(a) Usage Rates and Minimum Discharge Amounts. The sanitary sewer usage rate and minimum discharge amount for all sanitary sewer utility services located within the City, for the purposes of computing the monthly sanitary sewer service charge per customer, shall be as set forth in the City's Fee Schedule, Appendix A
to the City Government Code.
(b) Minimum Monthly Charge. A minimum charge based on the sanitary sewer usage rate and minimum discharge rate shall be billed for any sanitary sewer service which is not ordered discontinued, even though no sanitary sewer service is used.
(c) Annual Increase.
(1) Beginning January 1, 2026, the sanitary sewer usage rate shall be subject to an annual increase equal to the percentage obtained by averaging the national inflation rates from the United States Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the previous three (3) years. This increase shall be referred to as the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). The new sanitary sewer usage rate will be established annually by adding the COLA to the then current sanitary sewer usage rate. The Finance Director is hereby authorized to update the City's Fee Schedule, Appendix A of the City Government Code, to reflect the yearly COLA increase.
(2) The Finance Director may, no later than February 1st, recommend to City Council the waiver of all or any part of the yearly COLA increase, and such recommendation may be for one year or multiple years. Upon such recommendation by the Finance Director, City Council may, by resolution, waive all or any part of the proposed COLA increase for one year or multiple years.
(3) If City Council takes no action to waive all or any part of the proposed COLA increase, in accordance with division (c)(2) of this section, the yearly COLA increase shall be implemented by the Finance Director no later than March 1st of that year.
(d) Provision of Sanitary Sewer Service; Billing. The delivery of sanitary sewer service to customers and the billing for such service shall be in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and Chapter 1030.
(e) Meters.
(1) All properties that are served by the City's sanitary sewer utility and the City's water utility shall be required to have installed upon the outside of the premises a water meter, in a location determined by the Public Service Director, for the purpose of determining the amount of sanitary sewer service used by the property.
(2) If an installed water meter has failed to register the amount of water consumed, the monthly sanitary sewer usage shall be estimated based on the customer's prior usage during the same month of the preceding year or, if the customer had no prior usage during the same month of the preceding year, by taking an average of the customer's prior usage during the preceding three (3) months or less.
(3) For properties that are not served by the City's water utility but are served by City's sanitary sewer utility, such properties may be required by the Public Service Director to install an approved sewer meter as a condition for the provision of service.
(f) Governmental Entities. The use of the sanitary sewer utility by a federal, state, or local governmental entity may be in accordance with rates, conditions and terms as outlined in a written contract executed between the City and the governmental entity when such a contract is required by the City.
(Ord. 82-14. Adopted 03/25/82; Ord. 95-74. Adopted 12/14/95; Ord. 99-35. Adopted 08-12-99; Ord. 04-19. Adopted 05/13/04; Ord. 08-05. Adopted 01/10/08; Ord. 12-08. Adopted 03/22/12 Ord. 2023-38. Adopted 12/28/23; Em. Ord. 2024-01. Adopted 02/08/24; Ord. 2024-02. Adopted 02/22/24)