(A) User charges shall be levied on all users of the public treatment works. These charges shall cover the costs of operation and maintenance, replacement, taxes, and other administrative costs of such treatment works. The user charge system shall distribute these costs in proportion to each user’s contribution to the wastewater loading of the treatment works.
(B) There shall be established classes of users such that all members of a class shall pay a flat charge for a minimum volume of wastewater discharged from each residence, facility, or other appropriate unit.
(C) There shall be assigned to each user class a number of Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs) (See § 50.055 of this subchapter) for each appropriate unit and this number of ERUs shall represent the ratio of the costs incurred by the wastes from the unit to the costs incurred by the wastes from the base ERU which is charged the minimum rate.
(D) Should any user believe that he or she has been incorrectly assigned a number of ERUs, that user may apply for review of his or her user charge as provided in § 50.061 of this subchapter.
(E) Should the City Engineer determine that a user is incorrectly assigned a number of ERUs, he or she shall reassign a more appropriate number of ERUs to that user and shall notify that user of such reassignment.
(F) Records of all assigned rates and any assigned wastewater volumes forming the basis of the ERU shall be kept on file with the City Recorder and shall be open for public inspection.
(G) The monthly sewer user charge shall be set by resolution of the City Council. The resolution may be revised from time to time by the City Council as provided in § 50.062.
(H) Any user which cannot be classified in any of the above user classes shall be considered a special user. Such user shall be placed in an open class and a special charge based on both volume and strength of waste shall be assigned to that user by the City Engineer.
(I) The sewer user charge for all occupied property shall begin 60 days after the sewer service becomes available, or the day that connection is made to the public sewer; whichever occurs first.
(1) The sewer user charge for all unoccupied property shall begin within 30 days after the property is ready for occupancy or on the first day of occupancy; whichever occurs first. All unoccupied property which is ready for occupancy at the time that the sewer service becomes available shall be treated as occupied property.
(2) Once the sewer user charge has commenced, no credit shall be given for vacancy unless it can be demonstrated that water service to that property from any and all sources has been discontinued.
(3) The monthly sewer user charge shall be reinstated as soon as water service to that property from any source has begun. If the date upon which the user charge is commenced or altered does not fall on the first day of a billing period, the rate shall be appropriately pro-rated.
(Prior Code, § 50.56) (Ord. 184, passed 4-2-1984; Ord. 220, passed 10-5-1992; Ord. 222, passed 3-25-1996)