(A) Notice of appeal. A utilities customer who disputes the amount of a utility bill, or who is unable to pay all or part of the bill, may appeal the proposed shut-off of utilities to the City Council by delivering a written notice of appeal to the City Clerk no later than the close of business on the fifth calendar day after the date of the first written notice sent to the customer pursuant to § 50.04(A); the notice of appeal may be made on a form provided by the City Clerk and in any event shall be dated and signed by the customer or authorized agent, and shall contain the following information:
(1) Name, address and phone number (during business hours) of customer;
(2) Utility account number;
(3) Date of bill and date of proposed shut-off;
(4) Amount of bill;
(5) If amount of bill is in dispute, reasons for customer’s belief that bill is in error, and proposed adjustment; and
(6) If customer is unable to pay part or all of bill by shut-off date, reasons for inability to pay and proposed payment arrangements.
(B) Hearing on appeal. Upon the receipt of a notice of appeal, the City Clerk shall schedule a hearing before the City Council. The hearing shall be scheduled as soon as practicable, and no later than the next regular City Council meeting after the date of the notice of appeal. The customer’s utilities shall not be shut off pending the appeal hearing. The customer shall be promptly notified of the date, time and place of the hearing by telephone, first class mail, or any other reasonable means. At the hearing, the customer may present any testimony and evidence relevant to the appeal, and the members of the City Council may question the customer or other persons about any matter relevant to the appeal. The City Council shall inform the customer of its decision prior to the conclusion of the hearing. If requested by the customer, the City Council shall provide a written summary of its findings and decision within a reasonable time period. The City Council shall in any event maintain such a summary for its own records.
(C) Decision of City Council. The City Council may make any of the following decisions, based on the facts and circumstances of the case:
(1) That the appeal is without merit and that the customer’s utilities will be shut off if full payment of the utility bill is not made within the time period specified by the City Council, which shall not be less than 48 hours after the conclusion of the hearing;
(2) In cases involving a dispute in the amount of the bill, that an adjustment will be made to the bill, and that the customer’s utility services will be continued unless the customer fails to pay the corrected amount of the bill within the time period specified by the City Council, which shall not be less than 48 hours after the conclusion of the hearing; and
(3) In cases involving the customer’s inability to pay, that payment shall be deferred to a specified date or that a specific payment schedule shall be followed, and that the customer’s utility service shall be continued unless the customer fails to make payment in accordance with the specified arrangements; and that, in the event of such failure, the customer’s utilities may be shut off upon 48 hours written notice to the customer, such notice to be sent by first class mail and the 48-hour notice period to begin at noon on the business day following the mailing of the notice.
(D) Guidelines for decision on appeal. In appeals based on the customer’s inability to pay a utility bill, the City Council, shall consider the following criteria to determine whether it is appropriate to allow deferred payment as an alternative to shutting off the customer’s utility sendee:
(1) The customer’s history of payment of utility bills;
(2) The nature and severity of the financial difficulties of the customer;
(3) The assets of the customer available for payment of the utility bill;
(4) The likelihood of ability to make deferred payment(s) as scheduled; and
(5) The efforts made by the customer to obtain public assistance, energy assistance or other available resources for payment.
(E) Forgiveness of utility bills. Except for cases in which it is determined that an error has been made in the customer’s utility bill, the City Clerk and the City Council shall have no authority to permanently forgive any portion of the customer’s utility bill.
(Ord. 94, passed 2-9-2004)