(A) The owner shall be liable for the water supplied to his or her property, whether he or she is occupying the property or not, and any charges unpaid shall be a lien upon the property.
(B) Water and sewer service charges shall be billed together. Bills shall be mailed to the customers quarterly on or about the first day of each calendar quarter and shall specify the water charges in accordance with the rates established in this chapter.
(C) (1) The amount of money listed on the city utility and garbage statement shall be paid on or before the due date stated on the statement. The City Council shall, by resolution, establish the amount of the penalty to be paid by each owner, lessee or occupant of any premises provided with the services if the payment for the services is delinquent more than 30 days.
(2) Delinquent accounts shall be certified to the City Clerk/Treasurer who shall prepare an assessment roll each year providing for assessment of the delinquent amounts against the respective properties.
(3) The assessment roll shall be delivered to the City Council for adoption on or before October 1 of each year for certification to the County Auditor for collection along with taxes.
(D) (1) Delinquent utility customers who have utility bills which are 90 days past due shall be sent written notice of the city’s intent to disconnect water service. The notice will provide a ten-day time frame in which the customer may pay the delinquent amount to make the utility account current. Failure to make the payment in the specified time frame, will authorize the city to discontinue service to the delinquent customer by shutting off the water at the stop box.
(2) No service of a residential customer shall be discontinued if the disconnection affects the primary heat source for the residential unit when the disconnection would occur during the period between October 15 and April 15, the customer has declared inability to pay on forms provided by the city, the household income of the customer is less than 185% of the federal poverty level as documented by the customer to the city, and the customer’s account is current for the billing period immediately prior to October 15 or the customer has entered into a payment schedule and is reasonably current with payments under the schedule. The city shall, between August 15 and October 15, of each year, notify all residential customers of these provisions.
(Ord. 10.02, passed - -; Am. Ord. 1986-01, passed 9-8-86; Leg. No. passed 2-12-91; Am. Ord. 98-04, passed 6-9-98)