(A) All users shall be billed monthly. Billings for any particular month shall be made within five days after the end of the month. Payments are due within 15 days after the end of the month. Any payment not received within 15 days after the end of the month shall be delinquent. If the last day of the 15-day period is a Saturday, a Sunday, a legal holiday under state statute, or a day the billing office is closed during regular business hours, the period runs until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a legal holiday, or a day on which the billing office is closed.
(B) The town will assess a late payment penalty of 10% of the amount of the delinquent rates and charges. Rates and charges not received by the town within 15 days after they become due are delinquent. The amount of the fee, the penalty, and a reasonable attorney's fee may be recovered by the town in a civil action in the name of the town.
(C) If a fee is not paid within one monthly billing cycle after it is due, the utility shall send notice to the delinquent user stating:
(1) The delinquent amount due, together with any penalty;
(2) That water service may be disconnected if the user continues not to pay the delinquency and any penalty; and
(3) The procedure for resolving disputed bills.
(D) Sewer fees assessed against real property, under I.C. 36-9-23, constitute a lien against the property assessed. A lien attaches against real property occupied by someone other than the owner only if the town notifies the owner not later than 20 days after the time the utility fees become 60 days delinquent. A notice sent to the owner must be sent by first class mail or by certified mail, return receipt requested (or an equivalent service permitted under I.C. 1-1-7-1) to: (1) the owner of record of real property with a single owner; or (2) at least one of the owners of real property with multiple owners; at the last address of the owner for the property as indicated in the records of the County Auditor on the date of the notice of the delinquency, or to another address specified by the owner, in a written notice to the utility, at which the owner requests to receive a notice of delinquency under this division. The cost of sending notice under this division is an administrative cost that may be billed to the owner.
(E) Payment of a disputed bill and penalties by a user does not constitute a waiver of rights to subsequently claim and recover from the town sums improperly charged to the user.
(F) If the user fails to pay the delinquent amount or otherwise resolve the charges, the utility of the town shall give written notice to the water utility serving the user to discontinue water service to the premises designated in the notice until notified otherwise. The notice shall identify the delinquent sewer user in enough detail to enable the water utility to identify the water service connection that is to be terminated. Upon receipt of the notice, the water utility shall disconnect water service to the user.
(G) Water service may not be shut off under this section if a local board of health has found and certified to the town that the termination of water service will endanger the health of the user and others in the town.
(H) Except as provided in the following divisions (1) and (2) hereof, the utility shall enforce the payment of the charges and penalties assessed under this chapter.
(1) The utility may defer enforcing the collection of unpaid fees and penalties assessed under this chapter until the unpaid fees and penalties have been due and unpaid for at least 90 days;
(2) The Town Council may write off a fee or penalty that is for less than $40.
(I) Fees and charges for sewer services assessed against real property constitute a lien against the property assessed.
(J) The utility shall at least once each calendar year prepare a lien list of the delinquent charges and penalties that are enforceable under this section, which must include:
(1) The name or names of the owner or owners of each lot or parcel of real property on which fees are delinquent;
(2) The description of the premises, as shown by the records of the County Auditor; and
(3) The amount of the delinquent fees, together with the previously assessed penalty, a service charge of $5, the applicable recording fee, and the applicable release fee.
(K) The utility shall record a copy of each lien list with the County Recorder and shall pay the applicable recording fee. The utility shall then mail to each property owner on the lien list a notice stating that a lien against the owner's property has been recorded.
(L) Using the lien lists prepared under division (J) and recorded under division (K), after September 1 of the preceding calendar year and before September 1 of the current calendar year, the utility shall before December 15 of each year certify to the County Auditor a list of the liens that remain unpaid for collection in the next May.
(M) The utility shall release any recorded lien when the delinquent fees, penalties, service charges, and recording and release fees have been fully paid.
(N) After the date of certification in each year, the utility shall not collect or accept delinquent fees, penalties, service charges, recording fees, or certification fees from property owners whose property has been certified to the County Auditor.
(O) If the property is conveyed before the lien can be filed, the utility shall notify the person who owned the property at the time the fee became payable. The notice must inform the person that payment, including penalty fees for delinquencies, is due not less than 15 days after the date of the notice.
(P) The utility shall release:
(1) Liens filed with the County Recorder after the recorded date of conveyance of the property; and
(2) Delinquent fees incurred by the seller;
upon receipt of a verified demand in writing from the purchaser stating that the delinquent fees were not incurred by the purchaser as a user, lessee, or previous owner, and that the purchaser has not been paid by the seller for the delinquent fees.
(Ord. 249, passed 5-11-98; Am. Ord. 286, passed 11-13-00; Am. Ord. 345, passed 4-19-12; Am. Ord. 355, passed 7-16-12; Am. Ord. 2022-10, passed 12-19-22)