(a) There shall be established a Municipal Service Fee which is to be assessed upon each residential, business, charitable, eleemosynary, religious, fraternal and governmental unit in the City.
(b) (1) The amount of such Municipal service fee, which may be adjusted by ordinance, shall be:
A. Police fee: Ten dollars and eighteen cents ($10.18) per month.
B. Floodwall fee: One dollar and ninety-one cents ($1.91) per month.
C. Street maintenance: Five dollars and seventy-two cents ($5.72) per month.
D. Street lighting: One dollar and ninety-one cents ($1.91) per month.
E. Fire Protection Fee: One dollar ($1.00) per month.
F. Parks: Sixty-four cents ($.64) per month.
G. Cemeteries: Sixty-four cents ($.64) per month.
A total of twenty-two dollars ($22.00) shall be added to, made a part of, and collected on the bill of each individual residential, business, charitable, eleemosynary, religious, fraternal, and governmental unit in the City.
(2) In the event that a residential, business, charitable, eleemosynary, religious, fraternal and governmental unit the City is not occupied by the owner, tenant or other individual and is vacant, then payment of the Municipal Service Fee shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property and such owner shall notify the City of the vacancy of such unit or units and arrange for the payment of the above referred Municipal service fee within thirty days from the effective date of this section or within ten days of any subsequent vacancy of any unit after the effective date of this section.
(c) In the event such amount is not paid by the due date of the water bill, then a penalty of ten percent (10%) shall be added thereto.
(Ord. 11-14-16)
(d) (1) Any municipal fee, interest or penalties due and payable under the Ordinances of the City of Point Pleasant shall be a debt due the City. It shall be a personal obligation of the city service customer chargeable therefor and shall be a lien upon real property of the City service customer until paid.
(2) If the City desires to file a notice of lien with the Clerk of the Mason County Commission regarding one or more delinquencies in payment of any municipal fee, penalties or interest, the city shall give the delinquent fee payer written notice via certified U.S. Mail return receipt requested to such fee payer's last known address, of intent to file the notice of lien setting forth the amounts due and status of delinquency. Unless the fee payer to whom the notice is given, or his duly authorized agent, shall within thirty (30) days after service thereof, either personally or by certified mail, file with the City a petition for hearing, setting forth with particular items objected to, together with the reasons for objections, the City may at any time thereafter file the notice of lien.
(3) When a petition for hearing as prescribed in subsection 747.01
(d)(2) is filed within the time prescribed, the City shall assign a time and a place for a hearing thereon and shall notify the petitioner of such hearing by written notice at least twenty (20) days in advance thereof. Such hearing shall be held within ninety (90) days from the date of filing the petition, unless continued by agreement of the parties or by the City for sufficient cause. The hearing shall be informal and shall be conducted in an impartial manner by the municipal judge or hearing examiner designated by the City. The burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner to show that the notice of lien is improper, in whole or in part. After such hearing, the municipal judge or hearing examiner designated by the City shall, within a reasonable time, give notice in writing of the decision.
(e) If aggrieved by the decision of the municipal judge or hearing examiner, the fee payer may appeal the decision of the municipal judge or hearing examiner to the Circuit Court of Mason County within thirty (30) days after service of the hearing examiner's or municipal judge's decision.
(1) The appeal shall be taken by the filing of a petition and notice, which petition and notice shall be served upon or accepted by the City as an original notice. When the petition and notice is so served it shall, with the return or acceptance thereon, be filed in the Office of the Clerk of the Mason County Circuit Court and docketed as other cases, with the fee payer as plaintiff and the City as defendant.
(2) The filing of the appeal shall not stay the collection of the fee unless the fee payer shall file with such clerk a bond for the use of the defendant, with sureties approved by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Mason County, the penalty of the bond to be not less than the total amount of the fee, and accumulated penalties and interest to the date of the appeal, and conditioned that the plaintiff shall perform the orders of the Mason County Circuit Court; provided, that the judge of the Mason County Circuit Court may stay the collection of the fee, and accumulated penalties without the requirement of a bond, upon a proper showing by the plaintiff that the properties of the plaintiff are sufficient to secure performance of the Mason County Circuit Court's orders or that the ends of justice will be served thereby.
(3) The Mason County Circuit Court shall hear the appeal and determine anew all questions submitted to it on appeal from the decision of the City municipal judge or hearing examiner.
(f) The administrative remedies set forth in this section are exclusive. Failure to timely file a petition in accordance with this section shall preclude any challenge to the filing of the notice of lien. If no appeal is taken pursuant to this section within thirty (30) days after service of the municipal judge or hearing examiner's decision, said decision shall become final and conclusive and not subject to administrative or judicial review.
(g) The lien created by this section shall continue until the fee delinquency is satisfied or becomes unenforceable by reason of lapse of time. The City shall issue a certificate of release of any lien imposed pursuant to this section upon finding that the delinquency has been satisfied or the lien has become legally unenforceable. The lien created by this section shall be subject to the restrictions and conditions which apply to municipal tax liens under W. Va. Code ch. 38, art. 10C.
(Ord. 2-8-21)