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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 2011-11 Amending Article II, Division 4 of Chapter 19; Utilities Related to Rates, Fees and Charges ORDINANCE NO. 2011-11 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA; AMENDING ARTICLE II, DIVISION 4 OF CHAPTER 19, UTILITIES, RELATED TO RATES, FEES AND CHARGES; UPDATING AND CLARIFYING PROCEDURES RELATED TO BILLING, PAYMENT AND DELINQUENT ACCOUNTS; UPDATING APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS; REVISING MISCELLANEOUS FEES; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF PRIOR INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS, INCORPORATION INTO THE CODE, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City is granted the authority, under § 2(b), Art. VIII of the State Constitution, to exercise any power for municipal purposes, except when expressly prohibited by law; and WHEREAS, the City Commission desires to provide additional administrative flexibility related to the processing of utility payments and handling of delinquent accounts; and WHEREAS, the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida, hereby finds this ordinance to be in the best interests of the public health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Winter Springs. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS HEREBY ORDAINS, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Recitals. The foregoing recitals are hereby fully incorporated herein by reference as legislative findings of the City Commission of Winter Springs. Section 2. Amendment to Chapter 19. The City of Winter Springs Code of Ordinances. Chapter 19, Utilities, is hereby amended as follows (underlined type indicates additions and stri•kecstrt type indicates deletions, while asterisks (* * *) indicate a deletion from the Ordinance of text existing in Chapter 19. It is intended that the text in Chapter 19 denoted by the asterisks and set forth in this Ordinance shall remain unchanged from the language existing prior to adoption of this ordinance): CHAPTER 19. UTILITIES * * 9: City of Winter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 1 of 7 ARTICLE II. WASTEWATER SYSTEM * ** DIVISION 4. RATES, FEES AND CHARGES * ** Sec. 19 -97. - Billing, payment, delinquency. a Users of the water and /or wastewater system shall be billed monthly and payment shall be due when rendered.lf payment is not received by the city in i'ul within. twenty (20) days from the date of mailing, the unpaid amount is to be considered to be in arrears and shall be considered delinquent and a delinquent notice will. he issued. If there is an arrearage amount due when the delinquent bill is printed, a late fee will be assessed at the rate of five (5) percent per month on the arrearage amount or five dollars ($5.00), whichever amount is greater. The city may waive the late fee one (1) time in any 24- month period if the user has demonstrated reasonable hardship or if the user opts into one of the city's preferred payment methods. Preferred payment methods include those that are automated, recurring and electronically received., • ( . _ .. . ' Clui ng tIIG lil.l.tllill. Of n CurAvn C+I accuullt. (b) The customer shall be notified of the delinquent amount along with the late fee charges by reference in the mailing of a delinquent notice as considered necessary by the city manager or his designee. If the entire bill if is not paid in full within ten (10) days from the date of mailing of the delinquent notice, service shall be disconnected discuutillu�J. 24 Re- connection fees, as set forth in this division, • - :. • shall be assessed to tc111stcltl. re- connect service, and a reinstallation fee, as set forth in this division, c,fflinty -fi y� Moffat, ($35.00) shall be assessed for reinstallation ofa meter if removed for nonpayment or inability tillable to lock -off. However, if a customer has never previously been disconnected by the city and has had no more than two (2) late Ices over the previous three -year period, the city manager or the city manager's designee is authorized to waive the reinstatement disconnection and /or re- connection fee. A returned payment fee, as set forth in this division, . ' . c. .,. • . • . . .. . ' , ll;chL v I is 61 s,att 1, shall he assessed. l:or eachLll.A payment returned for insufficient funds or closed account. j Any customer • - - • . ' . • c • • • .. whose history of returned payments is deemed "chronic" [four (4) or more returned payments in any 1.2 -month period] shall he required to make payment in cash, money order, or credit card for a period of one (1 )_ year. Customer with chronic payment history may resume normal payment options following one City of Winter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 2 of 7 (1) year of consistent cash, money order or credit card payments to the city without any interruption of service. Customer may request relief from being classified as having a chronic payment history. Such request shall be made in writing to the office of the city manager and shall state the reasons for requesting said relief: The city manager or the city manager's designee may grant the customer relief from their chronic payment history classification and shall consider the customer's hardship circumstances; their payment history (including late payments, NSF's, disconnections of service); and compliance with any previously granted payment extensions or payment installment arrangements. (d) The city manager or designee may authorize alternate payment arrangements to address special cases of hardship consistent with the city's special payment arrangement policy adopted by resolution of the city commission. * * k Sec. 19 -100. - Application requirements. (b) Each applicant shall be required to provide information and pay fees at the time of application. (1) Residential users. Application shall include but not he limited. to the following information: a. Name(s) of applicant with current photo identification issued by state or federal government; * ** A deposit fee and an application fee shall he assessed at the time of application for service. However, if the customer signs up for one of the city's preferred payment methods at the time of application, the application fee will be waived. Preferred payment methods include those that are automated, recurring and electronically received_ Failure to maintain the preferred payment method for at least 12 consecutive months may result in reinstatement of the application f:ee. The deposit fee shall accrue interest at a rate not to exceed six (6) percent per annum. as determined periodically by the city manager or his designee, and shall be credited monthly to the customer's deposit amount ': .. . Upon cornpl.eti.on of twenty -five (25) months of service with no delinquents payments during the previous twenty -four (24) months, the deposit will be refunded. The City of W inter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 3of7 twenty- five -month time period will commence again when billed amount is not received by the bill due date upon the first _' nunpayu,.,,t. A new deposit will be required to be paid by the customer upon the first time service is disconnected , after the original. required deposit has been refunded. However, if a customer has never been previously disconnected by the city and has had no more than two (2) late payments fees over the previous three -year period, the city manager or the city manager's designee is authorized to waive the new deposit. When service is terminated, the deposit plus the interest less any outstanding fees and charges shall be refunded to the user. The residential deposits will. he based on the services provided by the city to such residence. The following deposit schedule shall apply: Residential Deposit Amount* Water only service $30.00 Sewer only service $70.00 Water and sewer service $100.00 *Reflects deposit for water and wastewater service only; other deposits for services billed on the utility bill, if any, are in addition to the above - referenced deposits. An inspection fee shall be assessed at application and for each connection when appli.cabl.e, as set ifbrth in this division, to miskA,lluu ou3 ,l,a, . , s�,ctioi, 19-102(5 Nonresidential users. Application shall include such information as the utility director prescribes and that is necessary for classification, reference, and other similar identification purposes. A deposit fee and an application fee shall be assessed at the time of application. However, ifthe customer signs up for one of the city's preferred payment methods at the time of application, the application fee will be waived. Preferred payment methods include those that are automated, recurring and electronically received. Failure to maintain the preferred payment method for at least 12 consecutive months may result in reinstatement of the application fee. Th.c deposit fee shall accrue interest at a rate not to exceed six (6) percent per annum as determined by the city manager or his designee, and shall be credited monthly to the customer's deposit amount paid aiitivall to-tlre- appfieant. The deposit shall be held for the term of service. When service is terminated, the deposit plus interest less City of W inter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 4of7 any outstanding fees and charges shall be refunded to the user. The deposit shall he equal to two (2) times the average monthly bill for service as determined by the city manager or his designee, but in no event shall the deposit be less than two hundred twenty -five dollars ($225.00). An inspection fee shall be assessed at application and for each connection when applicable; refer to miscellaneous charges, section 19- 102(5)c. * ** Sec. 19 -102. - User charge schedule, general. The following rates and charges shall apply to all systems unless otherwise specifically stated: (5) Miscellaneous charges. a. Disconnection fee for turning service off for nonpayment $20.00 b. a- Re- connection R%-iliatatt,,,.„ t fee for turning on service during regular husi.ness hours after di.sconnectionm for nonpayment of bill $40.00 $20.00 c. R.e- connection. fee for turning service on outside of regular business hours after disconnection for nonpayment of bill $45.00 d. it Fee or charge for actual damages (whichever is greater) for contamination or alteration of a water meter, line or connection, per occurrence $95.00 e. Inspection .lee for each connection requested $40.00 d- Fee for all ch..c,...}., payments returned by bank, .. . . ". iIL3Uffkkut fuu& Jos1.d at,.,uuirt - -... 520.00 or 5 %, of the face amount of the payment LL.,ck, whichever is greater, not to exceed $40.00 g_ e Application fee $20.00 h. f Reinstallation charg fee for meter removed because of nonpayment or inability to lock off $50.00 i. g- Pretreatment charge, as established by the city commission by resolution. City of winter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 5 of 7 L lr. Capacity reservation charge, $0.35 per sewer gallon per year. k. t Television inspection of new sewer mains and laterals installed by contractors for acceptance by city: I. Inspection fee using the city's T.V. camera and crew, per hour $125.00 2. Inspector only (contractor supplies camera and crew), per hour 550.00 Meter bench test $25.00 - Rl 111Jtut4111\ llt b�l V1V t-ut -ulf fw $20.00 * ** Section 3. Repeal of Prior Inconsistent Ordinances and Resolutions. All prior inconsistent ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Commission, or parts of priorordinances and resolutions in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed to the extent of the conflict. Section 4. Incorporation into Code. This Ordinance shall be incorporated into the Winter Springs City Code and any section or paragraph, number or letter, and any heading may be changed or modified as necessary to effectuate the foregoing. Grammatical, typographical, and like errors may be corrected and additions, alterations, and omissions, not affecting the construction or meaning of this Ordinance and the City Code may be freely made. Section 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word or provision of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, whether for substantive, procedural, or any other reason, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption by the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida, and pursuant to the City Charter. [SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS] City of Winter Springs Ordinance No. 201 1 -1 1 Page 6 of 7 ADOPTED by the City Commission of the City of Winter Springs, Florida, in a regular meeting assembled on the 22nd day or August 2011. C LES LAC , Or ATTE: T: • • • , •'"117P, NZO-LUACES City Cler APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM AND SUFFICIENCY FOR TH TY OF WINTER SPRINGS ONLY. ANTHONY A. GARGANESE City Attorney First Reading: August 8, 2011 Legal Ad Published: A gu st ll,20 U Effective Date: SPP Sertinn 6. City of Winter Springs Ordinance No. 2011-11 Page 7 of 7