The following schedules of rates, charges and fees are hereby fixed and determined as the Rates, charges and fees to be charged to customers of the System throughout the entire territory served.
(a) Establishing and Fixing Rates, Charges and delayed Penalty Charges. The following schedules of rates, charges and delayed penalty charges are hereby fixed and determined as the rates, charges and delayed penalty charges to be billed to consumers of the sanitary sewer system of the City throughout the entire territory served.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
I. Rules and Regulations for the Government of Sewerage Utilities, adopted by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia, and now in effect, and all amendments thereto and modifications thereof hereafter made by said Commission.
II. In the event a building or premises discharging sewage, water or other liquid wastes into the municipal sanitary sewer system uses water supplied on other than a metered basis of either a private or public water supply, the owner of such building or premises shall install a meter or other measuring device, approved by the Utility Board.
III. Where users of said sewer system use water in excess of 30,000 gallons per quarter and maintain independently a separate meter which measures the amount of water supplied a particular premises and not discharged into said sewer system, the below tariff of rates or charges shall be applied only to the metered amount of water supplied the premises and discharged into said system.
IV. Where sewage, water or other liquid wastes are discharged into sanitary sewers of any building or premises and the same is determined by the said Utility Board to contain unduly high concentration or any substances which add to the operating costs of the sewage system, the owner or other interested party shall specially treat such sewage water or other liquid wastes before it is discharged into the municipal sanitary system.
SECTION 1
APPLICABILITY
Applicable in the entire territory served.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial and industrial service
RATES
Minimum Customer Charge
Each customer shall pay a total Customer Charge of fourteen dollars and thirty-five cents ($14.35) per month on all bills rendered prior to July 1, 2014. Thereafter, each customer shall pay a total customer charge in the amount and on and after the effective date as follows:
Customer Charge | Effective Date |
$15.21 | July 1, 2014 |
$15.97 | July 1, 2015 |
$16.77 | July 1, 2016 |
$17.44 | July 1, 2017 |
One Dollar ($1.00) of the above Customer Charge is designated for use on wet weather overflow (SSO) abatement projects.
Volume Charge
In addition to the Minimum Customer Charge, each customer shall pay five dollars and fifty-six cents ($5.56) per 1,000 gallons, based upon the metered amount of water supplied on all bills rendered prior to July 1, 2014. Thereafter, each customer shall pay in addition to the minimum customer charge, in the amount and on and after the effective date, a volume charge, based upon the metered amount of water supplied, as follows:
Volume Charge | Effective Date |
$5.89 | July 1, 2014 |
$6.18 | July 1, 2015 |
$6.49 | July 1, 2016 |
$6.75 | July 1, 2017 |
WELL WATER CUSTOMER VOLUME CHARGE
Sewer customers who utilize a private non-metered source of water (such as well water) shall pay sewer charges based upon usage of 4,500 gallons per month. Such customers may be required by the Utility Board to install metering equipment to measure actual volume of water usage.
CUSTOMER DEPOSIT
All new applicants for residential or other sewer service may be required to deposit (i) a minimum of fifty dollars ($50.00), or (ii) two-twelfths (2/12) of the annual estimated charge for sewer service, whichever is greater.
All new applicants for residential or other combined water and sewer service may be required to deposit (i) a minimum of one hundred dollars ($100.00), or (ii) two-twelfths (2/12) of the annual estimated charge for each service, whichever is greater.
RETURNED CHECK FEE
A service fee of thirty two dollars ($32.00) shall be charged for each check returned for insufficient funds.
LEAK ADJUSTMENT RATE
An incremental charge of One Dollar and Fifty-five cents ($1.55) per 1,000 gallons shall be charged for all water billed in excess of the customer's historic usage for a water leak determined to be eligible for adjustment in accordance with the Utility Board's Leak Adjustment Policy.
WATER NOT RETURNED TO SYSTEM
Where a user of the System uses water annually averaging in excess of 10,000 gallons per month and maintains separately at the customer's expense a meter that measures the amount of water supplied a particular premises and not discharged into the System, the rates and charges herein shall be applied only to the metered amount of water supplied to the premises and discharged into the sanitary sewer system.
DELAYED PAYMENT PENALTY
On all current usage billings not paid in full by the latest pay date, which shall be no sooner than the twentieth day following the date Utility Board mails the bill, ten percent (10% ) shall be added to the net current amount unpaid. This delayed payment penalty is not interest and is to be collected only once for each bill where it is appropriate.
CONNECTION FEE
A connection fee of Four Hundred dollars ($400.00) shall be paid by each customer who makes a service connection from his property into the system, except in the following cases:
A. An owner of property that has been previously assessed for sewer improvements under the provisions of the West Virginia Code; or
B. An owner of property, or his predecessors in title, who has heretofore paid the costs of constructing the sewer, including the service line to which he connects, providing that the sewer and service line were installed in a manner acceptable to the utility and in compliance with Public Service Commission rules.
SECTION 2
SURCHARGE FORMULA TO BE APPLIED IN CASES WHERE SURFACE DRAINAGE IS CONNECTED TO THE SYSTEM
APPLICABILITY
Wherever the Utility Board has discovered that a customer's roof drain, down spout, storm sewer or other similar facilities conducting surface water have been connected to the sanitary sewer system, and such customer has failed to take appropriate action within thirty (30) days of receipt of a demand by the Utility Board, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Public Service Commission, to eliminate such connection, a surcharge will be imposed upon the customer calculated on the basis of the following formula:
S = A x R x .006233 x C
S - The surcharge in dollars
A - The area under roof and/or the area of any other water collection surface connected to the sanitary sewer, in square feet
R - The measured monthly rainfall in inches, as measured at the WWTP
.006233 - The conversion factor to change inches of rain x square feet of surface to a thousand gallons of water
C - The approved rate per thousand gallons of metered water usage
The Utility Board shall not impose the surcharge unless, and until, the customer has been notified by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by hand delivery, that it has been established by smoke testing, dye testing, sewer camera inspection or on-site inspection that rain or other surface water is being introduced into the sanitary sewer system at the customer's location, and that the customer has not acted within thirty (30) days from the receipt of such notice to divert the water from the sanitary sewer system.
Said surcharge shall be calculated and imposed for each month that said condition continues to exist. Failure to pay the surcharge and/or correct the situation shall give rise to the possible termination of water service in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.
(Ord. 0-1469. Passed 2-25-14.)