(Amended by Ord. No. 173,293, Eff. 6/30/00, Oper. 7/1/00.)
(a) The Director of Finance shall have the power and duty, and is hereby directed, to enforce all of the provisions of this article, and may make such rules and regulations as are consistent with the provisions of this article as may be necessary or desirable to aid in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this article.
(b) For the purpose of determining the number of dwelling units contained in any building the Bureau of Sanitation may estimate the number of dwelling units contained in said building, after full consideration of all information within his or her knowledge.
(c) The Director of Finance, on behalf of and in the name of the City of Los Angeles, may enter into a written agreement, in a form approved by the City Attorney, with any customer indebted to the City pursuant to the terms of this article, obligating said customer to pay such indebtedness to the Director of Finance in monthly or more frequent installments, but in no event over a period greater than one year. In any such agreement such customer shall acknowledge the obligation owed to the City and his or her indebtedness thereon, shall agree that in the event of his or her failure to make timely payment of any installment thereof that the whole amount unpaid may be determined by the Director of Finance to be immediately due and payable, and shall agree to pay all costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by or on behalf of the City in the collection thereof or for any legal proceeding commenced for that purpose.
(d) Whenever the amount of charges and penalty imposed under this article, or either of them, is determined by the Department of Water and Power or by the Director of Finance to have been overpaid, paid more than once, or to have been erroneously collected or received by the City in whole or in part, the Department of Water and Power or the Director of Finance, as the case may be, may provide for correction thereof either by refund or by credit on future bills in its or his or her discretion. Any claim for such a refund or credit shall be filed with the Director of Finance by the person paying the alleged overpayment within six months of such payment.
(e) Where there is a dispute with respect to the charges or penalty imposed under this article, or both, the Director of Finance, with the written approval of the City Attorney and subject to the provisions of the Charter of the City of Los Angeles, may compromise the City’s claim for said charges or penalty, or both, where the portion of the claim proposed to be released is less than $5,000.00; and, with the approval of the City Attorney and the City Council, may compromise such a claim where the portion proposed to be released is $5,000.00 or more.