(A) All rates and charges for water, sewer and garbage shall be billed to the owners or occupants of the premises. All users shall be billed monthly, including any unpaid fees. Bills are due and will be dated and mailed on the last working day of each month. Bills are payable at the Utility Commission or to any designated agent. The due date shall be the fifteenth day of the month.
(B) A late charge of 10% of the utility service charges will be added to each past due bill.
(C) All bills not paid on or before the past due date shall be deemed delinquent. The Utility Commission shall mail the customer a written final notice of the delinquency, and of the fact that the customer is entitled, upon written request, to a hearing on the question of termination of service. If a delinquent bill is not paid within ten days after the date the final notice is mailed, and if no hearing is requested, or if a hearing is requested and timely held and the customer’s delinquency is thereby established, the water supply to the customer may be discontinued without further notice. If, however, prior to discontinuance of service, there is delivered to the Utilities Commission, or to its employee empowered to discontinue service, a written certificate signed by a physician, a registered nurse or a public health officer stating that, in the opinion of the certifier, discontinuance of service will aggravate an existing illness or infirmity on the affected premises, services shall not be discontinued until the affected resident can make other living arrangements or until ten days elapse from the time of the Utility Commission’s receipt of the certification, whichever occurs first.
(D) If a deadline date falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the deadline shall be extended through the next working day.
(E) Any portion of a bill which remains unpaid 30 days after its due date shall accrue interest at the rate of 12% per annum until paid.
(F) When any bill (including interest and penalty) remains unpaid for one year after the date due, such bill shall be recorded in the land records of the county by the Utility Commission and shall constitute a lien on the property. If such lien (including interest and penalty) remains unpaid for a period of one year after date of recordation, such property shall be subject to foreclosure and sale. The lien shall include any reasonable attorney fees and expenses of collection paid or agreed to be paid by the Utilities Commission and awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(G) If the occupant of any premises is not also the owner, both the owner and the occupant shall be jointly and severally liable and responsible for the payment of the water, sewer and garbage bills, which, if unpaid, shall constitute a lien upon the premises. A pre-disconnect notice shall be sent by regular U.S. mail to both the owner and the occupants. If water service, sewer service, or garbage pick up service is disconnected or discontinued by the city’s Utility Commission by reason of billing delinquency in the payment of any water, sewer or garbage bills, reconnection of such services shall not be made until the owner or occupant pays all past due charges and penalties owed, plus the amount of $50 as a disconnection and reconnection fee.
(H) The owner of any metered premises affected by division (G) of this section may be exempted from that division by paying annually into a delinquency fund. The amount to be paid each year will be determined as follows: the total dollar amount of delinquencies across all affected metered premises will be divided between the total number of affected metered premises: that number shall then by multiplied by the number of affected metered premises owned by each individual owner who wishes to be exempted. The annual fee shall be recalculated every two years using the average dollar amount of delinquencies of the prior two years. Annual fees must be paid by January 15 of each year to be exempt from division (G) of this section.
(Ord. 18-95, passed 1-2-1996; Ord. 4-2000, passed 6-5-2000; Ord. 21-2004, passed 12-20-2004; Ord. 9-2014, passed 6-2-2014; Ord. 18-2015, passed 12-7-2015; Ord. 2-2018, passed 3-5-2018; Ord. 16-2018, passed 12-3-2018)