(A) Bills. The rates or charges for service shall be payable monthly depending on the classification of service for which bills are rendered. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to the premises, and the service is furnished to the premises by the city only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant and user of the services are jointly and severally liable therefor to the city. A penalty of 10% shall be added to all bills not paid by the due date indicated on the bill.
(B) Delinquent bills. If the charges for the services are not paid within 45 days after the rendition of the bill for the services, water services shall be discontinued without further notice and shall not be reinstated until all claims are settled. A $10 fee shall be paid prior to reconnection. All bills are due and owing on the fifteenth day of each month. Any consumer refusing or neglecting to pay his or her sewer bill on or before the fifteenth day shall be subject to a 10% service charge thereon.
(C) Lien for nonpayment.
(1) A lien may be filed whenever a bill for sewer service is unpaid, or if any costs of remedy or recovery to the sewer system remain unpaid. In addition to the direct costs associated with the cleanup, recovery or remedy, the amount claimed in the lien may include attorney fees, engineering fees, other professional fees, wages paid to city employees and contractors, and use of the equipment of the city or its contractors. The City Administrator shall file with the County Recorder a statement of lien claim. This statement shall contain a statement describing the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, and a notice that the city claims a lien for the amount stated as well as for all charges subsequent to the period covered by the bill. The lien may be filed against the owners of the property, including but not limited to owners of the fee simple, beneficial owners of a land trust, purchasers under an installment contract and lessees.
(2) The City Administrator shall mail, or otherwise serve, a copy of the notice of lien to the owners of the property and all interested persons. The failure to mail this notice shall not affect the right to foreclose upon the lien.
(D) Foreclosure of lien.
(1) The city may foreclose upon the lien in the manner provided for by law. The proceeds from the sale of the property shall be applied to pay the costs and attorney fees associated with the unpaid bills and the foreclosure, and the amount of the unpaid bill.
(2) The remedies in this section are cumulative to any other remedy provided by law or ordinance. In the event a statute mandates a period of time before an action can be taken or a procedure followed, the requirements of the statute shall control.
(E) Revenues. All revenues and monies derived from the operation of the sewerage system shall be deposited in the sewerage account of the Sewerage Fund. All such revenues and monies shall be held by the City Treasurer separate and apart from his or her private funds, and separate and apart from all other funds of the city and all of that sum, without any deductions whatever, shall be delivered to the City Treasurer not more than ten days after receipt of the same, or at more frequent intervals as may from time to time be directed by the City Clerk or the City Administrator. The City Treasurer shall receive all such revenues from the sewerage system and all other funds and monies incidental to the operation of the system as the same may be delivered to him or her and deposit the same in the account of the fund designated as the “Sewerage Fund of the city.” The Treasurer shall administer the Fund in every respect in the manner provided by statutes of the state.
(F) Penalty. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provisions of this chapter shall be subject to § 53.99.
(G) Access to records. The IEPA or USEPA or its authorized representative shall have access to any books, documents, papers and records of the city which are applicable to the city system of user charges or industrial costs recovery for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts and transcriptions thereof to ensure compliance with the terms of the special and general conditions of any state revolving wastewater loan.
(1986 Code, § 20-139) (Ord. 1997-17, passed 5-5-1997) Penalty, see § 53.99