(A) City utility billing procedure.
(1) City water, sanitary sewer and other charges shall be billed on a monthly basis on a combined statement to the property owner. The property owner shall be responsible for the bill.
(2) Utility bills are due upon receipt and become delinquent if not paid in full after the last business day of the month billed. A delinquency charge of 10% (not less than $10) shall be added to the unpaid bill. The City Manager, or his or her designee, may waive up to two late fee charges per calendar year.
(3) The Finance Department shall mail a delinquency notice to each delinquent customer to the physical service address and to the owner’s address, if that differs from the physical service address, within 40 days of the billing date.
(4) Within ten days of delinquency, the Finance Department shall give the Public Works Director a list of such delinquencies.
(5) In the event any person, firm or corporation shall tender as payment an amount insufficient to pay in full all of the charges billed, the amount paid shall be applied in full in the following order: penalties and interest; sewer; and water. In the event of an overpayment, the remaining balance shall be proportionately distributed among all utility funds.
(6) If water or sewer charges remain unpaid on the forty-fifth day after billing, water to such delinquent premises is subject to shut-off by the Public Works Director. The city may, at its discretion, notify the registered contacts of service not less than two days prior to the shut-off date, in which case there shall be a fee as established by city resolution added to the unpaid bill.
(7) There shall be a fee as established by city resolution for the shutoff and reinstatement of water services.
(8) All fees, fines or charges provided for in this section shall be paid in full to the Finance Department before the Public Works Director may reinstate water service to any delinquent premises. Upon verification from the City Finance Department, the Public Works Director shall reinstate service no later than closing of the next following business day. Customers requesting reinstatement of service after regular hours (7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) shall pay a fee as established by city resolution prior to reinstatement.
(9) A customer deposit as established by city resolution shall be required in order to initiate utility service. Customer deposits shall be applied to the unpaid balance due upon closure of the account and any unapplied deposit shall be returned to the customer within 30 days. Customer deposits shall be credited to the customer’s account upon a six-month consecutive period without late or insufficient payment.
(10) There shall be a charge as established by city resolution for checks returned for insufficient payment.
(11) Unless a utility is abandoned, the minimum monthly service charges shall apply. A minimum monthly fee will be charged for each utility.
(B) Payment arrangements. Any utility customer may request a conference before the City Manager, or his or her designee, to consider entering into a promissory agreement that identifies certain terms and conditions of a payment plan that would cause a utility account to become current. The City Manager, or his or her designee, is hereby authorized to enter into promissory agreements on a case-by-case basis for municipal utility customers. Verbal agreements will not be accepted. If a customer fails to make good on any term and/or condition contained within the promissory agreement, the customer’s utility services may be disconnected immediately.
(Ord. 1259, passed 4-5-2010)