the unpaid obligation shall be retained by the city and credited to the appropriate account.
(F) Failure to receive bill. Failure to receive a bill shall not excuse a customer from his or her obligation to pay within the time specified. Should the Department be unable to bill a customer for services used during any month, the next billing shall include the charges for services used during the unbilled month. A month shall be considered as that period of approximately 30 days.
(G) Request to discontinue service. Services shall have been deemed to have been supplied to any property connected to the utility systems during a month unless the customer notifies the city prior to the first day of the new billing month in which the utility services are to be discontinued.
(H) Billing; utility shut-off.
(1) All bills for utility services shall be due and payable upon presentation. If a bill is not paid by the fifteenth day of the month, a penalty equal to 10% of the amount due on said bill shall be added thereto. This penalty shall be in addition to the charges heretofore established for the utility services.
(2) If a utility bill is not paid by the due date printed on the bill, the city shall notify the customer and/or the owner of such failure to pay, and shall give further notice of:
(a) Name and address of the consumer and/or the owner or both, and the amount of his bill;
(b) The customer’s right to dispute the amount of his or her bill or the proposed action of terminating his or her service;
(c) The method whereby the customer may exercise his or her right as set forth in division (H)(2)(b) above; and
(d) That the failure of the customer to exercise his or her right to dispute the action being taken or the amount of the bill, will result in the customer’s utility service being terminated without further proceedings.
(3) Once utility services have been terminated, the same shall not again be connected or used until all delinquent accounts and bills of service are paid in full, including a fee of $40 for each connection of utility services, plus expenses incurred in the reconnecting of the utility services.
(4) The $40 fee for each connection or reconnection of utility services, plus expenses incurred in the connecting and reconnecting of utility services, shall apply to all consumers whether the pause of services was voluntary or involuntary, whether the property is owner or non-owner occupied, and whether the property is residential or commercial.
(I) Collection fees and liens.
(1) Whenever a bill for utility services remains unpaid for 30 days after it has been rendered, the Clerk may submit a statement of the past due account balance to a collection agency for further action.
(a) A collection fee of the delinquent municipal debt may be added by the collection agency and assessed to the consumer responsible for the debt.
(b) The statement shall contain the commonly known description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid municipal debt, the dates the municipal debt became delinquent, and a brief notice that the consumer (not the city) will be assessed any collection fees associated with collection of said municipal debt (§ 52.01(I) to be referenced.)
(2) Whenever a bill for utility services remains unpaid for 30 days after it has been rendered, the Clerk may file a statement of lien claim with the County Recorder of Deeds. This statement shall contain a legal description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, the date the bill became delinquent, and a notice that the municipality claims a lien for this amount as well as for all charges for utility services served subsequent to the period covered by the bill.
(a) If the consumer of utility services whose bill is unpaid is not the owner of the premises and the Clerk has notice of this, then notice shall be mailed to the owner of the premises whenever such bill remains unpaid for a period of 30 days after it has been rendered.
(b) The failure of the Clerk to record such lien or to mail such notice, or the failure of the owner to receive such notice shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for unpaid utility bills as mentioned herein.
(J) Foreclosure of lien. Property subject to a lien for unpaid utility charges may be sold for non-payment of the same and the proceeds of such sale shall be applied to pay the charges, after deducting costs as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. Such foreclosure shall be billed in the name of the city. The City Attorney is hereby authorized to institute such proceedings in the name of the city, in any court having jurisdiction over such matters, against any property for which the bill for utility services has remained unpaid 60 days after it has been rendered.
(1999 Code, § 38-2-1) (Ord. 16-97, passed 11-12-1997; Ord. 10-17, passed 8-22-2017; Ord. 19-19, passed 9-24-2019)