A. Purpose
This chapter defines how the County will recover Department operating and maintenance costs associated with the management of Sanitary Sewage within the Public Sanitary Sewerage System owned and operated by Pima County.
B. Authority
Pima County is authorized by Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) § 11-264(A) to "purchase, construct or operate a sewage system, including the collection, transportation, pumping, treatment and disposal of sewage, and charge fees and levy taxes". A.R.S. § 11-264(C) provides Pima County with authority to file liens on property for nonpayment of the Public Sanitary Sewage system User Fees.
C. Definitions
The following definitions apply throughout this chapter:
1. "CCF" means a volume unit of measurement for water of one hundred cubic feet, which is equivalent to 748 gallons.
2. "Chemical Oxygen Demand" or "COD" means the amount of chemically oxidizable material in Sanitary Sewage as measured using the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved procedures specified in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
3. "Commercial or Industrial User" means a Person discharging Sanitary Sewage into the Public Sanitary Sewerage System from a property zoned or used for recognized commercial or industrial uses. Commercial/Industrial Users include, but are not limited to: restaurants; bars; laundromats; hotels; motels; offices; in-home businesses with restroom facilities provided primarily for customer use; service stations; barber shops; beauty salons; hospitals; nursing homes; schools; dormitories; churches; penal institutions; utilities; car washes; commercial, medical, and dental laboratories; pet clinics; bakeries; food processing facilities; industrial facilities; manufacturing facilities; machinery fabrication and rehabilitation facilities; and meat packing.
4. "County" means Pima County, Arizona.
5. "Day" means calendar day unless otherwise specified.
6. "Department" means the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department.
7. "Director" means the Director of the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department or the Director's designated representative
8. "Fiscal Year" means the Fiscal Year of the County, initiating annually on July 1 and ending on June 30.
9. "Hazardous Waste" means any solid waste or combination of solid wastes meeting the definition of "Hazardous Waste" found in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
10. "House Connection Sewer" means the private sewer between a free-standing Residential Unit, including appurtenant buildings, and the public or private collection sewer.
11. "Inspector" means a County staff member authorized by the Director to inspect Sanitary Sewage generation, conveyance, treatment, and disposal facilities.
12. "Industrial Wastewater" means Wastewater generated in a commercial or industrial process.
13. "Irrigation Meter" means the Water Meter used to measure potable water flow to uses that do not directly or indirectly result in discharges to the Public Sanitary Sewerage System.
14. "Large Agency" or "Agency" means a unit of federal government or a federally recognized Indian tribe that has contracted or wishes to contract with the County for management or ownership of all or a portion of a Sanitary Sewer system located within the boundaries of property owned by the Agency.
15. "Multi-Family Facility" means a building or group of buildings, each containing more than one Residential Unit, where the Residential Units are not individually metered for water.
16. "Multi-Family User" means a Person managing or controlling a Multi-Family Facility discharging into the Public Sanitary Sewerage System.
17. "Non-Residential User" means any User not meeting the definition of Residential User.
18. "Person" means an individual, firm, company, association, partnership, corporation, joint stock company, trust, estate, municipality, state, interstate body, commission, political subdivision of the state, or the United States Government.
19. "Private Sanitary Sewer System" means a privately-owned sewer or sewer system and related facilities designed to convey Sanitary Sewage from one or more residences or other buildings (including commercial and industrial use structures) to the Public Sanitary Sewerage System. The term includes, but is not limited to, House Connection Sewers and privately-owned pump stations.
20. "Private Water Company" means any entity, except a governmental entity or an entity which is established pursuant to A.R.S. Title 48, which distributes or sells potable water and which is not regulated as a public service corporation by the Arizona Corporation Commission under a certificate of public convenience and necessity. A city or town is not a Private Water Company.
21. "Private Well" means a water well not owned by a governmental entity, special taxing district, or Private Water Company.
22. "Public Sanitary Sewerage System" means the full Wastewater system owned by Pima County, including all gravity sanitary sewer mains; pumping systems; treatment and disposal facilities; and all appurtenances required to collect, transport, treat, monitor, measure, control, store, reclaim, discharge, or recharge the liquid, gaseous, and solid phases of Sanitary Sewage.
23. "Rate" or "R" means the charge in dollars, per one hundred cubic feet (CCF) of potable water usage, adopted by the Pima County Board of Supervisors for the discharge of Sanitary Sewage to the Public Sanitary Sewerage System.
24. "Residential Strength Sanitary Sewage" means Sanitary Sewage produced by a typical Residential Unit without a commercial or industrial operation or discharge.
25. "Residential Unit" means a building or part of building designed for occupancy by one family. Residential Unit includes mobile homes located on separate residential lots or within a mobile home park provided the mobile home has an individual, single lot monthly water usage Volume measurement meter.
26. "Residential User" means a Person discharging Sanitary Sewage from a Residential Unit. Each Residential Users will have an individual, single lot Water Meter, serviced by a Water Company, or will receive potable water from a Private Well. Residential Users are presumed to discharge Residential Strength Sanitary Sewage.
27. "Sanitary Sewage" or "Wastewater" means the wastes from toilets, baths, sinks, lavatories, laundries, drains, and other plumbing fixtures in residences, institutions, public and business buildings, mobile homes, and other places of human habitation, employment, or recreation. Sanitary Sewage includes non-prohibited Industrial Wastewater.
28. "Sanitary Sewer" means a system of pipes for conveyance of Sanitary Sewage into which there is no intentional admission of storm water, surface water, groundwater, or materials toxic to Wastewater treatment processes, unless authorized by the Department.
29. "Septage" has the same meaning as the Septage definition found at subsection 13.36.040(SS) of the Pima County Code.
30. "Septage Discharge Permit" means an individual license, control mechanism, authorization letter, or contract issued by the Director, which allows Septage discharge into the publically owned treatment works.
31. "Service Fee" or "S" means the fixed monthly charge set by the Pima County Board of Supervisors and levied on all Users to cover a portion of the fixed operating and maintenance costs of the Public Sanitary Sewerage System.
32. "Strength" means a measure of the relative impact of Sanitary Sewage on County treatment processes. Strength factors include, but are not limited to, measurements of Chemical Oxygen Demand and Suspended Solids concentrations. Other Wastewater constituent concentrations may be monitored and regulated by the Department as required to comply with state and federal permits and regulations, to protect the Public Sanitary Sewerage System, and to use in recovery of associated Wastewater conveyance and treatment costs. For purposes of calculating User Fees, Residential Strength Sanitary Sewage is used as the baseline.
33. "Strength Adjusted Rate" or "SAR" means the calculated User Fee rates applicable to Non-Residential Users. It is the Residential Strength Sanitary Sewage Rate (R) multiplied by a Strength factor (HS) applicable to each Non-Residential User Class.
34. "Suspended Solids" or "SS" means solids which float on or are suspended in water, Sanitary Sewage, or industrial wastes, and which are removable by a laboratory filtration device. Suspended Solids concentrations are measured using the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved procedures specified in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
35. "Unauthorized User" means a Person who connects to, or discharges into the Public Sanitary Sewerage System without the approval of the Department.
36. "User" means a Person who discharges Sanitary Sewage to the Public Sanitary Sewerage System.
37. "User Class" means a grouping of Users having similar discharge Strength, conducting a similar business, or living in a similar dwelling unit type.
38. "User Class Average" means the total monthly metered water usage volume for a User Class divided by the number of Users in the User Class. User Class Average is calculated by the Department at the beginning of each fiscal year using the previous fiscal year's Winter Quarter Average.
39. "User Fee" means the Rate (R) or Strength Adjusted Rate (SAR) times the Volume (V) charge plus the fixed monthly service charge levied on Users of the Public Sanitary Sewerage System pursuant to this chapter.
40. "Volume" or "V" means, for the purposes of this chapter, the lesser of either the User's WQA or the User's actual metered water usage for the month, in CCFs.
41. "Wastewater" means Sanitary Sewage.
42. "Water Company" means any Private Water Company, regulated utility, special taxing district, or governmental water utility providing potable water to Users.
43. "Water Meter" means a device designed to measure potable water usage.
44. "Winter Quarter Average" or "WQA" means a calculated estimate of each User's monthly, potable water usage in CCFs during the months of December, January, and February of the prior Fiscal Year. WQA's are recalculated annually. The recalculated WQA becomes effective on the first day of the new Fiscal Year (July 1) and remains effective until the last day of that Fiscal Year (June 30).
D. Use of Funds.
1. Operation and Maintenance Expense Priority.
a. Revenues from any source will first be applied to meet all expenses for the operation and maintenance of the Public Sanitary Sewerage Systems, excluding Special Facilities.
b. Revenues derived from the sale of treatment-related by-products will be applied to offset the operation and maintenance expenses.
2. Bond Indebtedness. After funding the operation and maintenance expenses of the Public Sanitary Sewerage System, User Fee revenues will be applied to Public Sanitary Sewerage System bonded indebtedness and other Public Sanitary Sewerage System funds in accordance with the provisions of revenue bond covenants.
E. User Fee Review.
The Department will annually review User Fee revenues and prepare a Rate and/or Service Fee adjustment request to the Pima County Board of Supervisors if projected revenues will be insufficient to meet the Department's financial requirements. When proposing Rate and Service Fee revisions, the Department will:
1. Maintain a distribution of Public Sanitary Sewerage System operation and maintenance costs among Users; and
2. Generate sufficient revenue to pay the costs of the Public Sanitary Sewerage System operation and maintenance, and debt service payments.
F. Financial Management System.
1. System Maintenance. With the assistance of the Pima County Finance and Risk Management Department, a balanced financial management system will be maintained to accurately account for operation and maintenance costs.
2. Revenues and Expenditures. The financial management system will be based on an adequate budget identifying the bases for determining annual operating and maintenance costs, costs of capacity for growth, and debt service payments.
(Ord. 2016-29 § 1 (part), 2016)