(A) Bills: Said rates or charges for service may be payable monthly, every two (2) months or quarterly depending on the determination of the village board. The village board may authorize a different billing cycle for residential use other than for apartments and commercial. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to such premises and the service is 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.
Bills for sewer service shall be sent out by the village as determined by the village board.
Bills shall be computed by adding ten percent (10%) to the total sewer charges, this total shall equal the gross bill. The net bill shall equal the gross bill less the aforementioned ten percent (10%). The bills shall be mailed so as to reach the consumer on the first day of the first month of the next billing period. If the bill is paid within twenty (20) days of the mailing the net bill shall be paid. If the bill is not paid within the twenty (20) days then a "reminder - water bill past due" notice may be mailed. If the reminder bill is not paid within ten (10) days from the second mailing, then a "final shut off notice" shall be mailed notifying the consumer that water service will be turned off if the gross bill is not paid within five (5) days. If the bill is not paid the service shall then be turned off without additional notice.
The village board of trustees shall have the authority to reduce and/or waive the charge or penalty for what may be determined to be sufficient and justifiable reasons for any late payment or nonpayment.
(B) Lien; Notice Of Delinquency: Whenever a bill for sewer service remains unpaid for thirty (30) days or one billing cycle whichever is longer after it has been rendered, the village may file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of 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.
If the user whose bill is unpaid is not the owner of the premises and the village has notice of this, notice shall be mailed to the owner of the premises if his address be known to the village, whenever such bill remains unpaid for the period of forty five (45) days for a monthly bill or one hundred five (105) days for a quarterly bill after it has been rendered.
The failure of the village to record such lien 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 bills as mentioned in the foregoing subsection.
(C) Foreclosure Of Lien: Property subject to a lien for unpaid charges shall be sold for nonpayment of the same, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied to pay the charges, after deducting costs, as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. Such foreclosure shall be in the name of the village. The village attorney will be authorized by the village board of trustees and directed to institute such proceedings in the name of the village in any court having jurisdiction over such matters against any property.
(D) Revenues: All revenues and monies derived from the operation of the sewerage system shall be deposited in the sewerage account of the sewerage fund. All such revenues and monies shall be held by the village separate and apart from private funds and separate and apart from all other funds of the village and all of said sum, without any deductions whatever, shall be delivered to the village not more than ten (10) days after receipt of same, or at such more frequent intervals as may from time to time be directed by the village president and board of trustees.
The village shall receive all such revenues from the wastewater collection and all other funds and monies incident to the operation of such system as the same may be delivered to it and deposit the same in the account of the fund designated as the "sewerage fund of the village". Said treasurer shall administer such fund in every respect in the manner provided by statute of the "revised cities and villages act", effective January 1942.
(E) Accounts: The village 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 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 wastewater collection system.
In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the wastewater collection system, including a replacement cost, to indicate that sewer service charges under the waste 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:
1. Flow data showing total gallons discharged into the village sanitary collection system for the current fiscal year.
2. Billing data to show total number of gallons billed per fiscal year.
3. Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year.
4. Number of users connected to the system.
5. Number of nonmetered users.
6. A list of users discharging nondomestic and industrial wastes and volume of waste discharged. (Ord. 1191, 6-27-1990)
(F) Penalty: Any person violating any provisions of this section or section 3-5-8 of this chapter shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00). (Ord. 1728, 6-22-2010)
(G) Access To Records: The IEPA or its authorized representative shall have access to any books, documents, paper and records of the village which are applicable to the village system of user charges for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts and transcriptions thereof to ensure compliance with the terms of the special and general conditions to any state grant. (Ord. 1191, 6-27-1990)