(A) Billing, payment, and delinquency. All municipal utilities shall be billed monthly and a utilities statement or statements shall be mailed to each consumer each month. All utilities charges shall be delinquent if they are unpaid at the close of business on the tenth day following such billing, provided, that if the tenth day shall fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the time shall be extended to the close of business on the next succeeding day on which business is normally transacted. A penalty of 5% thereof, or $1, whichever is greater, shall be added to, and become part of, all delinquent utility bills. If service is suspended due to delinquency, it shall not be restored at that location until a reconnection charge has been paid for each utility reconnected in addition to amounts owed for service and penalties.
(B) Application, connection, and sale of service. Application for municipal utility services shall be made upon forms supplied by the city, and strictly in accordance therewith. No connection shall be made until consent has been received from the city to make the same. All municipal utilities shall be sold and delivered to consumers under the then applicable rate applied to the amount of such utilities taken as metered or ascertained in connection with such rates.
(C) Discontinuance of service. All municipal utilities may be shut off or discontinued whenever it is found that:
(1) The owner or occupant of the premises served, or any person working on any connection with the municipal utility systems, has violated any requirement of this code of ordinances relative thereto, or any connection therewith;
(2) Any charge for a municipal utility service, or any other financial obligation imposed on the present owner or occupant of the premises served, is unpaid after due notice thereof; or
(3) There is fraud or misrepresentation by the owner or occupant in connection with any application for service or delivery or charges therefor.
(D) Ownership of municipal utilities. Ownership of all municipal utilities, plants, lines, mains, extensions, and appurtenances thereto, shall be and remain in the city and no person shall own any part or portion thereof; provided, however, that private facilities and appurtenances constructed on private property are not intended to be included in municipal ownership.
(E) Right of entry. The city has the right to enter in and upon private property, including buildings and dwellings houses, in or upon which there is installed a municipal utility, or connection therewith, at all times reasonable under the circumstances, for the purpose of reading utility meters, for the purpose of inspection and repair of meters or a utility system, or any part thereof, and for the purpose of connecting and disconnecting service.
(F) Accuracy.
(1) All water and electric utilities service shall be supplied through a meter which shall accurately measure the amount thereof supplied to any consumer. The consumer shall provide for a metering area that is properly located, safe, and readily accessible at all times for the installation of such meters. Meters shall be tested for accuracy by the city upon the request of any consumer who believes his or her meter to be inaccurate. If, upon testing, it appears that such meter overruns to the extent of 3% or more, the city shall pay the cost of such tests and shall make a refund for overcharges collected since the last known date of accuracy but for not longer than six months, on the basis of the extent of the inaccuracy found to exist at the time of the tests.
(2) If, upon testing, it appears that such meter is slow to the extent of 3% or more, the consumer shall pay for undercharges since the last known date of accuracy but for not longer than six months on the basis of the extent of the inaccuracy found to exist at the time of the test. If, when any meter is tested upon the demand of a consumer, it is found to be accurate or slow or less than 3% fast, the consumer may be billed the reasonable cost of such testing. Any error in reading or computation of a utility account may be corrected for a period not to exceed one year prior to discovery of the error.
(G) Unlawful acts.
(1) It is unlawful for any person to willfully or carelessly break, injure, mar, deface, disturb, or in any way interfere with any buildings, attachments, machinery, apparatus, equipment, fixture, or appurtenance of any municipal utility or municipal utility system, or commit any act tending to obstruct or impair the use of any municipal utility.
(2) It is unlawful for any person to make any connection with, opening into, use, or alter in any way any municipal utility system without first having applied for and received written permission to do so from the city.
(3) It is unlawful for any person to turn on or connect a utility when the same has been turned off or disconnected by the city for nonpayment of a bill, or for any other reason, without first having obtained a permit to do so from the city.
(4) It is unlawful for any person to “jumper” or by any means or device fully or partially circumvent a municipal utility meter, or to knowingly use or consume unmetered utilities or use the services of any utility system, the use of which the proper billing authorities have no knowledge.
(H) Municipal utility service outside the city. Premises located outside the established service area boundaries of the city shall not be connected to or served by any municipal utility, except such premises as are publicly owned or presently served. Persons needing municipal utility service whose property is located outside the established service area boundaries of the city must initiate and complete annexation proceedings in advance prior to being provided with such service or services.
(I) Water meters. All water meters shall be owned by the city and installed in accordance with city policy as well as provisions of this code of ordinances. Any meter damage by reason of abuse, neglect, or freezing shall be billed to the customer or owner of the premises on which it occurs. This division (I) shall apply to any meter required or installed under the provisions of this code of ordinances.
(J) Municipal utility services and charges a lien.
(1) (a) Payment for all municipal utility services and charges (as that term is defined in § 50.01) shall be the primary responsibility of the fee owner of the premises served and shall be billed to such owner unless otherwise contracted for and authorized in writing by the fee owner and any other person (such as a tenant, contract purchaser, manager, and the like), as agent for the fee owner, and consented to by the city.
(b) If the utility service and charges are for a single-metered, multi-unit rental residential building, the owner of said building shall be the customer of record and this responsibility shall not be waived by contract or otherwise. The city may collect the same in a civil action or, in the alternative and at the option of the city, as otherwise provided in this division (J).
(2) (a) Except as to the furnishing of retail natural, manufactured, or mixed gas or electric service to or for the public, and to the extent otherwise authorized by state law, as set forth in division (J)(3) below, each such account is hereby made a lien upon the premises served.
(b) All such accounts which are more than 45 days delinquent may, when authorized by resolution of the Council, be certified by the City Administrator, to the County Auditor, and the City Administrator in so certifying shall specify the amount thereof, the description of the premises served, and the name of the owner thereof. The amount so certified shall be extended by the Auditor on the tax rolls against such premises in the same manner as other taxes, and collected by the County Treasurer, and paid to the city along with other taxes.
(3) As to the furnishing of retail natural, manufactured, or mixed gas or electric service to or for the public, and to the extent otherwise authorized by state law, the city shall not:
(a) Recover or attempt to recover payment for a tenant’s outstanding bill or charge from a landlord, property owner, or manager, or manufactured home park owner, or manufactured home dealer who has not contracted for the service;
(b) Condition service on payment of an outstanding bill or other charge for utility service due upon the outstanding account of a previous customer or customers when all of the previous customers have vacated the property; or
(c) Place a lien on the landlord’s or owner’s property for a tenant’s outstanding bill or charge. The city may recover or attempt to recover payment and place a lien on the property for a tenant’s outstanding bill or charge from a property owner where the manager, acting as the owner’s agent, contracted for the utility service.
(2006 Code, § 3.05) (Ord. 88, 3rd Series, passed 11-28-1991; Ord. 163, 3rd Series, passed 9-20-2005)
Penalty, see § 50.99