Loading...
1. If the delinquent bill is not paid by the twentieth (20th) of the month in which due, a final reminder notice will be issued to the customer in whose name the delinquent charges were incurred. The reminder notice shall specify that the date of discontinuance of service will be the tenth (10th) of the following month and afford the customer an opportunity to request a hearing within four (4) days from the date of the notice.
On the 7th day of the month following a final reminder notice as provided for herein, the City of Mt. Vernon may, in its sole discretion, place a door hanger or other reminder in similar form at the address of any customer with a delinquent water service bill. A charge of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) will be assessed against the customer for the second occurrence in any calendar year and any subsequent occurrence in that year. The reminder will remind the customer that water service will be discontinued on the 10th of that same month if the water service bill is not paid. The charge will be added to the following month's water service bill and shall be a lien on the property if not paid per Section 92.06. The door hanger or other similar reminder is not required as a condition to discontinue service and the failure of the City to provide a door hanger or other similar reminder is not a defense to discontinuance of service.
2. A fifty dollar ($50.00) administrative fee shall be charged for turning water back on after a disconnect. The administrative fee shall apply to reconnects during normal business hours, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). If the reconnect is asked for after these hours, or during a holiday, an additional administrative fee shall be charged commensurate with the hourly rate paid to the City employee for overtime hour charges incurred.
3. A hearing on discontinuance of service will be conducted in accordance with procedures established by the City Administrator.
4. In addition to discontinuance of service, the City may initiate outside collection efforts of delinquent accounts and reserves the right to use all other legal remedies for collection of delinquent accounts.
5. IIf a delinquent amount is owed by an account holder for a utility service associated with a prior property or premises, the City may withhold service from such account holder at any new property or premises until such time as the account holder pays the delinquent amount owed.
The owner of the premises served and any lessee or tenant thereof shall be jointly and severally liable for water service charges to the premises.
1.
Water service charges remaining unpaid and delinquent shall constitute a lien upon the premises served and shall be certified by the Clerk to the County Treasurer for collection in the same manner as property taxes.
2.
For the purposes of this chapter, a buyer of property as equitable title holder on contract shall be considered the owner of the premises. When the contract seller as legal title holder forecloses on the contract, the contract seller and the contract buyer are both considered owners of the premises and shall be jointly and severally liable for water service charges to the premises incurred prior to the foreclosure.
The lien for nonpayment shall not apply to a residential rental property where water service is separately metered and the rates or charges for the water service are paid directly to the City by the tenant, if the landlord gives written notice to the City that the property is residential rental property and that the tenant is liable for the rates or charges. The City may require a deposit not exceeding the usual cost of ninety (90) days of water service be paid to the City. The landlord's written notice shall contain the name of the tenant responsible for charges, the address of the rental property and the date of occupancy. A change in tenant shall require a new written notice to be given to the City within thirty (30) business days of the change in tenant. When the tenant moves from the rental property, the City shall refund the deposit if the water service charges are paid in full. A change in the ownership of the residential rental property shall require written notice of such change to be given to the City within ten (10) business days of the completion of the change of ownership. The lien exemption does not apply to delinquent charges for repairs to a water service.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 384.84)
A lien for delinquent water service charges shall not be certified to the County Treasurer unless prior written notice of intent to certify a lien is given to the customer in whose name the delinquent charges were incurred. If the customer is a tenant and if the owner or landlord of the property has made a written request for notice, the notice shall also be given to the owner or landlord. The notice shall be sent to the appropriate persons by ordinary mail not less than thirty (30) days prior to certification of the lien to the County Treasurer.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 384.84)
There shall be required from every customer not the owner of the premises served a one hundred dollar ($100.00) deposit intended to guarantee the payment of bills for service. The original amount of the deposit will be refunded to the customer or credited to the customer's account after twenty-four (24) months of continued service so long as during this twenty-four (24) month period there has been no notice of delinquency sent to the customer. This requirement shall not be enforced against prior owners of homes in Mount Vernon who move from their homes (in Mount Vernon) to an apartment or other residence that would normally require a deposit, as long as during the previous twenty-four (24) months of continuous service there had been no notice of delinquency sent.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 384.84)
1. A reduction in the water and sewer portion of a customer's utility bill shall be granted only on the following terms and conditions:
A. Extraordinary water and sewer usage which results in a utility bill for which a reduction is sought must stem from mechanical failure which is not caused by the customer or an occupant of the affected property.
B. The mechanical failure must be repaired by the customer within fourteen (14) days of its discovery or receipt of notification by the City of the extraordinary usage, whichever is earlier.
For purposes of this ordinance, mechanical failures occur when a component no longer meets performance specifications. Mechanical failures can include deformation, yielding, crack initiation, excessive spalling, corrosion, extreme environmental conditions, etc. (i.e. water line breaks, internal component failures in toilets, water heater failures) Items that are not considered mechanical failures include leaving the faucet running, irrigating lawns, or any other operational failure caused by the owner and/or tenant.
C. No adjustment shall be made unless the water consumed in the month of extraordinary use exceeds 150% the customer's average monthly usage. Average monthly usage for the purposes of this section shall be calculated utilizing a one year rolling average of the volume of water used by the customer.
D. Any reduction shall be limited to the three monthly billing periods preceding the date that the repairs are made to the customer's plumbing system.
E. All requests for an adjustment must be made an a form provided by the City with required attachments and presented to the City Clerk within fourteen (14) days after the completion of repairs. The City Administrator shall grant or deny the application for reduction and notify the customer by ordinary mail of this decision and the amount owed. The customer may appeal the Administrator's decision to the City Council by written request mailed or delivered to the City Clerk within 10 days of the date of the Administrator's notice to the customer. The appeal will be placed on the City Council's agenda as soon as practical and the City Clerk shall notify the customer by ordinary mail of the date of hearing at least five (5) days prior to the date of the hearing.
2. In the event that the customer demonstrates qualification for a reduction in the customer's utility charges under the foregoing guidelines, and is granted a reduction by the City Administrator or the City Council on appeal, then water and sewer portion the monthly utility bill for which reduction is sought shall be reduced by 25% with such reduction being provided to the customer as a credit toward the customer's next monthly bill issued after City Administrator or City Council's decision.