§ 52.06 BILLING; DISCONNECTIONS.
   (A)   All bills for water service shall be rendered about the fifteenth, and before the twentieth, day of each calendar month and shall be due and payable when rendered. Any amount not paid before the first day of the first calendar month following billing shall be assessed a penalty as follows:
      (1)   Water. Water bills shall be assessed a penalty of 10% of the first $3, and 3% of the balance;
      (2)   Wastewater. Wastewater bills shall be assessed 10% of the delinquent bill; and
      (3)   Sanitation. Sanitation bills shall be assessed 10% of the delinquent bill.
   (B)   Those locations having bills past due as of the first day of the second calendar month following billing may thereafter have service discontinued without further notice. All then unpaid billings and a re-connection fee of $50 must be paid in full before water service will be reinstated.
   (C)   All non-temporary water customers, excepting those who have owned the premises so served by the water utility for five years and have paid the water bills regularly and promptly, shall maintain on deposit with the town’s water utility a security deposit of $62.50. The deposit shall be refunded without interest, less any amounts owing by the customer, when the above exception applies or when service terminates.
   (D)   The Clerk-Treasurer may demand payment in advance for the amount of water estimated to be required by any temporary user.
   (E)   Water service may be disconnected at the option of the town for any of the following reasons:
      (1)   The wasting or improper use of water through the use of defective piping, fixtures or otherwise;
      (2)   Failure to pay water or sewer utility bills promptly;
      (3)   For interference or tampering with the water meter, meter box, meter seals or any service or appliance of the water work system used for controlling or regulating the supply of water;
      (4)   Failure to apply for service in the name of a new entity where the water user at a premises changes; and/or
      (5)   In any other manner defrauding the water utility of the town.
   (F)   Should any water utility meter fail to properly register the quantity of water passing through it, the water customer shall be charged at the rate of average water consumption registered by that meter (for a similar period as determined by the Clerk-Treasurer) before it malfunctioned.
   (G)   Any water customer vacating premises without paying all billings for water service up to the time of the vacation, shall not thereafter be supplied with water through any service until all of those amounts are paid.
   (H)   The Clerk-Treasurer is hereby authorized and directed to issue billings and cause the town’s employees to shut off and reinstate water service in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 52.06) (Ord. 1983-6, passed 7-25-1983; Ord. 2023-05, passed 6-6-2023)