(A) Water and sewer user service charges shall be billed on a bi-monthly basis to all users. Payment shall be due not less than 15 days after the date of the bill. If payment of the entire amount of the bill for water and/or sewer user service charges is not received by the village on or before the due date, then a late payment penalty of 20% of the unpaid balance of the bill shall be added thereto and become due and payable.
(B) The owner or occupant of a property who has not paid the water and/or sewer bill when due shall be sent a notice indicating that a penalty is due in addition to the delinquent bill. The owner or occupant shall have ten days from the date of the notice to pay the delinquent bill and penalties in full.
(C) If the water and/or sewer user service charges, including any penalty then due, are not paid in full by the date specified in the delinquency notice, the service shall be discontinued without further notice and shall not be reinstated until all past due bills including the penalties thereon are paid in full, together with an additional payment of $100 for shutting off and reinstating the services.
(D) In the event the water and/or sewer user service charges including any penalty then due are not paid by the date specified in the delinquency notice, the charges and penalty shall be deemed and are hereby declared to be delinquent, and thereafter the village may file a notice of lien claim with the County Recorder of Deeds. This notice of lien claim shall include the legal description of the property to which sewer service was provided, the amount of the unpaid user service charges and penalties, and a notice that the village claims a lien for the stated amount as well as for all water and sewer service user charges and penalties, subsequent to the period for which the bill was rendered. Wherever the person whose user service charges are delinquent is not the owner of the property to which service was provided by the village, and the village has previously received notice of this, notice of delinquency and lien shall be mailed to the owner of the property if his or her address is known by the village. The failure of the village to record the lien with the County Recorder of Deeds, or to mail the notice of delinquency and lien to the owner of the property, or failure of the owner to receive the notice shall not affect the right of the village to foreclose the lien for unpaid bills as mentioned in the section.
(E) Property subject to a lien for unpaid water and/or sewer user service charges may be foreclosed in the same manner as mortgages and judgments on or against real estate are foreclosed.
(F) In addition to filing a notice of lien, the village may file a civil suit against owners or occupants whose utility bills have been delinquent for at least 30 days. In addition to all delinquent amounts and fees, the owner or occupant shall pay the village's actual attorney's fees and costs in seeking recovery for nonpayment for such utility services.
(G) The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof, and the user of the water and/or sewer service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to the premises, and the service is furnished to the premises by the village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant and user of the service are jointly and severally liable therefor to the village.
(1983 Code, § 7-3-5) (Ord. 92-13, passed - -; Ord. 94-6, passed - -; Ord. 11-02, passed 4-4-2011)