§ 58-65. General provisions.

(a)

Billing generally.

(1)

Bills. Charges for service shall be payable monthly or quarterly depending on the classification of service for which bills are rendered.

(2)

The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof, and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to the premises and the service is furnished to the premises by the village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant, and user of the services are jointly and severally liable to the village.

(3)

Bills for sewer service shall be mailed by the village on the first day of the month or quarter succeeding the period for which the service is billed. All sewer bills are due and payable 30 days after being mailed. A penalty of ten percent shall be added to all bills not paid by the 30th day after they have been mailed. Bills shall be paid to the village treasurer or his designated representative.

(4)

Any user requesting a termination of service shall give written notice to the village ten days prior to the time such termination of service is desired. Responsibility for payment for sewer service prior to the date of termination shall be with the property owners as well as the user. There shall be no charge for transferring the sewer service to the subsequent user.

(b)

Delinquent bills.

(1)

If the charges for sewer services are not paid within 60 days after the billing, services shall be discontinued upon the giving of notice and shall not be reinstated until all charges and penalties have been paid.

(2)

When a bill for the charges has not been paid within 60 days after billing, the village shall cause to be served upon the user or upon the owner of the premises, if vacant and unoccupied, a written notice to the effect that services shall be discontinued by the village (which services shall include the services of the public water supply of the village), unless within ten days from the giving of the notice all charges due to the village, including penalties, have been paid in full. The notice shall inform the user or owner that any claim of an erroneous billing must be filed in writing with the village within the ten-day period and presented by the claimant to the village board for consideration and determination at the next regular board meeting or at a public hearing. During an appeal procedure and within five days after the conclusion thereof, no discontinuation of services shall be made. Service of notice of discontinuation may be made either by personal service or by mailing the written notice by first class mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the user or owner at his last known address.

(3)

The village will assess a disconnect fee and a reconnect fee for any service disconnected due to failure to pay sewer charges. The amount of the disconnect fee and the reconnect fee shall be as established by the village board of trustees.

(c)

Lien; notice of delinquency. Whenever a bill for sewer service remains unpaid for 60 days after it has been mailed, the village shall file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of lien claim. This statement shall contain the legal description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, and a notice that the village claims a lien for this amount as well as for all charges subsequent to the period covered by the bill.

(d)

Enforcement.

(1)

Property subject to a lien for unpaid charges shall be subject to appropriate foreclosure proceedings.

(2)

Nothing herein shall be construed however to serve to limit any remedy which would otherwise be available to the village for the collection of the past due amount. The village may also sue the owner of the premises, the occupant thereof, or the user of the sewer service in a civil action to recover the money due for the services and reasonable attorney's fees. In the case of nonowner occupied premises, the village shall, if feasible, first attempt to enforce payment from the user of the services.

(e)

Revenues. All revenues and money derived from the operation of the sewerage system shall be deposited in the account of the water and sewer fund. All the revenues and monies shall be held by the village treasurer separate and apart from his private funds and separate and apart from all other funds of the village and all of the sum, without any deductions whatever, shall be delivered to the village treasurer not more than ten days after receipt of the same, or at such more frequent intervals as may from time to time be directed by the board of trustees. The village treasurer shall receive all the revenues from the sewerage system and all other funds and monies incident to the operation of the system as the same may be delivered to him and deposit the same in the account of the water and sewer fund of the village. The treasurer shall administer the fund in every respect in the manner provided by state law.

(f)

Accounts.

(1)

The village treasurer shall establish a proper system of accounts and shall keep proper books, records, and accounts in which the complete and correct entries shall be made of all transactions relative to the sewerage system, and at regular annual intervals he shall cause to be made an audit by an independent auditing concern of the books to show the receipts and disbursements of the sewerage system.

(2)

In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the public sewerage facilities, including a replacement cost, to indicate that sewer service charges under the waste cost recovery system do in fact meet these regulations. In this regard, the financial information to be shown in the audit report shall include the following:

a.

Flow data showing total gallons measure at point of discharge to downstream treatment facility for the current year.

b.

Billing data to show total number of gallons billed.

c.

Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year.

d.

Number of users connected to the system.

e.

Number of nonmetered users.

(g)

Notice of rates.

(1)

A description of the sewer rates properly certified by the village clerk shall be filed in the office of the recorder of deeds of county and shall be deemed notice to all owners of real estate of the charges of the sewerage system of the village on their properties.

(2)

Each user will be notified at least annually in conjunction with a regular bill of the rate and that portion of the user charges that are attributable to wastewater treatment service.

(h)

Access to records. The state environmental protection agency or its authorized representative shall have access to any books, documents, papers, and records of the village which are applicable to the village system of user charges for the purpose of making an audit, examination, excerpts and transcriptions thereof to ensure compliance with the terms of the special and general conditions of any state grant.

(Ord. No. 85-5, § 13.08.110, 7-1-1985)