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ORD 1991-22 - Increasing Rates For Sewer Service 09-03-1991ORDINANCE NO. 91 -22 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 17, WATER AND SEWERS, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, INCREASING THE RATES FOR SEWER SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE CITY; AND MAKING OTHER PROVISIONS AND FINDINGS RELATED THERETO. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, that: SECTION 1: Chapter 17, Water and Sewers of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, Texas, is amended by changing Section 17 -9. Monthly charges for Water, as follows: Section 17 -9. Monthly charges for water. a. Commercial Rate Schedule. Except as hereafter provided, each commercial user of water, including churches, financial establishments, hospitals, hotels, laundries, machine shops, motels, nursing homes, offices, restaurants, service stations, skating rinks, taverns, theaters and warehouses, supplied with water service by the City shall be charged a monthly water service charge based ,upon the amount of water consumed by the user and applied to the following rate schedule: Gallons of Water Amount or Rate Used per Month Charged first 3,000 minimum monthly charge $10.65 all over 3,000, per 1,000 $ 1.80 b. Residential rate schedule Except as hereafter provided, each residential user, including apartments, duplexes, mobile home parks, and single family residents, supplied with water service by the City shall be charged a monthly water service charge based upon the amount of water consumed by the user and applied to the following rate schedule: Gallons of Water Amount or Rate Used per Month Charged first 3,000 minimum monthly charge $10.65 all over 3,000, per 1,000 $ 1.80 (1) Individually metered residential units. Each residential dwelling unit individually metered and billed for consumption of water shall be charged for and owe each month a water service charge based upon the amount of water consumed, as determined by the meter reading, applied to the above rate schedule. (2) Jointly metered residential units. (a) Each multi-family dwelling unit project shall be charged for and owe each month a water service charge as follows: A minimum bill equal to total number of units multiplied by the minimum monthly charge, plus consumption charge based upon the amount of water consumed in excess of three thousand (3,000) gallons, times the number of residential dwelling units, as determined by the meter reading, applied to the above rate schedule. (b) Residential Dwelling Unit shall mean one or more buildings, parts of a building, manufactured homes, mobile homes, or manufactured or mobile home site within a mobile home park, which building, part of a building, manufactured home, or mobile home includes or would normally be designated to include a bathroom, principal kitchen facilities and living quarters; provided, however, that every designated manufactured housing or mobile home site, or trailer site with water and sewer connections within a mobile home park shall be considered a residential dwelling unit. c. Vacancy means the unit is unoccupied and the owner receives no rent, lease payment or occupancy fee for the unit. d. A jointly metered residential dwelling unit customer shall be entitled to apply for a deduction for vacancies, or credit for future water service with City for prior water service payments under the following conditions: (1) one or more of the residential dwelling units used for the basis of calculation of the minimum bill was vacant for 25 days or more of the previous calendar month; (2) a statement is presented to the City, on a form approved by the City, listing the specific vacant apartments or mobile home sites and stating the period of vacancy, signed under the penalty of law by the customer; (3) the records of the customer, including lease agreement and rental receipts, are available for examination by City staff for purposes of verifying the vacancies; (4) the customer's water bill is paid and proper deposits exist for water service; (5) the statement is delivered with written receipt acknowledged, either in person or by certified mail, to the City Utility Billing Department before the 5th day of the month following the vacancy, unless the 5th is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which event the affidavit must be received by the City by the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday, nor a legal holiday; and (6) provided further, that a customer with no more than two jointly metered residential units may file in advance a quarterly notice of vacancy. e. Institutional users. Institutional users, or persons who use five (5) per cent or more of the total water sold by the city, shall be charged a monthly water service charge based upon the amount of water consumption attributed to the user, as determined herein, and applied to the following rate: Gallons of Water Amount or Rate Used per Month Charged Each 1,000 $2.70 Section 17 -10. Billing of utility services; penalties for late payments. a. For convenience of collection, water service, sewer service, and refuse and garbage collection service charges shall be billed together in a utility service bill prepared by the City. b. Each utility service bill shall have a precalculated and stated due date that shall be approximately fifteen (15) to twenty -five (25) days from the date the bills are to be mailed. c. If a utility bill is not paid by the due date, the customer shall be charged a penalty in the amount of ten (10) percent of the amount of the utility service charges, which shall be shown as the gross amount on such bill. If the bill is not paid by the next billing date, such gross amount will be shown as a previous balance on the customer's bill for the next month. If the total amount of the following month's bill, including the previous balance and current utility service charges, is not paid by the due date specified for such bill, then ten (10) percent of said following month's utility service charges shall be added as a penalty and the total two (2) month's charges will be in the arrears. Section 17 -11. Discontinuance of service for failure or refusal to pay utility service bill. a. Failure or refusal to pay any utility service bill by any customer of the City upon demand shall constitute a breach of contract, and the City shall have the right to discontinue such services. b. (1) If any residential customer fails to pay a utility service bill by the due date on such bill, the City may include with the next bill a cut -off notice. The notice should state the date by which the bill must be paid to avoid discontinuing utility service. If any residential customer fails to pay a utility service bill showing a previous balance by the due date on such bill, the City shall discontinue utility service to the customer until all past due charges have been paid, together with a twenty -five dollar ($25.00) reconnection fee. (2) If any commercial customer fails to pay any utility service bill by the due date of such bill, the City shall send a notice advising that the bill must be paid within ten (10) days to avoid discontinuing utility service. If any commercial customer fails to pay a utility service bill within ten (10) days of the due date of such bill, the City shall discontinue utility service to the customer until all past due charges have been paid, together with a twenty -five dollar ($25.00) reconnection charge. Sec. 17 -12. Connection charges; deposits to secure payment of utility service bills. a. A fifteen dollar ($15.00) connection fee shall be made for any new service application or changes in existing service applications. b. The utility office supervisor shall require any applicant for water, sewer or sanitation service to post a deposit to secure payment of utility service charges, as follows: (1) Any firm, corporation or commercial account applying for water service shall deposit with the City of Huntsville, as security for the payment of future charges, a sum equal to two (2) times the average estimated monthly utility service charge for the premises for which utility services are requested. Past accounts from previous customers at the same location, or accounts of a comparable usage factor, may be used in arriving at the estimated monthly charge for determining the amount of deposit. (2) Any person applying for residential water, sewer and garbage service shall place with the City a sum of sixty dollars ($60.00) for a utility deposit; provided, however, that persons who do not receive all three (3) services shall be required to post only a deposit with the City in the amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) for each service received. (3) Upon the sale or transfer of property, or change in customer or occupancy of any premises served by City water service, no water, sewer or sanitation service shall be furnished to the new owner, customer or occupant of such premises unless and until such deposit as required by this section is paid. Any person, firm or corporation who fails to notify the City of Huntsville of a change in ownership, title or occupancy of premises resulting in a different person or entity having responsibility for the payment of utility service charges, shall be subject to immediate discontinuance of utility service, unless and until the previous customer's account is finalized and the deposit called for herein is made. (4) A utility deposit shall not be required for the interim period (three (3) months maximum) that a rental house is being prepared for occupancy, provided that the owner has current residential service. (5) A blanket deposit, equal to the cumulative average monthly utility service charge, shall be required for a residential customer with multiple accounts. Any multiple dwelling unit with more than five (5) units shall require a separate commercial deposit. (6) Any customer that is put on the "cut-off" list (a residential customer that has not paid the two (2) months prior bills and is about to receive a third month's billing or a commercial customer that has not paid their bill by the due date) more than twice in one year shall be required to increase their deposit to the average amount due at "cut-off" date. A notice of the increase will be sent to the customer which must be paid by the customer if they appear on the cut-off list a third time. Failure to pay the increased deposit would result in discontinuance of service. c. No person shall attempt to avoid any payment under this chapter by changing names on an account. The City may transfer a delinquent payment from one customer to another account of that customer. Utility service cannot be discontinued for delinquency in payment for utility service by a previous occupant. d. Every applicant who previously has been a City utility customer and whose service was discontinued for nonpayment of bills or has terminated service without paying a bill shall be required to pay all amounts due. e. Utility deposits will be refunded upon termination of service, provided that the customer has fully satisfied all charges due the City. Residential customer deposits shall be refunded at the end of three years with a good payment record. Good payment record means that the customer has not paid a bill more than twice past the penalty date in the last twelve (12) months. f. Security for payment of utility service charges may be made by cash deposit with the City. g. A residential customer with a currently active account may guarantee payment on one additional single unit residential customer. Any unpaid balances will be transferred to the account of the guaranteeing customer. The customer guaranteeing the account must have a twenty -four (24) month history with the City and may not have been delinquent more than twice in any twelve (12) month period. Sec. 17 -13. Same - To accrue until notice to discontinue service is given. a. All rates and charges for water service shall accrue and be charged against the customer until written notice is given to discontinue the service. b. In addition to the written notification required in subsection (a), all customers' liability for charges accrued on accounts shall continue to accrue until the security deposit for a new account has been made in the City water department and previous charges paid. Where service at a location has been discontinued for thirty (30) days or more, new customers may obtain service by the posting of the required deposit, as the case may be. Sec. 17 -14. Wasting water. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully or negligently waste the water of the waterworks system of the City, and any person having knowledge of any instance where water is being wasted shall immediately notify the manager of utilities and it shall be the duty of such manager when any customer is found willfully or negligently wasting water, even though the water is being passed through a meter and being charged, to notify such customer of such waste of water and ask him to correct he same, or take such steps as shall be necessary to stop such waste, and, upon failure of the customer to stop such waste, the water may be discontinued to such customer until the waste of water has been stopped. Sec. 17 -15. Charge for returned checks. The manager of utilities, or any other appropriate City employee shall charge any utility customer of the City of Huntsville a fifteen dollar ($15.00) charge for checks returned by the customer's bank advising the City there are not sufficient funds in the customer's checking account with the bank to pay the water charge for the customer. This fifteen dollar ($15.00) charge shall be added to the total outstanding account of the customer and upon refusal or failure to pay this charge, section 17 -11 hereof shall apply as to said charge. The City shall refuse to accept checks if more than two insufficient checks have been received from the customer within the last twenty -four (24) months. Sec. 17 -16. Replacement of water meter, lock or head; charges therefor. a. The utility office supervisor shall charge a water customer fifty dollars ($50.00) for replacement of a water meter lock broken by abuse, cutting, or other misuse not by City. b. The utility office supervisor shall charge a water customer twenty - five dollars ($25.00) per occurrence for either removing or replacing a water meter due to discontinuance of water service for nonpayment of bill or for replacing a water meter head not removed by the City. Secs. 17 -17 - 17 -20. Reserved. SECTION 2: Chapter 17, Water and Sewers, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, Texas, is amended by changing Section 17 -21. Monthly charges for Sewer, as follows: Section 17 -21. Monthly charges for sewer. a. Commercial rate schedule. Except as hereafter provided, each commercial use of sewer including churches, financial establishments, hospitals, hotels, laundries, machine shops, motels, nursing homes, offices, restaurants, service stations, skating rinks, taverns, theaters and warehouses, supplied with sewer service by the City shall be charged a monthly sewer service charge based upon the amount of water consumed by the user and applied to the following rate schedule: Gallons of Water Amount or Rate Used per Month Charged first 3,000 minimum monthly charge $8.15 all over 3,000, per 1,000 $1.60 b. Residential rate schedule. Except as hereafter provided, each residential user, including apartments, duplexes, mobile home parks, and single family residents, supplied with sewer service by the City shall be charged a monthly water service charge based upon the amount of water consumed by the user and applied to the following rate schedule: Gallons of water Amount or Rate used per month Charged first 3,000 minimum monthly charge $8.15 all over 3,000, per 1,000 $1.60 (1) Individually metered residential units. Each residential dwelling unit individually metered and billed for consumption of water shall be charged for and owe each month a sewer service charge based upon the amount of water consumed, as determined by the meter reading, applied to the above rate schedule; provided, however, that the maximum sewer bill for each residential unit is nineteen dollars and 35/100 ($19.35). (2) Jointly metered residential units. (a) Each multi-family dwelling unit project shall be charged for and owe each month a water service charge as follows: A minimum bill equal to total number of units multiplied by the minimum monthly charge, plus a consumption charge based upon the amount of water consumed in excess of three thousand (3,000) gallons, time the number of residential dwelling units, as determined by the meter reading, applied to the above rate schedule: provided, however, that the maximum sewer charge for multiple residential units shall not exceed the number of units multiplied by nineteen dollars and 35/100 (19.35). (b) Residential Dwelling Unit shall mean one or more buildings, parts of a building, manufactured homes, mobile homes, or manufactured or mobile home site within a mobile home park, which building, part of a building, manufactured home, or mobile home included or would normally be designated to include a bathroom, principal kitchen facilities and living quarters; provided, however, that every designated manufactured housing or mobile home site, or trailer site with water and sewer connections within a mobile home park shall be considered a residential dwelling unit. c. Vacancy means that unit is unoccupied and the owner received no rent, lease payment or occupancy fee for the unit. d. A jointly metered residential dwelling unit customer shall be entitled to apply for a deduction for vacancies, or credit for future water service with City for prior water service payments under the following conditions: (1) one or more of the residential dwelling units used for the basis of calculation of the minimum bill was vacant for 25 days or more of the previous calendar month; (2) a statement is presented to the City, on a form approved by the City, listing the specific vacant apartments or mobile home sites and stating the period of vacancy, signed under the penalty of law by the customer; (3) the records of the customer, including lease agreement and rental receipts, are available for examination by City staff for purposes of verifying the vacancies; (4) the customer's water bill is paid and proper deposits exist for water service; and the statement is delivered with written receipt acknowledged, either in person or by certified mail, to the City Utility Billing Department before the 5th day of the month following the vacancy, unless the 5th is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which event the affidavit must be received by the City by the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday, nor a legal holiday. (6) provided further, that a customer with no more than two jointly metered residential units may file in advance a quarterly notice of vacancy. (5) e. Institutional users. g. (1) An institutional user is any person, corporation, agency of the State of Texas, or political subdivision which uses five percent (5%) or more of the total water sold by the City or which discharges five percent (5%) or more of the wastewater treated by the City. (2) An institutional user shall pay to the City a monthly sewer service charge based upon the amount of wastewater discharged by the user into the City's publicly owned treatment works, as applied to the following rate: (3) Gallons of Wastewater Discharged per Month Each 1,000 Amount or Rate to be Charged $1 60 The amount of wastewater discharged by an institutional user shall be based upon and determined to be the metered amounts of water delivered to the user through lines which are connected to plumbing fixtures which then return wastewater to the City's publicly owned treatment works, or by wastewater metered connections authorized by the City Manager. Other charges not affected. Nothing herein shall effect or alter any other charge for sewer service required by the Code or the city's industrial waste ordinances. Users without city water. Persons not connected to the waterworks system of the city shall be billed monthly by the city for sanitary sewer services at a rate determined by the utility office supervisor, which rate shall be consistent with the regular sewer service charge of similar type premises or users receiving service from the city. If a person desiring service uses water or maintained premises in such a manner that a similar type user or premises cannot be found, the utility office supervisor may recommend for approval to city council such service charge and conditions as deemed appropriate. SECTION 3: This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. APPROVED this ATTEST: day of APPROVED AS TO FORM: Scott Boun s, City Attorney , 1991. THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE by H. Hodges.