(A) Pursuant to I.C. 36-9-23 the town, by and through its Utilities Clerk or other designee of the Town Council, may order the termination of water service to a sewer service address on account of nonpayment of a delinquent account which is not less than 30 days delinquent. When so ordered, the water utility shall terminate such service in accordance with the terms of their agreement with the town.
(B) The fee for terminating residential service shall be $25, which shall include charges assessed against the town by the water utility for effecting the termination. The fee for terminating commercial and industrial services shall be determined by the town based on usage. This fee shall be assessed against the customer and added to the sewer delinquent bill. A deposit shall be required of customers terminated due to delinquency in the amount of $50 for residential customers and three months’ average usage for commercial and industrial customers.
(C) The town may not terminate water service under this section if the County Health Department has found and certified to the town that the termination of water service will endanger the health of the user and others in the municipality.
(D) (1) Prior to the termination of water service because of sewer-user fee delinquency, the town must first give notice of such delinquency and impending termination at least 30 calendar days prior to the proposed termination, by first-class mail addressed to the user to whom the service is billed, which notice shall contain the following:
(a) The delinquent amount due, together with any penalty and fees;
(b) The date of the notice of termination;
(c) The date on and after which termination shall be made;
(d) Notice that water service may be disconnected if, prior to the earliest possible date of termination given in the notice, the user does not pay the delinquency together with any penalty and fees, or disputes the amount, or makes other provisions for payment pursuant to this section; and
(e) A procedure, as provided in division (D)(2) below for resolving a disputed bill.
(2) The town shall appoint an account review officer (ARO) to review and resolve disputes. Before the earliest possible date of termination of water service as specified in the notice, a user may request a hearing before the ARO to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount shown in accordance with the provisions of this section. A user shall not be entitled to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount if all or part of the amount was the subject of a previous dispute under this section.
(E) The procedure for a hearing on a user dispute shall be as follows.
(1) Before the earliest possible date of termination as specified on the notice of termination, the user shall notify the ARO in writing that he or she requests a hearing to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amounts shown on the notice of termination, stating as completely as possible the basis for the dispute.
(2) An informal hearing before the ARO shall be held within 15 days of the ARO’s receipt of the user’s written request for a hearing on a disputed bill.
(3) At the hearing, the user shall be entitled to present all evidence that is, in the ARO’s view, relevant and material to the dispute.
(4) Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the ARO, within ten days of the completion of the hearing, shall issue a written decision formally resolving the dispute. The ARO’s decision shall be final and binding.
(F) The ARO shall be authorized to resolve any disputed sewage bill and shall be authorized to order the termination of water service under appropriate circumstances. Upon approval by the ARO, the user may enter into an agreement to amortize the unpaid balance of his or her account over a reasonable period of time, not to exceed six months. No termination shall be effected for any user complying with any such amortization agreement, provided the user also keeps current his or her account for sewer service as charges accrue in each subsequent billing period. If a user fails to comply with an amortization agreement, the ARO may terminate water service, provided notice is given to the user at least 48 hours prior to such termination and the notice includes conditions the user is required to meet to avoid termination.
(G) Utilization of this hearing procedure shall not relieve a user of the obligation to timely and completely pay all other undisputed water and sewage bills or charges. Failure to timely and completely pay all such undisputed amounts shall subject the user to the termination of service in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(H) Until the date of the ARO’s decision, the town shall not terminate water service of the user. If the ARO determines that the customer must pay some or all of the disputed amount, the department or ARO in his or her written decision, shall notify the user of the following:
(1) The amount to be paid;
(2) The date on or after which services will be terminated; and
(3) Notice that unless the town receives complete payment of the amount shown prior to the earliest possible date of termination given in the notice, water service shall be terminated.
(I) A USER for the purpose of this section is defined as:
(1) A person who requests, either orally or in writing, water and/or sewage service from the city or water utilities; or
(2) A person in whose name water and/or sewage service is billed for the rendering of the service.
(Ord. 1998-0007, passed 4-23-1998)