Monthly service charges shall be paid to the City for the use of the sewage disposal system of the City by all persons, firms, corporations, political bodies and political subdivisions who use facilities that are or shall hereafter be connected directly or indirectly to the sewage disposal system of said City, as herein provided.

(Code 1961, 4-6-1; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

In the event such charge or charges for the use of said sewage disposal system be not paid within the time and in the manner as by this article provided, said user may be disconnected from said sewage disposal system or refused the use thereof, and the Clerk shall certify to the County Clerk the legal description of the real property enjoying the said use of said sewage disposal system, together with the amount of such charge or charges, so remaining unpaid, to be placed on the tax roll for collection, subject to the same penalties and collected in like manner as other taxes are by law collectible, and shall, when so certified, become a lien upon said real property.

(Code 1961, 4-6-2; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

All money due the City for sewer service charges shall be payable at the office of the Clerk in the same manner, and on the same date as in the case of the bills for gas, water and electricity. The Clerk or other representative of the City may calculate the amount of each bill for sewer service charges and add the same to the account of the bill of the customer for gas, water and electric service, and render such customer a combined bill for gas, electric, water and sewer service charge.

(Code 1961, 4-6-3; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

The following be, and hereby are, established as the monthly service charges to be paid to the City by all persons, corporations, political subdivisions and organizations whose premises are connected, or may be hereafter connected, to the sanitary sewer system of the City:

(a)   For sewer connections receiving water from the City’s water supply system and discharging sewage in the sewage system which does not place an unusual burden on the said sewage system by reason of volume, type or character of sewage, sewer charges shall be calculated monthly and shall be based on the gross consumption of water by such customer as recorded by each water meter serving the premises of such customer as follows:

(1)   Residential Service: The net rate per month for sanitary sewer system service under this classification shall be the sum of the customer charge and a service charge computed at the applicable rate as provided in Section 15-807, per each one thousand (1,000) gallons of water.

(2)   General Service: The net rate per month for sanitary sewer system service under this classification shall be the sum of the customer charge and a service charge computed at the applicable rate as provided in Section 15-807, per each one thousand (1,000) gallons of water.

(3)   Monthly Charges Determined: At the end of the three (3) month period consisting of the consecutive months of January, February, and March of each year, commencing with the year 1983, the average monthly gross consumption of water by each customer during said three (3) month period shall be ascertained and the monthly sewage service charges paid by such customer for each of the following twelve (12) months shall be based upon the average monthly consumption of water by such customer during this three (3) month period. In the event a user or customer of the sewage disposal system has not been a consumer of water during the entire said three (3) month period, the base consumption of such user or customer shall be computed on the portion of said three (3) month period that said user or customer was a consumer of water. For any user or customer of the sewage disposal system who has not been a consumer of water during any of said three (3) month period, the minimum monthly charge to any such user shall be the sum of the applicable customer charge plus three (3) times the service charge for one thousand (1,000) gallons of water, as provided in Section 15-807. Rates established under this subsection shall not preclude the addition to such rate for additional charges as may be applicable under subsection (a)(4) or (a)(5) hereof.

(4)   Wastewater Surcharge: For those contributors who contribute wastewater, the strength of which is greater than normal domestic sewage, a surcharge in addition to the normal user charge will be collected. The surcharge for operation and maintenance, including replacement, is:

(A)  For each pound of BOD, the charge fixed in Section 415-807 shall be applied; and

(B)  For each pound of SS, the charge fixed in Section 15-807 shall be applied.

(5)   Toxic Discharges: Any user which discharges any toxic pollutants which cause an increase in the cost of managing the effluent or the sludge from the City’s treatment works, or any user which discharges any substance which singly or by interaction with other substances causes identifiable increases in the cost of operation, maintenance or replacement of the treatment works, shall pay for increased costs. The charge to each such user shall be as determined by the responsible plant operating personnel and approved by the Governing Body.

(A)  For each customer having a sewer connection with the City’s sewer system, but receiving water from a source other than the City’s water supply system, and discharging sewage in the City’s sanitary sewage system which does not place an unusual burden on the said sewage system by reason of volume, type, or character of sewerage, there shall be imposed a monthly sewer charge which shall be the sum of the applicable customer charge and the service charge against each one thousand (1,000) gallons of water from whatever alternate source obtained or purchased, at the rates provided in Section 15-807. The City may require such proof as is reasonable of the quantity of water and consumption from such other source in order to determine the rate; and the failure to provide such proof may, at the City’s option, be grounds to terminate the customer’s sanitary sewer connection to the City’s sewer system or to estimate such water consumption and upon such estimate to calculate a monthly sewer charge.

(C)  For each customer having a sewer connection receiving water from a source other than the City’s water supply system and discharging sewage in the sewage system which does place an unusual burden on the said sewage system, fair and equitable sewage charges may be fixed from time to time by the Governing Body of the City, taking into consideration the sewage burden aforesaid. If the quantity or type and character of such sewage discharged into the system shall render it difficult to establish a fair and equitable sewer charge, the customer shall at his sole cost and expense install and maintain in good operating condition suitable meters or measuring devices of standard type and design at an appropriate point or points as necessary to properly measure the customer’s sewer discharge and shall permit the City to perform the reading of such metering device, and sewer charges for such customer shall be established in accordance with such metering records.

(Code 1961, 4-6-4; Ord. 3133; Code 2023)

There shall be no service charge for the user of the sewage disposal system for any premises connected with such system for any billing period in which, during the entire billing period, no water or sewage of any kind has been discharged into the sewage disposal system from said premises and on which premises the water from the City’s water system has been discontinued for the entire billing period, and there shall be no service charge for any premises having a water connection and having no sewer connection, providing the lack of said sewer connection is due to the fact said premises are not located within a lateral sewer district within the City.

(Code 1961, 4-6-5; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

The duly authorized officers or employees of the City, during all business hours of each secular day and upon reasonable request, shall be entitled to enter upon the premises of any property having a connection or connections with the sewage disposal system of said city for the purpose of inspecting and testing and reading any water meter or meters and for the purpose of inspecting said property to the end of securing any information relating to the service charge being made, or to be made, against such premises for the use of such system; and it shall be the duty of each owner, agent or occupant of such property to permit such entry and inspection and to offer such assistance as shall be reasonable to enable such inspector to make such inspection.

(Code 1961, 4-6-6; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

(a)   Residential Service: The customer charge for this class of service shall be $20.00 per month; the sewer service charge for this class of service shall be $7.50 per one thousand (1,000) gallons of water.

(b)   General Service: The customer charge for this class of service shall be $20.00 per month; the sewer service charge for this class of service shall be $7.50 per one thousand (1,000) gallons of water.

(c)   BOD Surcharge: The BOD surcharge shall be $0.650 per pound.

(d)   SS Surcharge: The SS surcharge shall be $0.450 per pound.

(e)   Effective Date: The service charges established herein for the use of the municipal sanitary sewer system shall apply to all bills issued on or after January 1, 2025. All such charges shall be applied uniformly on the basis of a full monthly sewer service charge, irrespective of the fact that use during a given month for any customer may be less than a full month.

(Code 1961, 4-6-7; Ord. 3566; Ord. 4119; Code 2023; Ord. 4261)

(a)   The user charge system shall generate adequate annual revenues to pay costs of annual operation and maintenance including replacement and cost associated with debt retirement of bonded capital associated with financing the treatment works which the city may by ordinance designate to be paid by the user charge system. That portion of the total user charge which is designated for operation and maintenance including replacement of the treatment works shall be established by this article.

(b)   That portion of the total user charge collected which is designated for operation and maintenance including replacement purposes as established in this article, shall be deposited in a separate no lapsing fund known as the operation, maintenance and replacement fund and will be kept in two (2) primary accounts as follows:

(1)   An account designated for the specific purpose of defraying operation and maintenance costs (excluding replacement) of the treatment works (operation and maintenance account).

(2)   An account designated for the specific purpose of ensuring replacement needs over the useful life of the treatment works (replacement account). Deposits in the replacement account shall be made (at least annually, specify) from the operation, maintenance and replacement revenue in the amount of seven thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($7,250.00) annually.

(c)   Fiscal year end balances in the operation and maintenance account and the replacement account shall be carried over to the same accounts in the subsequent fiscal year, and shall be used for no other purposes than those designated for these accounts. Monies which have been transferred from other sources to meet temporary shortages in the operation, maintenance and replacement fund shall be returned to their respective accounts upon appropriate adjustment of the user charge rates for operation, maintenance and replacement. The user charge rate(s) shall be adjusted such that the transferred monies will be returned to their respective accounts within the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the monies were borrowed.

(Code 1961, 4-6-8; Ord. 2521; Code 2023)

It shall be the duty and the responsibility of the user to notify the office of the clerk if such user does not receive a billing for sewage service charge within thirty (30) days after the effective date hereof for the purpose of collection of the charges herein outlined. And it shall also be the duty and the responsibility of each customer who has a water connection with the city water supply to notify the office of the clerk if such customer has no connection with the sewage disposal system of the city.

(Code 1961, 4-6-9; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)

Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall upon conviction thereof be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine of not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00), or by imprisonment in the city jail not exceeding thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and shall be committed to the city jail until all such fines and costs of the case are paid.

(Code 1961, 4-6-10; Ord. 1898; Code 2023)