(A) Customer accepts service. The rates, rules, and regulations contained in this chapter shall constitute and be considered part of the contract with every person, company, or corporation who is supplied with water services from the water system and every person, company, or corporation hereinafter called a “customer” who accepts and uses village water services shall be held to have consented to be bound thereby.
(B) Not liable for interrupted service. The Department will endeavor, at all times, to provide a regular and uninterrupted supply of service, but 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 village without paying therefor, or who shall be found guilty of breaking the seal of any meter or appurtenances or bypass the meter shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum as is provided in § 10.99.
(D) Destroying property. A 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 utilities, or erecting signs on the property of the utilities without permission shall, upon conviction of such act, be fined as provided in § 10.99.
(E) Service obtained by fraud. All contracts for utility services shall 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 other persons or firms will be considered a subterfuge and service will be denied. If service has been discontinued because of non-payment of bills or any unpaid obligation, and service again has been obtained through subterfuge, misrepresentation, or fraud, that service will 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 village and credited to the appropriate account.
(F) Full payment required. Statements for utility services in the village shall be combined into a single statement, rendered every month, showing the amount charged for utility services. Such statements so rendered shall not be payable in part, and no payment other than that of the entire bill shall be accepted.
(G) Request to discontinue service. Water shall have been deemed to have been supplied to any property connected to the waterworks system during a month, unless the water user notifies the Village Clerk prior to the first day of the month in which water is to be discontinued.
(H) Billing; utility shut-off; hearing.
(1) All bills for utility services shall be due and payable upon presentation. If a bill is not paid by the seventeenth day of the month or within 17 days of the date the bill is presented, whichever is later, a penalty equal to 10% of the amount due on said bill shall be added thereto. This penalty shall be in addition to the charge heretofor established for the utility services.
(2) If a utility bill is not paid within 17 days following billing, then the village shall notify the customer of such failure to pay by first-class mail. The notice to the consumer shall state:
(a) Name and address of the consumer and the amount of his or her bill;
(b) The date, time, and location of the hearing to be held;
(c) That the consumer has a right to be heard and to present evidence in his or her behalf;
(d) That if the consumer fails to appear at the hearing, the consumer’s utility service shall be terminated without further proceedings.
(3) The time, date, and location of the hearing shall be determined by the Mayor, the Village Clerk, or the designee of the Mayor. The Mayor, Village Clerk, or designee shall preside over the hearing. The Mayor, Village Clerk, or designee of the Mayor shall make a final determination as to the rights of the consumer and the village based on the information received at the hearing.
(4) The consumer shall be notified within two working days of the decision rendered by the hearing officer. If the service is to be discontinued, a date and time will be set out in the notice to terminate the service or services of the consumer. Notice of the hearing officer’s decision shall be made by first-class mail. The owner of the property shall be notified of the delinquency also.
(5) If the hearing officer decides in favor of the village, the village shall have the right to discontinue the consumer’s services. Should the consumer fail to appear at the hearing or should the notice be returned non-accepted, then the village shall also have the right to terminate the consumer’s utility services without further proceedings.
(6) Once utility services have been disconnected, the same shall not be again connected or used until all delinquent accounts and bills of service are paid in full, including a fee of $25 for each connection of such utility services, plus expenses incurred in the reconnecting of the utility services.
(I) Lien notice.
(1) Whenever a bill for utility services remained unpaid for 90 days after it has been rendered, the Clerk shall file with the County Recorder of Deeds a statement of lien claim. This statement shall contain the legal description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, 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.
(2) If the consumer 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 if his or her address is known to the Clerk whenever such bill remains unpaid for a period of 90 days after it has been rendered.
(3) 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.
(1) Property subject to a lien for unpaid utility charges shall 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 by bill-in-equity in the name of the village.
(2) The Village Attorney is hereby authorized to institute such proceedings in the name of the village in any court having jurisdiction over such matters against any property for which the bill for utility services has remained unpaid 90 days after it has been rendered.
(Prior Code, § 38.2.1)