(A) Payment Of Charges:
(1) Bills. Said rates or charges for water and/or sewer service shall be payable bimonthly. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the services shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the services to such premises and the services are furnished to the premises by the village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant and user of the services are jointly and severally liable therefor to the village. In the event that a premises using the village's water and/or sewer service is occupied by a lessee or user other than the owner, a security deposit for residential customers and a security deposit for commercial customers in the amount set forth in the comprehensive fee schedule set forth in Section 12.02
of this code shall be posted and the owner's social security number if an individual or federal tax identification number if a corporation and a lessee's social security number if an individual or federal tax identification number if a corporation, shall be furnished to the village. For owner occupied premises, the owner shall furnish his or her social security number if an individual, or federal tax identification number if a corporation, to the village or, in lieu thereof, shall post a security deposit in the amount set forth in the comprehensive fee schedule set forth in Section 12.02
of this code. Proof of social security number shall be provided on some form or document acceptable to the village. The deposit will be returned when service has been discontinued and all service charges and penalties have been paid in full.
Bills for water and/or sewer service shall be sent out by the village on the first day of the month succeeding the period for which the service is billed.
All bills are due and payable 21 days after being sent out. A penalty in the amount set forth in the comprehensive fee schedule set forth in Section 12.02 of this code shall be added to all bills not paid by the twenty first day after they have been rendered.
(2) Delinquent Bills. If the charges for such services are not paid within 21 days as hereinabove mentioned after the rendition of the bill for such services, the village shall take steps to terminate said service or services pursuant to division (D) of this section. No shut offs will occur for the period between March 1 through June 30, 2020.
(3) Lien; Notice Of Delinquency. Whenever a bill for water or sewer services remains unpaid for 40 days for said service(s), the village collector has the authority to file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of a lien claim. This statement shall contain the legal description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, and a notice that the village claims a lien for this amount as well as for all charges subsequent to the period covered by the bill. A copy of said notice shall be mailed or delivered to the user of said services and if the user whose bill is unpaid is not the owner of the premises and the village collector has notice of this, a notice shall be mailed to the owner of the premises if his address be known to the village. The failure of the collector to record such lien claim 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 water and/or sewerage service.
(4) Foreclosure Of Lien. At any time before or after notice of termination is served on the user and at any time after termination, the delinquent user shall have the right to have the water and sewer service reinstated upon payment of the delinquent bill in full plus a shutoff/reinstatement fee in the amount set forth in the comprehensive fee schedule set forth in Section 12.02
of this code. The reconnection of water and/or sewer service shall only be done during the normal public business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
(B) Revenues:
(1) All revenues and monies derived from the operation of the water and sewerage systems shall be deposited in the water and sewer operating fund.
(2) The village treasurer shall receive all revenues from the water and sewerage systems and all other funds and money incident to the operation of the systems as the same may be delivered to him and deposit the same in the water and sewer account.
(3) The village treasurer shall establish a proper system of accounts and shall keep proper books, records and accounts in which complete and correct entries shall be made of all transactions relative to the water and sewerage system, and at regular annual intervals he shall cause to be made an audit by an independent auditing concern of the books to show the receipts and disbursements of the systems.
(4) In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the wastewater facilities, including a replacement cost, to indicate that sewer service charges under the waste cost recovery system and capital amounts required to be recovered under the industrial cost recovery system do in fact meet these regulations. In this regard, the financial information to be shown in the audit report shall include the following:
(a) Flow data showing total gallons received at the wastewater plant for the current fiscal year.
(b) Billing data to show total number of gallons billed per fiscal year.
(c) Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year.
(d) Number of users connected to the system.
(e) Number of nonmetered users.
(f) A list of users discharging nondomestic and industrial wastes and volume of waste discharged.
(C) Notices; Access To Records:
(1) Notice Of Rates. Each user will be notified by the village in conjunction with a regular bill of the rate and that portion of the user charges or ad valorem taxes which are attributable to wastewater treatment services, including the financial information of division (B) of this section.
(2) Access To Records. The Illinois environmental protection agency (IEPA) or its authorized representative shall have access to any books, documents, papers and records of the village which are applicable to the village’s system of sewerage user charges or industrial cost recovery for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts and transcripts thereof to ensure compliance with the terms of the special and general conditions to any state grant.
(D) Discontinuance Of Service For Nonpayment; Reinstatement Of Service; Other Remedies: Water and sewer service supplied by the village to any person, firm or corporation, may be discontinued, shut off or terminated for nonpayment of the bill received by the user for water and sewer services in accordance with this division.
(1) Notice. Before disconnecting utility service, the village shall send notice of the delinquency to the user.
(2) Disconnection. If the account is not paid in full or an appeal filed in accordance with division (D)(3) of this section within 7 days of the date of the shutoff notice, then service will be shut off.
(3) Appeal. The user may appeal the shutoff notice by contacting the village administrator within 7 days of the date of the shutoff notice. The administrator will have sole authority to determine whether or not the delinquency is valid and service should be discontinued.
(4) Payment Of Bill For Water And Sewer Service; Reinstatement Of Service. At any time before or after notice of termination is served on the user and at any time after termination, the delinquent user shall have the right to have the water and sewer service reinstated upon payment of the delinquent bill in full plus a $50 shutoff/reinstatement fee. The reconnection of water and/or sewer service shall only be done during the normal public business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
(E) Voluntary Water Service Disconnections:
(1) Households who request a voluntary disconnection from the village's water system and have their water service disconnected by the village shall be assessed a service fee upon disconnection in the amount set forth in the comprehensive fee schedule set forth in Section 12.02 of this code. There shall be no additional service fee to reconnect the water service. Requests for voluntary disconnections must be made during normal business hours.
(Ord. 76-0-326, passed 11-8-1976; Am. Ord. 91-4-773, passed 4-8-1991; Am. Ord. 92-2-801, passed 2-10-1992; Am. Ord. 92-5-810, passed 5-11-1992; Am. Ord. 00-12-1220, passed 12-11-2000; Am. Ord. 05-1-1440, passed 1-24-2005; Am. Ord. 05-11-1505, passed 11-14-2005; Am. Ord. 11-4-1839, passed 4-11-2011; Am. Ord. 11-5-1843, passed 5-9-2011; Am. Ord. 2014-10-1970, passed 10-13-2014; Am. Ord. 20-4-2160, passed 4-13-2020; Am. Ord. 22-12-2246, passed 12-12-2022)