Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and statutes,
the City shall have the power to acquire, own or operate, within or
without its corporate limits, including, but not by way of limitations,
public service facilities for supplying water, light, heat, power,
sewage disposal, transportation and storage and parking of vehicles
to the municipality and its inhabitants; may sell and deliver water,
light, heat and power in an amount not exceeding the limitation set
by the Constitution and statutes; may provide sewage disposal services
outside of its corporate limits in such amount as may be determined
by the City Council; and may operate transportation lines outside
the municipality within such limits as may be prescribed by law.
All municipally owned or operated utilities shall be administered
as a regular department of the City government under one or more department
heads appointed under the provisions of § C-3.7 and shall
serve at the pleasure and under the supervision of the Council and
not to be an independent board or commission.
The Council shall have power to fix from time to time such just
and reasonable rates as may be deemed advisable for supplying the
inhabitants of the City and others with such public utility services
as the City may provide. There shall be no discrimination in such
rates within any classification of users thereof, nor shall free service
be permitted, but higher rates may be charged outside the corporate
limits of the City.
The Council shall provide by ordinance for the collection of
all public utility rates and charges of the City. Such ordinances
shall provide at least:
A.
That the City, as authorized by statute, shall have as security for
the collection of such utility rates and charges a lien upon the real
property supplied by such utility, which lien shall become effective
immediately upon the supplying of such utility service and shall be
enforced in the manner provided in such ordinance;
B.
The terms and conditions under which utility services may be discontinued
in case of delinquency in paying such rates or charges;
C.
With respect to the collection of rates and charges for water, the
City shall have all the powers granted to cities in MCLA § 123.161
et seq.
Unless approved by a 3/5 majority vote of the electors voting
thereon at a regular or special election, the City shall not sell,
exchange, lease or in any way dispose of any property, easements,
equipment, privilege or asset belonging to and appertaining to any
municipally owned public utility which is needed to continue operating
such utility. All contracts, negotiations, licenses, grants, leases
or other forms of transfer in violation of this section shall be void
and of no effect as against the City. The restrictions of this section
shall not apply to the sale or exchange of any articles of machinery
or equipment of any City-owned public utility which are worn out or
useless or which have been, or could with advantage to the service
be, replaced by new and improved machinery or equipment, to the leasing
of property not necessary for the operation of the utility, or to
the exchange of property or easements for other needed property or
easements. It is provided, however, that the provisions of this section
shall not extend to vacation or abandonment of streets, as provided
by statute.
A.
The rates and charges for any municipal public utility for the furnishing
of water, light, heat, power, gas or sewage treatment and garbage
disposal shall be so fixed as to at least meet all the costs of such
utility, including depreciation.
B.
Transactions pertaining to the ownership and operating by the City
of each public utility shall be recorded in a separate group of accounts
under an appropriate fund caption, which accounts shall be classified
in accordance with generally accepted utility accounting practice.
Charges for all service furnished to, or rendered by, other City departments
or agencies shall be recorded. An annual report shall be prepared
to show fairly the financial position of each utility and the results
of its operation, which report shall be available for inspection at
the office of the Clerk.
