(a) For the purposes provided in Section 907.01, it is determined and declared to be necessary to fix and collect service charges or rates from every person, firm and corporation within or outside the corporation limits of the City whose building or structure is served by a connection to the City's sanitary sewerage system or is accessible thereto or otherwise discharges sanitary sewage, industrial wastes, water or other liquids, either directly or indirectly into the City's sanitary sewerage system. A building or structure shall be considered to have access to the sanitary sewerage system if it is determined by the City Engineer that it should be connected into the City sewerage system.
(b) The City Administrator and the City Engineer shall in 1992 and every five years thereafter review the status of each building or structure not connected into the system to determine if reasonable access is available for connection into the sewerage system. Any building or structure which is found to have reasonable access shall be charged the normal rates. Persons and firms who feel that the Engineer has ruled incorrectly have 30 days to ask in writing for a hearing from the Sewer Board of Review described in Section 907.08.
(c) It is reasonable, equitable and fair that participants in the City of Tiffin sewage disposal system located outside the existing corporate limits of the Municipality should contribute a higher fee per unit of cost determination for the reason, among others, that such users also utilize elements of the total system which involved capital expenditures before the installation of present disposal facilities. The differential between rates charged to residents within and without the corporate limits is, in the judgment of Council, a fair measure of such original capital investment for which a rate differential should apply.
(d) The following rates shall be charged and collected for the City sewer revenue service:
(1) Rates. Each user connected to the City wastewater system shall pay charges equal to the sum of the bimonthly minimum service charge plus the commodity charge of $7.34 per one hundred cubic foot (cf) of metered water use. Service charges for each type of user are as follows:
Inside City Bimonthly Minimum Service Charges
Meter Size (inches) | Total Minimum |
5/8 | $38.00 |
1 S/FM | 38.00 |
1 M/FM | 81.35 |
1-1/2 | 153.74 |
2 | 239.83 |
3 | 305.38 |
4 | 479.54 |
6 | 744.91 |
Unmetered wells will be billed as if a 5/8" meter and using 1400 cf bimonthly.
(2) Unmetered wells inside the City will be charged for 1400 cf each bimonthly period for each single-family residence or individual apartment within the City's corporation limits.
(3) Unmetered wells outside the city will be charged 150% of the inside rate for each single-family residence or individual apartment outside the City's corporation limits.
(4) All users outside of the corporation limit will be billed 150% of the inside sewer rates.
(5) Properties which were assessed for storm drainage improvements as part of the Miami Street Storm Sewer Project shall receive a credit toward the sewer rate increase established by Ordinance No. 02-11 equal to the amount of the final assessment for the property prior to bonding which was approved by Ordinance No. 98-3. This credit shall be applied to sewer bills for properties at the rate of .40 x the current sewer bill for usage until the credit is zero.
(e) Effective January 1, 2024 and each January 1 thereafter, the sewer rates and charges established in subsection (d)(1) hereof will be increased by five percent (5%) from the prior year, following the same Aqua Ohio, Inc., billing cycle in as 2023.
(Ord. 23-54. Passed 8-21-23.)
(f) The above rates shall constitute the net charges for sewerage services if paid within a period of twenty days following the date of billing. If paid after the twenty-day period has elapsed, the applicable charges shall be at the gross rate, which shall be ten percent (10%) greater than the net charge.
(g) The Finance Office shall have authority to bill those using the City's sewer revenue on a monthly basis or on a bimonthly basis as determined by the Finance Director.
(h) Wastewater Volume Determination:
(1) The volume of flow used for computing sewer charges shall be the metered water consumption of the person as shown in the records of water meter readings maintained by the Ohio Cities Water Company except as provided in this section.
(2) If the person discharging wastewater into the public sewers procures any part, or all, of this water from sources other than the Ohio Cities Water Company, all or part of which is discharged into the public sewer, the person shall install and maintain at his expense water meters of a type approved by the City Administrator for the purpose of determining the volume of water obtained from those other sources, except water meters shall not be required for single or double-family dwellings.
(3) The Administrator may require the installation of devices for measuring the volume of wastewater discharges if these volumes cannot otherwise be determined from the metered water consumption records.
(4) Any metering device for determining the volume of waste discharged to the sewer system shall be installed, owned and maintained by the property owner. Following approval and installation, such meters may be removed without the consent of the Administrator. The Administrator may require any metering device installed by persons for determining the volume of water consumption or wastewater discharges to be calibrated by an independent firm with a proper meter seal and a written report to the Administrator.
(5) In the case where meter readings and laboratory analyses performed by the industry and the W. P. C. C. results in substantially different values, an effort shall be made by the industry to collect samples or read meters at the same time the W.P.C.C. collects its own samples or reads the meters. The results of the analyses obtained by the W.P.C.C. and the industry shall be compared using the same procedures, and the difference negotiated.
(6) If the industry is not satisfied with the results of the meter readings, analyses of samples or the sewer charge imposed, then an independent testing firm may be employed at the owner's expense.
(7) Water metered by the Ohio Cities Water Company or other sources, not entering the sewer system, can be discounted from the original meter readings only if the proper metering devices are installed. These metering devices shall be inspected and approved by the Administrator.
(Ord. 14-26. Passed 5-5-14.)