(a) If the owner/customer believes his bill to be in error, he shall present his claim in person at the town office before the bill becomes delinquent. Such claim, if made after the bill has become delinquent, shall not be effective in preventing discontinuance of service as provided in this section. The owner/customer may pay such bill under protest, and such payment shall not prejudice his claim.
(b) The town will make special meter readings at the request of the owner/customer for a fee for each meter; provided, that if such special reading discloses that the meter was overread, no charge will be made.
(c) Meters will be tested at the request of the owner/customer upon payment to the town of the actual cost of making the test; provided, that if the meter is found to over register beyond five (5) percent of the correct volume, no charge will be made.
(d) If the seal of a meter is broken by other than the town's representative or if the meter fails to register correctly or is stopped for any cause, the owner/customer shall pay an amount estimated from the record of his previous bills or from other proper data.
(e) Adjustments of water and/or sewer bills may be approved by the town manager for any of the following reasons:
(1) Actual evidence of a water leak in which the water did not enter the sewer system; in such instances, the sewer charges may be adjusted based on the estimated volume of water that did not enter the sewer system.
(2) A determination that an unusual meter reading was caused by or could reasonably have been caused by a meter malfunction.
(3) A determination that principles of fairness, equity, basic cost recovery, and/or service quality will be best or reasonably served by an adjustment.
(4) One-time high bill adjustment. A single-unit commercial or residential property as being defined as one (1) water meter serving one (1) residence or business, may be eligible for a one-(1)-time, one-(1)-bill reduction due to unexplained reasons and for which no other applicable Surf City policy or ordinance exists. The high bill must be at least three (3) times higher than the comparable water usage from the same month from the previous two (2) years. At the customer's request, the town will adjust the high bill. The new adjusted bill will exclude water and sewer use charges attributable to twenty-five (25) percent of the water and sewer use in excess of the comparable months in previous years. Eligible customers may receive such an adjustment only once per account, for one (1) billing period.
(Ord. No. 1992-1, 1-7-92; Ord. No. 1992-24, § 1, 8-4-92; Ord. No. 2001-2, § 7, 1-8-01; Ord. No. 2002-8, § 1, 3-7-02; Ord. No. 2021-09, 5-4-21; Ord. No. 2023-04, - -)