(A) It is the policy of the town to discontinue utility service to customers by reason of nonpayment of bills only after notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard on disputed bills. The town's form application for utility service and all bills shall contain, in addition to the title, address, room number, and telephone number of the official in charge of billing, clearly visible and easily readable provisions to the effect:
(1) That all bills are due and payable on or before the date set forth on the bill and generally all utility bills are due and payable within ten calendar days from the date of mailing.
(2) That if any bill is not paid by or before the due date, service will be subject to disconnection. A penalty of 10% of the amount due will be added to the bill after the due date.
(3) That any customer disputing the correctness of his bill shall have a right to a hearing at which time he or she may be represented in person and by counsel or any other person of his or her choosing and may present orally or in writing his complaint and contentions to the town official in charge of utility billing. This official shall be authorized to order that the customer's service not be discontinued and shall have the authority to make a final determination of the customer's complaint.
(B) Requests for delays or waiver of payment will not be entertained; only questions of proper and correct billing will be considered. In the absence of payment of the bill rendered or resort to hearing procedure provided herein, service will be discontinued at the time specified, but in no event until the charges have been due and unpaid for at least 30 days.
(C) When any of the due dates for discontinuance of service fall on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the discontinuance of service will take effect on the next normal town workday.
(D) A charge of $35 shall be charged for re-establishing utility service after cut-off for non-payment until 4:30 p.m. If the service is re-established after 4:30 p.m., the charge shall be $60. After 4:00 p.m., the utility service will be disconnected the following day.
(E) Persons moving into a location where utility service is connected and on, must notify the town of their occupancy within 48 hours. Failure to notify the town in the specified time shall constitute a misdemeanor on the part of the occupant and that person shall be responsible for all charges then due and payable for that service location.
(F) Persons moving from a location where utility service is connected and in service must notify the town immediately and request discontinuance of service. Failure to notify the town as stated above shall constitute a misdemeanor.
(G) Flat rate sewer customers' initial bill will be figured by adding the monthly flat-rate amount for the year and dividing by 365 to get the daily amount multiplied by the number of days the service was active.
(Ord. 93-02, passed 2-9-93; Am. Ord. 11-01, passed 1-3-11; Am. Ord. 19-04, passed 5-6-19; Am. Ord. 22-07, passed 5-2-22; Am. Ord. 23-06, passed 4-4-23)