§ 140-8Statement of policy.
§ 140-9Definitions.
§ 140-10Sewer use rents.
§ 140-11Sewerage facilities rents.
§ 140-12Administration; payment of bills.
In order to pay the cost of the operation, maintenance and repairs of the sewerage system, as defined in Village Law § 14-1400, of the Village of Washingtonville or part or parts thereof and to ensure the proper operation, maintenance and repair of said sewerage system, it shall be the policy of said village to establish and impose a scale of annual charges for the use of said sewerage system or any part or parts thereof, said charges being designated as a "sewer use rent," limited, however, by the restrictions contained in § 453 of the General Municipal Law.
In order to pay for the full annual cost of debt service, including the interest on and amortization of and payment of all outstanding indebtedness which has been or will be incurred for the construction, enlargement, expansion and addition to the village sewerage system, as defined in Village Law § 14-1400, it shall be the policy of said village to establish and impose a scale of annual charges, said charges begin designated as a "sewerage facilities rent."
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
- INDUSTRIAL WASTES
- Includes any liquid, gaseous, solid or other waste substance or a combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade or business or from the development or recovery of any natural resources.
- OTHER WASTES
- Includes garbage, refuse, decayed wood, sawdust, shavings,
bark, sand, lime, cinders, ashes, offal, tar, dyestuff, acids, chemicals
and all other discarded matter not sewage or industrial waste; provided,
however, that no use of the sewer system for these items can be made
unless in conformity with the Village of Washingtonville Sewer Use
Ordinance.Editor's Note: See Art. III, Sewer Use Rules and Regulations, of this chapter.
- PART
- Includes all lateral sewers or all branch sewers or all interceptor sewers or all trunk sewers and the sewage treatment and disposal works and each part with necessary appurtenance, including sewage pumping stations.
- SEWAGE
- Includes the water-carried human or animal waste from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with such groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present. The admixture with sewage, as above defined, of industrial waste or other waste, as herein defined, also shall be considered "sewage" within the meaning of this article.
- SEWERAGE FACILITIES RENTS
- The rent, rate or charge imposed or levied by the Village
of Washingtonville for the payment of the annual debt redemption on
all the indebtedness incurred for the construction, enlargement, expansion
and additions to the village sewerage system, which charges, together
with such other funds as are available for such purposes, will provide
revenues sufficient to pay in full when due all maturing principal
of and interest on all outstanding indebtedness issued for sewerage
purposes.[Amended 8-20-1991 by L.L. No. 9-1991]
- SEWER SYSTEM and SEWERAGE SYSTEM
- The sewerage system, as defined in Village Law § 14-1400,
owned and operated by the Village of Washingtonville and shall include
all sewer pipes and other appurtenances which are used or useful in
whole or in part in connection with the collection, treatment and/or
disposal of sewage, industrial wastes and other wastes and which are
owned, operated or maintained by the Village of Washingtonville, including
pumping stations, sewerage treatment and disposal works and all extensions,
additions and improvements which may be made to such system.[Amended 8-20-1991 by L.L. No. 9-1991]
- SEWER USE RENTS
- The rent, rate or charge comprising the scale of annual charges
imposed or levied by the Village of Washingtonville for the use of
the sewerage system or any part or parts thereof, which charges will
provide revenues sufficient to pay all costs and expenses of operating
and maintaining the sewerage system.[Amended 8-20-1991 by L.L. No. 9-1991]
The Village of Washingtonville does hereby establish and impose a scale of sewer use rents for the use services rendered by the sewer system to the real property within the corporate limits of the village upon the following basis:
If a water rent is levied or charged against any real property within the corporate limits of the village or the owners or occupants of such real property and such real property is served by the sewer system, the sewer use rent against such real property shall be based on the consumption of water on the premises served by the sewer system or such part or parts thereof and levied or charged against such real property or the owners or occupants of such real property at the following rate: 130% of the water billing.
In the case of metered consumers of water supplied by the village who contribute to the sewer system an amount of sewage substantially less than or substantially greater than the amount of water supplied to such metered consumer by the village or in case of owners or occupants of real property within the village who are not consumers of water but are connected to the sewer system, then the Board of Trustees shall fix and determine the sewer rent charge applicable to such real property upon such other equitable basis as shall be determined by the Board.
At the option of the owner of real property being served by the sewer system, such owner may, at his own expense and subject at all times to the approval of the sewage treatment plant operator, install, operate and maintain sewage meters, gauges or other suitable devices for measuring the amount of sewage contributed to the sewage system. In such cases, the quantity of sewage shall be determined by such metering device, and the sewer use rent applicable therefor shall be the same as would be imposed for a like quantity of water consumed on said premises.
It shall be the duty of the sewage treatment plant operator to make a survey annually or at such other times as may be required by the Board of Trustees to determine whether there is being discharged into the sewer system from any real property within the corporate limits of the village sewage or other waste which, in the opinion of the sewage treatment plant operator, contains unduly high concentrations of solids or any other substance adding to the operating costs of the sewer system. Upon the completion of such survey, he shall file with the Board of Trustees a report of his findings indicating whether additional sewer rent charges should be levied for such sewage or other waste, and, if so, he shall set forth recommended charges for the same. The Board of Trustees is authorized to fix and determine such additional sewer use rent charge therefor as shall be equitable, in addition to the sewer use rents provided for by the preceding subsections of this section.
The minimum sewer use rent charge for each customer shall be based upon the minimum water billing.
Review of sewer rent charges. The village shall review the sewer rent charges not less often than once every two years. The review shall consist of an analysis of the total cost of operation and maintenance of the sewage treatment facilities and the wastewater contribution of the users and user classes. Based on that review, the Board of Trustees shall revise, if necessary, the sewer rent charges to accomplish the following:
Generate sufficient revenue to pay the total operation and maintenance costs necessary to effect the proper operation and maintenance of the treatment facilities;
Maintain the proportionate distribution of operation and maintenance costs among users and user classes as attributable to actual use; and
Determine the application of any excess revenue collected to either the reductions of the next year's charges or the establishment of a capital reserve fund to be used for contingencies, replacement or necessary improvement.
Extraneous flows. The cost of all flows not directly attributable to users shall be distributed among all users of the sewer system in the same manner that the costs of operation and maintenance are distributed among all users of the sewer system for their actual use. Any increased costs associated with the management of effluents and/or sludge and any treatment works caused by the discharge of toxic pollutants shall be paid for by those users discharging the toxic pollutants.
Each user shall be notified annually, in conjunction with a regular bill, of the rate and that portion of the user charges which are attributable to wastewater treatment services.
The Village of Washingtonville does hereby establish and impose a scale of sewerage facilities rents upon each parcel of real property within the corporate limits of the village upon the following basis:
Each residential dwelling on not more than one acre will be assigned a value of one unit, whether house, apartment or trailer.
Each multiple-family housing structure and apartment house will be assigned a value of one unit for the first dwelling unit and one unit for each additional dwelling unit contained within the housing structure or apartment house, including the land necessarily allocable thereto. A "residential dwelling unit" shall be defined as a room or group of rooms occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters and having direct access from the outside or through a common hall.
Commercial buildings.
Each commercial or multiple use commercial building will be assigned units based upon one of the following two methods, whichever produces the higher number of units:
A "commercial or office use" shall be defined as a room or group of rooms occupied or intended for occupancy as a separate commercial use or office and having direct access from the outside or through a common hall.
All land zoned for residential purposes, other than the not more than one acre for each residential dwelling and other than land necessarily allocable to a multiple-family housing structure or apartment house, will be assigned one unit for each residential dwelling unit approvable under the applicable zoning and subdivision laws.
Each church will be assigned a value of one unit, and each parsonage house or parish house will be assigned a value of one unit.
All other properties within the village, other than those specified in Subsection A(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) above and excepting public utility poles and lines and special franchises, shall be assigned units as follows: The number of units equals the property's assessed value prior to exemptions and abatements divided by the average assessed value (prior to exemptions and abatements) of all single-family residence property in the village.
The sum of all units derived in the manner described in Subsection A(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) above shall be divided into the entire current annual cost of debt service for the village sewerage system to determine the sewerage facilities unit charge allocable to said properties.
The owner of each property in the village shall pay a sewerage facilities charge equal to the number of units assigned to that property multiplied by the sewerage facilities unit charge determined in Subsection A(6) above allocable to that property.
The sewerage facilities rent shall be computed as above and determined and fixed at such times as the Board of Trustees may determine appropriate and no less than annually as part of the budget adopted for the village's fiscal year and based upon the amount necessary to be raised for debt service in such fiscal year and the village roll for said year.
The annual sewerage facilities rent shall be payable quarterly in four equal payments.
Sewer rents shall be due and payable quarterly in February, May, August and November of each year at the office of the Village Treasurer during normal business hours as provided herein. All bills must be paid in full within 30 days of the date of the bill. Failure to receive sewer rent bills shall not be an excuse or defense to the owner's or customer's failure to timely pay the required sewer rents or to the imposition of any penalties herein.
Any customer who fails to pay its bill in full within said 30 days shall be assessed a penalty of 2% of the amount due per month or portion thereof that the bill remains unpaid.
In addition to the above, a penalty of 5% of the total amount due, including accumulated interest, shall be assessed as of February 1 of each year.
Such interest and penalty shall be deemed to be sewer rents.
Sewer use rents shall constitute a lien upon the real properties served by the sewer system or such parts thereof for which sewer use rents are hereby established and imposed, and sewerage facility rents shall constitute a lien upon the real property against which they have been imposed. The lien shall be prior to and superior to every other lien or claim except the lien of an existing tax assessment or other lawful charge imposed by or for the state or a political subdivision or district thereof. The Village Clerk shall annually certify the amounts of all unpaid sewer use rents and sewerage facilities rents computed to the first day of the month following the month in which the fiscal year commences, with the description of the real property affected thereby, and shall present such certificate to the Board of Trustees and shall enter the same or an abstract thereof in the minutes of the meeting. The Board of Trustees shall levy such amounts against the real property liable therefor as a part of the annual village tax levy, setting forth such amounts in separate columns in the annual tax roll. The sewer fund shall be credited with the amount of all such unpaid sewer rents, and such amounts, when collected, shall be credited to the general fund.
