The rates and charges shall be prepared, billed and collected by the town in the manner provided by law and ordinance.
(A) The rates and charges for all users shall be prepared and billed monthly.
(B) The rates and charges may be billed to the tenant or tenants occupying the properties served, unless otherwise requested in writing by the owner, but the billing shall in no way relieve the owner from the liability in the event payment is not made as herein required. The owners of properties served, which are occupied by a tenant or tenants, shall have the right to examine the collection records of the town for the purpose of determining whether bills have been paid by the tenant or tenants, provided that the examination shall be made at the office at which the records are kept and during the hours that the office is open for business.
(C) As is provided by statute, all rates and charges not paid when due are hereby declared to be delinquent and a penalty of 10% of the amount of the rates or charges shall thereupon attach thereto. The time at which rates or charges shall be paid is now fixed at the 15th day of the month following the month represented by said changes.
(D) In accordance with I.C. 26-1-3.1-502.5 and all acts amendatory or supplemental thereto, for each returned or dishonored check, electronic or ACH payment, including, but not limited to, debit/credit card transactions issued to the sewer utility, there may be a fee of $30 added to the customer’s bill in addition to the actual charge levied by the depository institution processing the returned check, electronic or ACH payment.
(E) Customers of the sewer utility may deposit payments for the sewer utility in an after-hours drop box located at the Town Hall.
(F) The town Clerk-Treasurer shall serve as the account review officer (ARO) to review and resolve disputes. Before the earliest possible date of termination of sewage service as specified in the notice, a user may request a hearing before the ARO to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount(s) shown in accordance with the provisions of division (A) above. A user shall not be entitled to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount(s) if all of part of the amount(s) was the subject of a previous dispute under the following: the invalidity of any section, clause, sentence or provision of this subchapter shall not affect the validity of any other part of this subchapter which can be given effect without the invalid part or parts.
(G) The procedure for a hearing on a user dispute shall be as follows.
(1) Before the earliest possible date of termination as specified on the notice of termination, the user shall notify the ARO in writing that he or she requests a hearing to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amounts shown on the notice of termination, stating as completely as possible the basis for the dispute.
(2) An informal hearing before the ARO shall be held within 15 days of the ARO’s receipt of the user’s written request for a hearing on the disputed bill.
(3) At the hearing, the user shall be entitled to present all evidence that is, in the ARO’s view, relevant and material to the dispute.
(4) Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the ARO, within ten days of the completion of the hearing, shall issue a written decision formally resolving the dispute.
(H) The ARO shall be authorized to resolve any disputed sewage bill and shall be authorized to order the termination of sewage service under appropriate circumstances. Upon approval by the ARO, the user may enter into an agreement to amortize the unpaid balance of his or her account over a reasonable period of time, not to exceed six months. No termination shall be effected for any user complying with any account for sewer service as charges accrue in each subsequent billing period. If a user fails to comply with an amortization agreement, the ARO may terminate sewer service provided written notice is given to the user at least 48 hours prior to the termination and the notice includes conditions the use is required to meet to avoid termination.
(I) Utilization of this hearing procedure shall not relieve a user of the obligation to timely and completely pay all other undisputed sewage bills or charges. Failure to timely and completely pay all the undisputed amounts shall subject the user to termination of service in accordance with the provisions of this division.
(J) Until the date of the ARO’s decision, the town shall not terminate sewage service of the user. If the ARO determines that the customer must pay some or all of the disputed amount(s), the Department or ARO in his or her written decision, shall notify the user of the following:
(1) The amount to be paid:
(2) The date on or after which services will be terminated; and
(3) Notice that unless the town receives complete payment of the amount shown prior to the earliest possible date of termination given in the notice, sewage service shall be terminated.
(K) A
USER for the purpose of this section is defined as:
(1) A person who requests, either orally or in writing, sewage service from the town sewer utility; and/or
(2) A person in whose name sewage service is billed for the rendering of the service.
(L) Notwithstanding the above and foregoing, the ARO may, upon a customer’s written request, with or without a hearing at the sole discretion of the ARO, consider a request for an amortization or payment plan which differs from the regular billing cycle. The decision of the ARO shall be in writing and delivered to the customer and the Department.
(M) Any residential customer deposit remaining after the passage of this subchapter shall be applied to the customer’s outstanding balance until utilized in full.
(N) One or more final and active accounts in the name of or guaranteed by a party may be consolidated at the sole discretion of the utility, when one or more of the accounts has been final and the amount owing on the account is delinquent.
(O) All new or transferred accounts will be charged a one-time administrative set-up fee of $20. The one-time administrative set up fee of $20 shall not be charged to a developer of any subdivision, but shall instead be charged to the person or entity purchasing a lot or parcel from the developer at the time of the sale. Furthermore an account may be reactivated by the property owner without the payment of the one- time administrative set up fee of $20. As an incentive to encourage the use of automated services offered by the Sewer Utility, the following discounts will be applied to the set-up fee. A discount of $10 credit for set-up of automatic clearing house (ACH) monthly draft and a $5 credit for set-up of electronic billing (e-billing) will be given to all customers who complete the new customer form. The new customer form will be available at Town Hall, on the town’s website, faxed or by mail. The total set-up fee will be added to the first bill.
(P) All owners of property shall remain ultimately and legally liable for the payments of any and all utility charges to the premises regardless of whether such property is used for single-family, multiple-dwelling or commercial purposes or the fact that the billings are made in the name of a tenant. Such billings are for the personal convenience of the property owner, and shall not in any way affect the lien right of the town against the premises to which the services are furnished.
(Q) A billing adjustment may be made by way of credit or debit to the customer's account once a billing mistake is discovered by an authorized utility representative.
(R) The customer must notify the utility at least 15 days in advance of the service termination date. This will allow the Sewer Utility staff to finalize the account and mail final bill due on or before closing the account. The customer shall remain responsible for all utility charges until proper notice is received by the Utility and service is terminated.
(S) In all instances the Utility, upon providing the customer with a proper delinquent notice may terminate sewer service. The Utility may terminate services to a customer for any one or more of the following reasons:
(1) In accordance with an order by any court or other duly authorized public authority;
(2) Detection of fraudulent or unauthorized use of sewer services for which the Utility has reasonable grounds to believe the affected customer is responsible;
(3) Non-payment of bill;
(4) Failure to pay for other material, fees, services or any other outstanding balances to the town; or
(5) Failure to make installment payments as arranged with the Utility.
(T) If, prior to the termination of service date specified in the delinquent notice, the customer notifies the Utility of not having the ability to pay the full amount due, the Utility may make payment agreements for the outstanding bill within the time period determined by the authorized utility representative not to exceed six months.
(U) The customer may not breach any payment agreement with the Utility. If any payment agreement is breached, the Utility may order the termination of service immediately.
(V) The Utility may accept payment of the past due account balance before the work order has been submitted to avoid disconnection of service.
(W) Discontinuance of service for any reason shall not release the owner of the property from his or her obligation to pay in full the Utility bills.
(Ord. 090908A, passed 10-14-2008; Ord. 021213A, passed 2-12-2013; Ord. 081313, passed 8-13-2013; Ord. 121316C, passed 1-10-2017)