[Adopted 10-13-1987 by Ord. No. 1590]
The Municipality does hereby authorize and empower the Monroeville
Water Authority[1] (hereinafter referred to as the "Authority") to act for
and on behalf of the Municipality for the purpose of collecting all
sewage rents authorized by the Municipality.
[1]
Editor's Note: This Authority's name was revised 5-14-2002
by Ord. No. 2223 to be the "Monroeville Municipal Authority."
The Municipality does hereby authorize and empower the Authority
to receive from the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority fees paid
by the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority to the Authority for the
preparation and mailing of all sewage bills. The Municipality shall
not be responsible for any other payment to the Authority for the
Authority's billing and collection of sewage charges to all recipients
of said service.
The Authority shall prepare regular billings for sewage charges
which, at the sole discretion of the Authority, may be incorporated
by the Authority in its regular water billing procedures and practices.
The Authority shall pay to the Municipality sewage moneys received
by it for the payment of sewage charges and provide to the Municipality
an accurate and complete statement of all billings and collections
for sewage charges.
No person shall fail to pay any sewage fee imposed by or for
which the Municipality is responsible.
For the failure to pay any sewage fee imposed by the Municipality,
the recipient of this service who fails to pay a sewage bill within
15 days after said bill shall become due shall pay a penalty equal
to 0.83% of the total bill, which shall include both water and sewage
charges.
All accounts which are more than 30 days delinquent in payment
of the sewage fee may be subject to a termination of water service.
An account shall be delinquent when no payment of the bill has been
made within 30 days of the date due on the billing. To effectuate
said termination, the Authority is hereby authorized and required
to terminate water supply to such premises until all such overdue
sanitary sewer service charges, together with penalty, are paid. Termination
can be requested prior to the filing of a claim or lien by the Municipality
for nonpayment for sanitary sewer service. Any termination shall be
done by the Authority and shall comply with the provisions of the
Act of November 26, 1978, P.L. 1255, 68 P.S. § 399.1 et
seq. The Authority, for the forgoing, is further set forth and granted
in accordance with the Act of July 20, 1974, P.L. 561, 53 P.S. § 2261.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said section was repealed 4-14-2006 by P.L.
85, No. 28. See now 53 P.S. § 3102.502.
A.
Following the expiration of 15 days from the date of the original
billing, the Authority shall add the late payment charged to the customer's
account. The amount of the late payment shall be reflected on the
next billing, but in no event more than 35 days from the original
bill due date. Said statement shall reflect the past due balance and,
further, reflect that if payment is not made immediately additional
penalty charges shall occur.
B.
All notices shall be by United States Mail, first class, postage
prepaid.
D.
Notice of termination shall include:
(1)
The date of termination, which shall be at least 10 days from the
date of the notice of termination.
(2)
Notice that, unless the Authority receives complete payment of the
amount shown on the notice prior to the date of termination, water
service shall be terminated.
(3)
Notice that, in lieu of paying the entire amount shown, a recipient
of the service, prior to the date of termination, may notify the Authority
that the recipient disputes the correctness of part or all of the
amount shown, if all or part of the amount shown was not the subject
of a previous dispute.
(4)
Notice that the recipient's notice is to be communicated to the manager
of the Authority or such other person employed by the Authority authorized
to receive payment of fees.
E.
If, prior to the date of termination, the Authority has not received
complete payment of the amount shown on the notice of termination.
The recipient whose account is delinquent has not requested the establishment
of a deferred payment plan, or the recipient whose account is delinquent
has not notified the Authority that the recipient disputes the correctness
of all or part of the amount shown on the notice of termination, then
the Authority shall cause to be terminated the water service provided
the recipient whose account is delinquent on the date of termination.
A.
Any recipient who disputes any penalty or order to terminate service
may request a hearing to challenge the propriety of such penalty or
termination. All requests for hearing shall be made to the Manager
within 15 days of notice of the penalty or notice of termination of
service. Upon request for hearing, all proceedings will stay.
B.
The hearing will be conducted by the Manager or his designated agent.
The Manager or his agent will hold a hearing. The Manager or designated
agent will, within 24 hours, notify the person whose account is delinquent
of his decision.
C.
The Manager, in deciding to waive the penalty or cause water supply
to be terminated, shall consider the following:
Nothing contained in this article shall preclude the Authority
from filing a claim or lien for unpaid sewer service charges.
The Authority is authorized to charge for the termination and reinstatement of water service in accordance with the Authority's prevailing rates for such function. The delinquent recipient of service shall be responsible for said charges. The Authority shall charge back the sewage account referred to in § 316-83 the sum of $18,000 per year as a flat fee for performing the billing service. Said fee will be deducted from the sewage revenues collected by the Authority at a rate of $1,500 per month or 1/12 of the total fee. Said charge shall be increased upon review by the Authority of its out-of-pocket costs for performing the billing service.
The Authority shall indemnify and hold harmless the Municipality
against any damage, claim or loss whatsoever arising from any shutoff
occurring as a result of a violation of this article or any other
law, rule, regulation or procedure, and the Authority shall provide
the Municipality with an attorney for its defense of any action filed
against the Municipality as well as pay for any money verdicts or
settlements, including costs which may be assessed, levied, ordered
or imposed upon the Municipality by reason of termination of water
services as a result of any violation as set forth above. In the event,
however, that the Authority acts in accordance with this article and
other applicable laws, rules, regulations and procedures, the Municipality
shall indemnify and hold harmless the Authority for any such loss,
damage or claim resulting from water service being shut off by the
Authority.
