It shall be the policy of the city that monthly charges for use of the city’s water and sewer systems shall be sufficient to recover: all administrative costs associated with the systems; all operation and maintenance costs of the systems (including cost to renew and/or replace existing facilities); and all bond debt service associated with the system. It shall be the responsibility of the City Utility Department and the City Finance Department to maintain detailed records of actual expenses incurred by the city in providing water and sewer services, and a breakdown of those expenses at least into the following categories:
(A) Administrative Costs of the Combined Water and Sewer System. For identification purposes, such costs shall be deemed to be essentially the same categories of expenses as are identified under “Customer Accounts Expenses” (Accts 901-905) and “Administrative and General Expenses” (Accts 920-932) in the Uniform System of Accounts for Class A and B Water Utilities published by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. For accounting purposes, it shall be assumed that one-half of the combined administrative costs are incurred by the water system, and one-half by the wastewater system.
(B) Separate Costs for Water System Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Costs and Sewer O&M Costs. Included therein shall be the costs of providing for replacement of worn or obsolete facilities. Also included shall be all charges to the city by the city which have been identified by Hollywood as charges to cover O&M costs of Hollywood’s sewer system.
(C) Original Construction Costs, Including Associated Debt Service. As in the case of O&M costs, original construction costs shall be separated into those incurred by the water system and those incurred by the wastewater system.
(D) It shall be the policy of the city that administrative costs shall be borne equally by all customers, without regard to gallons of service received. Accordingly, the City Commission shall establish a minimum monthly water charge and a minimum monthly sewer charge. It shall be the policy of the city that payment of the established minimum monthly charges shall entitle each customer to receive the specified minimum amount of water and sewer services during that month.
(E) It shall be the policy of the city that all users of the city’s water and sewer systems shall ensure that all water obtained from the city’s water system passes through a city-owned water meter. Each customer shall have one service connection designated as its principal connection, at which one or more meters shall measure all water for which any significant portion ultimately can be introduced into the city sewer system. If a customer desires water for a use in which no significant portion can enter the sewer systems, and if the customer’s distribution system for that use has no cross-connections either with the distribution system for another use or the city’s sewer system, then that user may, at his option and expense, receive water for that use through a separate secondary service connection. No user of the city’s sewer system shall, without the city’s explicit consent, introduce into that system any water which has not been measured through that owner’s principal service connection. One prerequisite of such city consent shall be the installation, at the user’s expense, of a properly designed sewage flow meter which measures all flows, regardless of origin, introduced into the city sewer system by that user.
(F) It shall be the policy of the city that monthly service charges for use of its sewer system shall be based on: either the water flow measured through the customer’s principal service connection or the wastewater flow measured by a meter which measures the customer’s total wastewater flows. Monthly service charges based on a wastewater flow meter shall be allowed only if the wastewater meter has been installed in connection with the city’s explicit consent of the introduction into the sewer system of water originating from some source other than the city’s water system. In either event, monthly service charges for use of the sewer system shall be computed by multiplying a rate per 1000 gallons times the metered flow (minus any initial amount which has been designated by the City Commission as being associated with the minimum monthly sewer charge). The same rate shall be used for all customers that discharge the same type of sewage, without regard to whether the meter used is the principal water meter or an authorized wastewater meter, and without regard to how many gallons are being billed.
(G) It shall be the policy of the city that all O & M costs of its water and sewer systems shall be recovered by the monthly water and sewer service charges, respectively. If authorized by the City Commission, the monthly service charges may be established sufficiently high as to be used to recover not only O & M costs but also other costs, but they shall not be reduced below that necessary to recover O & M costs.
(H) It shall be the policy of the city that monthly service charges for water, sewer and sanitation may be suspended for individual accounts under extenuating circumstances and as approved by the City Manager or his designee.
(Ord. 641, passed 12-15-82; Am. Ord. 1978, passed 11-17-21)