(a) Except as otherwise expressly stated in the City ordinances, any utility bill not paid in full by the due date shall be considered delinquent and subject to a late payment penalty of 15% of the current charges. Water service may be terminated for nonpayment of any and all utility charges now and hereafter in force.
(b) If the utilities are in the name of a non property owner, a copy of the delinquent bill shall be forwarded to the property owner at the address listed with the Montgomery County Auditor's office.
(c) If full payment is not received by the eighth day of the month following the delinquency, a $25.00 trip fee will be assessed thereafter if the City sends a person out for purposes of disconnecting the water at the property.
(d) In the event water service is disconnected, there shall be a $25.00 fee to restore water service. In addition, if the customer requests the City to restore water service at a time other than regular business hours an additional fee of $10.00 will be charged.
(e) For any City properties that do not receive water service from the City, the property owner shall be assessed $15.00 for each delinquent bill.
(f) The delinquent charges in this section shall not be construed as a penalty but an additional charge to defray the actual expense of billing and collecting delinquent accounts.
(g) Each charge levied pursuant to this chapter is made a lien upon the corresponding lot, land or premises served by any of the City's utilities, and upon becoming delinquent in addition to any water service being shut off, the utility charges may be certified to the County Auditor, who shall place such charges on the tax duplicate of the County, along with the interest and penalties allowed by law. This charge, including interest and penalties, shall be collected as other taxes are collected.
(h) The Finance Director may waive any fee or delinquency charges no more than one time upon good cause shown.
(i) All delinquency fees collected for utility services are to offset costs associated with collection and enforcement of the City's utility ordinances. Such fees once collected by the City may be allocated and prorated to the various City utility funds applicable to that property pursuant to law.
If a check, bank card payment of ACH transfer is returned to the Finance Director as a result of non-sufficient funds, the City may charge a fee. If a return is made for the same account more than three (3) times in a twelve (12) month period, unless other arrangements are made by the Finance Director, all future payments must be paid with a money order, certified bank check or cash.
(Ord. 17-31. Passed 12-18-17.)