13.15.060 Billing, payment and collection.
(a) Establishment of Credit.
(1) Delinquency. The City need not provide service to an applicant that is delinquent in payment for water service at the same or different address until the applicant has arranged to pay the delinquent balance in a manner satisfactory to the City.
(2) Deposit. The City may require a deposit as a condition of establishing service in an amount of up to two months’ anticipated charges. In the event the applicant has a history of late payments for utility services, the City may require a reasonable additional deposit. Providing a deposit does not exempt a customer from any interest or fees for late payment.
(3) Waiver of Deposit. The City may waive the requirement for a deposit where:
(i) The applicant meets minimum credit criteria determined by the City; or
(ii) The applicant has for one year continuously received water or other utility service from the City without a late payment.
(4) Deposit as Security. A deposit shall be security for the payment of unpaid water services upon termination of service and shall not impair any right of the City to terminate service as provided by these rules and regulations.
(5) Inapplicability. This section is not applicable to customers receiving service pursuant to a contract.
(b) Interest on Deposits.
(1) Interest. The City shall pay interest on all deposits over $100.00 for recurring monthly service if the deposit is placed in an interest bearing account. The City shall pay the interest rate of the interest bearing account or the average rate over the term for the deposit. Interest that has occurred on a deposit shall be paid when the deposit is refunded to a customer.
(2) Interest Suspended. If the City discontinues service because of delinquent payments, the City will not pay interest on a deposit paid to restore service for 12 months after the service has been restored.
(c) Refund of Deposit.
(1) Timing for Refund. The City will refund a deposit to a customer within 25 days after the customer:
(i) Terminates the account for which the deposit was given; provided, that any outstanding balance on the account shall be deducted from the refund; or
(ii) For one continuous year has had no more than one delinquent payment on the account for which the deposit was given and such delinquent payment did not occur in the preceding six months and/or subject to a credit report acceptable to the City;
(2) Abandonment of Deposit. A deposit with accrued interest, if any, less lawful deductions, that remains unclaimed by a customer for more than one year after the termination of the services for which that deposit was made is presumed abandoned, and the City shall dispose of such deposit in accordance with applicable provisions of law.
(3) Damage to Facilities. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section, the City shall not be obligated to refund a deposit if the customer has damaged utility-owned facilities.
(d) Responsibility for Payment. The water service applicant and all cosigners along with all persons receiving the service are obligated to pay for the City’s water service. Charges for the City’s service accrue for so long as a structure is connected to the City’s water service facilities or the meter shows consumption. Neither the vacancy nor disuse of a structure connected to the City’s facilities (or the vacancy or disuse of one or more units within a structure), nor failure to receive a bill for City water service, shall relieve a person of the obligation to pay for City’s water service. A customer who has not received a bill for a period of 45 days shall contact the City for information concerning outstanding service charges.
(e) Change of Occupancy. A customer who is listed on the City’s records as the person or entity responsible for water consumption at a specific location shall give notice in writing of an intended change in occupancy, specifying the date on which service is to be discontinued. Notice shall be provided at least five days prior to the change of occupancy. If the customer fails to provide the required notice, the customer will be charged for water service furnished to the premises until the City is provided with adequate notice of change of occupancy.
(f) Billing of Unauthorized Service. A person who appropriates or accepts water service from the City without applying for service and otherwise complying with these rules and regulations shall be billed at the residential or commercial rate that would otherwise be applicable from the date of the turn-on or, if that date cannot be established, from the date of construction of the water connection. In addition, the customer must pay all of the City’s costs, including administrative costs and attorney fees, caused by the unauthorized connection.
(g) Billing Cycle. Consumption charges for water service will be billed monthly. Bills will be mailed to the address specified by the customer or to the location receiving the water service.
(h) Bill Due. Bills for water service are due when received and are payable (without discount) by return mail or at any authorized collector. Any bill not paid within 30 days after mailing by the City to the customer will be considered delinquent. After the notice procedure described in this section and in CCO 13.15.070 has been followed, the City may disconnect the service, apply any deposits against the delinquent bill and take other lawful measures to collect money due on the delinquent account.
(i) Disputed Items on Bill.
(1) Written Complaint Required. A customer who is unable to obtain an informal adjustment of the billing that he believes to be in excess of the filed rates or rules and regulations may file a written complaint with the City as provided in CCO 13.15.130. Where a customer’s bill is clearly erroneous billing based on the billing and payment history, the customer may appeal directly to the City Manager, who may immediately cancel or revise the billing.
(2) Procedure. Upon receiving notice of a disputed item on a bill, the City will investigate the matter and seek to resolve the dispute. The City shall notify the customer in writing of its proposed resolution of the issue with an explanation of the reasons. The resolution notice shall advise the customer of the right to submit the disputed item to the City Council sitting as the Public Works Utility Board, if the initial resolution is not satisfactory.
(j) Billing Adjustments.
(1) Disputed Bills. If a customer has notified the City of a disputed item on a water service bill, the late payment fee for delinquent payments shall apply to disputed items finally determined to be owed to the City.
(2) Metered Test Costs. If a meter test conducted by the City reveals a deviation of more than two percent from the standard tolerances provided by CCO 13.15.100(d), the City shall adjust its billings to reflect actual consumption based on adjusted meter reading from the period that the meter was in use or for the previous three months, whichever is less; provided, that if the cause for the meter error was an act or event whose date can be determined, billings will be adjusted back to, but not prior to, that date.
(k) Estimated Billing. If the City is unable to read a meter at the usual or scheduled time due to inaccessibility, locked premises, weather conditions, road conditions, presence of dangerous animals or other circumstances, the City may bill the customer based upon the historical estimated consumption and adjust the account in accordance with the next subsequent meter reading. Estimated billings will not be utilized for more than two consecutive months.
(l) Unified Billing. Billings for water service provided by the City may be submitted to the customer on the statement that includes delineated billings for other utility services provided by the City. The City will not consolidate billings for different locations or accounts on a single billing statement. Failure to pay any portion of the unified billing will constitute a delinquency of the billing unless the customer remits payments adequate to cover the water service billing and direct application of payment to the City by an enclosure with the payment.
(m) Collection of Delinquent Accounts.
(1) Collection Practices. The collection practices of the City shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable administrative orders or ordinance or resolution of the City Council.
(2) Late Fee and Attorney Costs. A delinquent payment for City water service is subject to a late payment fee of five percent of the outstanding balance as provided in CCO 13.15.140. If a delinquent account is referred to an agency or attorney for collection, the amount due shall include all collection and/or attorney costs incurred pursuant to that referral.
(n) Collection and Agreement Program. The City may adopt a collection and agreement program which will allow delinquent customers to continue to receive service upon the execution of the payment plan satisfactory to the City. The payment plan may require the customer to pledge or assign to the City future sources of income. If the customer fails to abide by the payment plan service may be disconnected in accordance with CCO 13.15.070. [Res. 94-14, 1994. Code 1979 WU § 6.0.]