(a) Definitions. As used in this chapter:
(1) “User charge” means the charge assessed users of the sewage system to recover the cost of operation, maintenance and replacement of the sewage collection and sewage treatment system, and the cost of rendering bills and collecting sewer service charges.
(2) “Operation and Maintenance costs” means the costs incurred in the act of keeping all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage in a good state of repair and functioning properly, including the replacement of said facilities when necessary.
(3) “Replacement” means expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.
(4) “Debt service” means the funds used for the retirement of and interest on bonds and/or notes authorized and issued by the Village to construct sewage system facilities.
(5) “Sewer service charge” means the total charge levied against users of the sewage system for sewer service. The charge shall include user charges plus the cost of debt service.
(b) Sewer Service Charges. The following are hereby fixed as the fair, proportional and reasonable rates for sewer service charges and user charges based on the metered consumption of water. All users discharging waste to the sewage collection system shall be billed for wastewater treatment services including governmental or institutional users such as schools, municipal utilities or other public buildings. (Ord. 90-10. Passed 1-15-90.)
(1) (EDITOR’S NOTE: Former subsection (b)(1) was repealed by Ordinance 23-083, passed November 20, 2023. See Section 933.01 for relevant provisions.)
(2) Annual review of charges. The sewer service charge and user charges shall be reviewed annually by the Village in order to determine whether or not they are sufficient to defray the fixed charge, amortization costs, and annual cost of operation and maintenance of the sewerage system. If the difference between the total annual revenue derived and the total annual cost is sufficient to justify an increase or decrease in the sewer service charge or user charges, the Village will adjust the rates as required. The purpose of the annual review is also to maintain a proportional user charge.
Each user is to be notified at least annually, in conjunction with a regular bill, of the rate and that portion of the sewer service charge which is attributable to OM&R costs of wastewater treatment service.
(3) Late payment charges. The Public Service Director may assess such reasonable penalty or late charges for nonpayment of rental charges as, by such Public Service Director shall be deemed necessary to enforce and effect payment of such rental and may make such other regulations as such Public Service Director shall deem necessary to operate and collect sewer rental charges, including shutoff orders.
All charges for sewer rental set forth in this section, including penalty and late charges, shutoff charges, and such other reasonable charges as shall be established by regulations of the Public Service Director, if not paid within forty-five days after the same become due and payable shall become a lien upon the real estate benefitted by such sanitary sewer system and facilities and such lien shall become effective at the time and date a certificate of sanitary sewer lien shall be filed in the office of the Auditor of Madison County, Ohio, setting forth the amount of unpaid sewer rental, penalty and late charges, and such other unpaid reasonable charges as shall be determined from time to time by regulations of the Public Service Director, a notation of the specific property benefitted and the name of the person or persons, firm or corporation shown of record in the Auditor’s duplicate of Madison County, Ohio, to be the owner of such specific property benefitted. Within ten days prior to certification to the County Auditor, the Clerk shall notify personally by ordinary mail forwarded to the last known address or by publication one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village, the owner or owners of the property benefitted by such sanitary sewer system and facilities as shown by the Auditor’s duplicate of Madison County, Ohio, informing such owner or owners of the certification of such lien to the Auditor of Madison County and advising such owner that unless the same be paid in fill within thirty days of the date of certification to the Auditor, that the same will be assessed against the property benefitted and collected as a sanitary sewer rental assessment upon the real estate benefitted and shall be collected by the Treasurer of Madison County, Ohio, at the next tax collection period following delivery of same to such Treasurer for collection.
(4) Appeals. All customers shall have the right to appeal bills rendered for sewer service charges. In the event that a billing dispute cannot be resolved by the utility billing department, it shall become the responsibility of the Public Service Director to resolve such dispute.
(Ord. 90-10. Passed 1-15-90.)
(c) Surcharges.
(1) The following terms as used in this subsection (c) hereof shall have the meanings ascribed to them as shown:
A. “Extra Strength Sewage” means sewage which when analyzed shows by weight a daily average that is equal to or greater than 300 parts per million of total suspended solids (TSS) and/or 250 parts per million of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and/or 40 parts per million total Kjehldahl nitrogen (TKN), and/or 15 parts per million of total phosphorous (Total P).
B “TSS” means total suspended solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.
C. “BOD” (denoting biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter, under standard laboratory procedure, in five days at twenty degrees centigrade, expressed in parts per million by weight.
D. “TKN” (denoting total Kjehldahl nitrogen) means the total quantity of organic nitrogen, ammonia and ammonium in wastewater which is determined using the Kjehldahl method.
E. “Total P” (denoting total phosphorous) means the quantity of phosphorous in wastewater.
(2) Extra Strength Sewage which is above normal sewage strength, but acceptable for discharge into the sanitary sewerage system, shall be subject to a surcharge. The surcharge shall be determined on the basis of either or all of four constituents of water or wastes:
A. TSS,
B. BOD,
C. TKN, and/or
D. Total P.
(3) When either or all the TSS, BOD, TKN, Total P of water or waste accepted for admission to the system is defined as “Extra Strength Sewage”, the excess concentration in either or all, as the case may be, shall be subject to a surcharge as follows:
A. Pounds in excess suspended solids per day x $0.35/lb=TSS surcharge.
B. Pounds of excess BOD per day x $0.50/lb.=BOD surcharge.
C. Pounds of excess TKN per day x $0.65/lb =TKN surcharge.
D. Pounds of excess Total P per day x $1.50/lb=Total P surcharge.
(4) The pounds of BOD per day and/or pounds of TSS, TKN, or Total P per day, above the concentrations previously described for “Extra Strength Sewage” that are discharged to the sewerage system, shall be determined by the Village or their authorized representative using flow data obtained by the Village or from the sewer customer.
(5) In addition to a surcharge on BOD, TSS, TKN and/or the Total P the Village shall have the right to surcharge any user for the discharge of any other pollutant into the sewage system.
(6) In addition to the surcharge the user will pay the user charges as defined in Chapter 933 of the Codified Ordinances. (Ord. 13-058. Passed 7-15-13.)