(a) Due Dates for Bills.
(1) Sewer bills are due upon receipt.
(2) Bills not paid on or before the fifteenth of the billing month are subject to a 10% penalty charge.
(3) Sewer bills not paid in full by the final payment date shall result in service being shut off without further notice unless a payment agreement has been made with the Utility Department.
(4) Payment agreements can be executed at any time before the final payment date.
(5) When the final payment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the final payment date shall be the next regular working day.
(b) Delivery of Bills.
(1) A third-party vendor may undertake the delivery of bills for sewer, also referred to as "utility bills", by depositing the same in the Post Office only as a matter of convenience to the owner or consumer.
(2) The failure of a person to receive a bill shall not relieve him or her from his or her obligations to pay the bill.
(3) In utilizing the U.S. Postal Service for delivery of their payment of a sewer service charge, users assume responsibility for any failure of the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the payment to the Authority, also known as the City of New Carlisle.
(4) Accordingly, the authority shall not waive payment penalties for any person claiming the U.S. Postal Service failed to deliver a bill or payment.
(5) If the user elects for paperless billing, the user shall receive no paper bill but is still responsible for the payment of services rendered on the appropriate due date.
(c) Unpaid Bills.
(1) When the payment for sewer has not been made, the City may enter on said premises and cause the sewer service to be disconnected and discontinued.
(2) The owner will be responsible for fees associated with disconnecting and reconnecting sanitary sewer service.
(3) In the event that the City has to disconnect service and a shut-off valve is not in place, the City will be installing a shut-off valve, where feasible.
(4) If the property has a shut-off valve, the service reconnect fee will be fifty dollars ($50.00). The sewer will not be turned on until the fees, sewer bill, plus penalty have been paid.
(d) Service Fee for Outside Normal Business Hours.
(1) Any requests for turn-on and turn-offs outside normal business hours will be charged an additional one hundred dollars ($100.00) per turn-on and/or turn-off.
(2) The Director of Public Service or the City Manager will be the only people permitted to determine if a fee will be waived for an emergency shut-off.
(e) Insufficient Funds.
(1) If a bank should return a check from a user for insufficient funds, that user's account will be subject to an insufficient funds charge of thirty-five dollars ($35.00).
(2) Upon the claim of an account holder that the return of a check for insufficient funds was a bank error, the Authority shall waive the insufficient funds charge if the bank supplies adequate documentation of its error.
(3) If a user has two checks returned for insufficient funds, the Authority may require all future payments from that user be made in cash or by money order.
(4) If the user elects to pay his or her water bill online and the credit card used is declined, the user is still responsible for making the payment to avoid disconnection for non-payment.
(5) In the instance where the user’s credit card was utilized without his or her permission to make the online water payment, the user is still responsible for payment to avoid disconnection.
(f) Advance Payments.
(1) Users may elect to pay charges in advance at any time; any remaining credit will be reflected on monthly bills.
(2) The amount paid in advance shall not exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00).
(3) Any refund requests must be approved by the City Manager.
(g) Fees for Online Utility Payments.
(1) There will be a fee to use a credit card and/or debit card online and at the City Building to make utility payments.
(2) The fee shall be one dollar and ninety-five cents ($1.95) per one-hundred- dollar ($100.00) increment.
(Ord. 95-16. Passed 9-18-95; Ord. 13-07. Passed 2-19-13; Ord. 17-31. Passed 9-18-17; Ord. 2020-04. Passed 2-18-20; Ord. 2022-18. Passed 5-16-22.)