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Utilities shall be reconnected after the customer has paid the bill in full, including any late fee, and the customer has paid a deposit in the amount currently required as in the case of new applications for service as set forth in § 50.069 as of the date of reconnection, and the following reconnection fee:
First reconnection in a 12-month period for the customer | $50 |
Second reconnection in a 12-month period for the customer | $100 |
Third reconnection in a 12-month period for the customer | $200 |
Fourth and subsequent reconnections in a 12-month period for the customer | $400 |
(Prior Code, § 50C.006) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995; Ord. 97-020, passed 8-18-1997; Ord. 98-017, passed 4-20-1998; Ord. 2002-036, passed 12-16-2002; Ord. 16-001, passed 1-4-2016; Ord. 16-021, passed 9-6-2016)
Level pay customers who become delinquent automatically forfeit the privilege of being on the level pay plan. After reconnection, such customers shall be returned to normal payment. The customer shall become again eligible for the level pay plan only after an acceptable payment history of 12 months from the time of returning to normal pay is established.
(Prior Code, § 50C.007) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995)
(A) No more frequently than once per calendar year, a current customer may apply to enter into a payment plan with the village.
(B) The payment plan shall be on a form specified by the village in the Customer Utility Policy and Procedure Manual and shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) One-third of the current bill (which includes the late fee) shall be paid at the time the payment plan is signed.
(2) An additional one-third of the current bill shall be paid within 15 days of the date of the payment plan, with the remaining one-third of the current bill to be paid within 30 days of the date of the payment plan.
(3) All payment plans shall be in writing and signed by the customer and by village billing personnel.
(4) The customer shall make all normal utility payments and payment plan payments on time while the payment plan is in force. Failure to make such payments will be considered a new delinquency and will result in termination of service.
(C) The village reserves the right to accept or refuse a proposal payment plan, in its discretion.
(D) No payment plan will be allowed in the event of a delinquency caused by failure to make payments under a payment plan.
(Prior Code, § 50C.008) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995; Ord. 2009-012, passed 5-18-2009; Ord. 16-001, passed 1-4-2016; Ord. 16-021, passed 9-6-2016)
(A) Customers who do not have an acceptable payment history shall be required to pay a deposit, as follows:
(1) Residential: a deposit of the monthly average of the previous 12 months (or as many months as available if less than 12 months are available), but not less than $100; and
(2) Non-residential: a deposit equivalent to one-sixth of the previous year’s total utility bill or one-sixth of the anticipated utility bill for the year, but not less than $100.
(B) For purposes of this section, an ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT HISTORY is defined as follows:
(1) No collection/disconnection orders in the previous year;
(2) No defaults in established payment plans in the previous year; and
(3) Less than three delinquencies in the previous year.
(C) Delinquent utility deposits shall be refunded at the customer’s request the month after the establishment of an acceptable payment history.
(Prior Code, § 50C.009) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995)
(A) In the event of termination of service to an apartment building having three or more residential apartments with a master meter, the village shall, in addition to the notice to the landlord, notify all tenants of the building of the proposed termination of utility service. This notice shall contain the following information:
(1) The specific date, no sooner than ten days after the notice is rendered, that utility service is subject to termination;
(2) A statement of the tenant’s statutory right either:
(a) To pay the utility company from the rent due on the rental agreement; or
(b) To petition the court for appointment of a receiver to collect the rents due for use and occupancy of the building and remit a portion to the utility company for payment of utility bills.
(3) The dollar amount of the utility bills due and owing on the date such notice is given and the average monthly utility bills; and
(4) The name and telephone number of any legal services agency within the utility company’s service area where the tenants may obtain free legal assistance.
(B) The notice provided to the tenants of the building shall be of a conspicuous size, on red paper, and in at least 14-point bold face type; except that, the words “notice of (utility service) termination” shall be in 36-point bold face type if the notice is posted, and shall state a penalty as provided in § 50.999.
(C) The foregoing requirements are in accordance with the Rental Property Utility Service Act, 765 ILCS 735/0.01 et seq.
(Prior Code, § 50C.010) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995) Penalty, see § 50.999
(A) Village billing personnel shall, at all reasonable times, be available to receive and consider disputes of any customer, applicant or user relative to an account for utility service. The person having a dispute which cannot be resolved by billing personnel must request the hearing in writing, directed to the village utility office. The customer, applicant or user shall be advised of the customer’s right to have a hearing conducted by the Office Manager or the Office Manager’s designee (who shall be a village employee other than the billing employee who initially discussed the matter with the person requesting the hearing). The village shall not disconnect the service of any person for non-payment during the pendency of the dispute if:
(1) Written notice is given to the village utility office as herein provided;
(2) Payment of all undisputed portions of the bill is made; and
(3) The person making the complaint or dispute enters into a bona fide effort to resolve the disputed matter with all due dispatch.
(B) Notice of a dispute shall be made in writing and contain the name, address and telephone number of the person disputing a charge; the address at which utility service is received which is the subject of the dispute; the specific grounds or reasons for which the charges billed are disputed; and the specific relief requested.
(C) Upon filing of the notice, the Office Manager, or his or her designee, shall schedule a hearing with the customer; if the customer has been sent a notice of delinquency, the hearing shall be scheduled on or before the disconnection date specified in the notice of delinquency.
(D) The hearing shall be informal but shall consist, as a minimum, of the customer presenting reasons the customer believes the billing to have been in error, and the billing personnel presenting reasons why the billing was not in error. The customer’s ability to pay is not a relevant consideration.
(Prior Code, § 50C.011) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995; Ord. 2004-019, passed 6-21-2004)
(A) As used in this chapter, BAD CHECK refers to the non-payment or dishonor of a check by a bank or other financial institution upon which the check is drawn for any reason, including but not limited to the following reasons:
(1) Refer to maker;
(2) Nonsufficient funds;
(3) Signature missing or incomplete;
(4) Payment stopped;
(5) Account closed;
(6) Postdated; and/or
(7) Staledated.
(B) The maker of each bad check returned to the village by a bank or other financial institution will be assessed the following handling fee for each item returned:
(1) On the first occasion: $25.
(2) For the second occasion within one calendar year of the first occasion: $50.
(C) After any person provides the village with a second bad check that is returned within one calendar year of the first occasion, the village shall accept no more checks from such person for six months from the date the payment is made good; all payments to the village shall be made by cash or money order. If a person owing the village money is late with a payment, e.g., with a payment for utility services due on a date certain, during the six-month period, the running of the six-month period shall recommence.
(D) The village shall use reasonable efforts to notify any person who has tendered a bad check to the village at the address and phone number of the person noted on the check or in the village’s files, e.g., a utility application. However, the village’s inability or failure to make contact with such person shall not extend any time period set forth in this policy.
(E) A person who has tendered a bad check to the village shall have two business days from the date the check is returned to the village in which to pay the village the amount of the bad check, plus the village handling fee, plus any charges imposed by the village’s financial institution for handling the bad check. All payments for bad checks shall be in cash, or by money order; no checks will be accepted in payment for a bad check.
(F) When person tenders a bad check for utility services, any time periods applicable to delinquent payments and utility reconnections shall be calculated as if no payment at all had been made. If the check is not made good within two business days, utilities may be disconnected without further notice.
(G) In order to minimize the potential for bad checks, the village will accept no THIRD PARTY CHECKS (defined as a check written by a maker to a payee who then endorses the check over to the village). Nor will the village accept postdated checks.
(Prior Code, § 50C.012) (Ord. 95-024, passed 10-16-1995; Ord. 16-001, passed 1-4-2016; Ord. 16-021, passed 9-6-2016)
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