[Amended 8-27-1985 by L.L. No. 3-1985; 5-27-1986 by L.L. No.
4-1986; 1-23-1990 by L.L. No. 1-1990]
A.
Users within the City. All persons owning, having
or occupying lots, parcels or tracts of land situated within the City
of Gloversville having thereon buildings or structures of any kind
connected to the City-owned sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment
system shall pay to the City, at the times hereafter provided, sewer
user charges as set forth in this chapter.
B.
Users outside the City. All persons owning, having
or occupying lots, parcels or tracts of land which are not situate
within the corporate limits of the City of Gloversville, but which
have on said lots, parcels or tracts of land buildings or structures
of any kind which are connected to or serviced by the City-owned sanitary
sewer and wastewater treatment system, shall pay to a sewer assessment
district a sewer user charge which can be no lower than and must be
calculated in the same manner as a similarly situated user located
within the City. The sewer assessment district must pay over to the
City those funds it collects based on the sewer user charge system
set forth below. The sewer assessment district must have a monitoring
facility located at the point where all of the flow from its constituent
sewer users converges with the City sanitary sewer line. This monitoring
facility must consist of a sewer flow measuring device and provisions
for monitoring of BOD5, suspended solids and
TKN, in the event that the monitoring of such waste characteristics
is required by the Joint Sewer Board. In the event that any parcel
is serviced directly by the City in the absence of a sewer assessment
district, payment shall be made directly to the City, and said user
shall be subject to all of the terms and conditions of this chapter.
A.
In general. Revenues for retiring debt service, capital expenditures, planning costs, operation and maintenance of the jointly owned wastewater facilities shall be derived from the sewer user charge. For purposes of this Article, all sewer users shall be designated as either MCI (a major contributing industry, as defined in § 236-201) or non-MCI, which shall include all residential, commercial, industrial or other users which do not meet the criteria of § 236-201. Sewer user charges shall be levied on MCI and non-MCI users.
B.
MCI users specifically. Annual user charges for a
major contributing industry shall be based on those factors which
significantly influence the costs of the treatment facilities. The
volume of flow and quantities of BOD5, suspended solids and TKN shall be measured and analyzed in accordance with § 236-903. The amount the MCI user must pay shall be calculated annually by the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Sewer Board utilizing the sewer user charge system as set forth hereafter.
C.
Non-MCI users specifically. Annual user charges for
non-MCI users shall be based on volume of flow only, since wastewater
characteristics of their wastes are similar. Charges for BOD5, suspended solids and TKN shall be imputed to and incorporated in the volume charge by the Joint Sewer Board. Except as provided in § 236-903, set forth hereafter, the volume of wastewater shall be determined by metered water consumption. The amount the non-MCI user must pay shall be calculated annually by the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Sewer Board utilizing the sewer user charge system as set forth hereinafter.
[Amended 11-27-1990 by L.L. No. 11-1990]
[Amended 11-27-1990 by L.L. No. 11-1990]
A.
Flow measurement of MCI wastewater volume. The measurement of volume of major contributing industrial wastewaters discharged to the sewer system shall be accomplished on a continuous basis in accordance with a protocol to be established by the Joint Sewer Board. Where the user has a monitoring facility constructed in accordance with § 236-709B, the volume of wastewater discharged will be that as determined by the measurements and samples taken at such monitoring facility. Users utilizing the flow monitoring equipment in a wastewater monitoring station to determine the volume of flow for billing purposes shall pay a wastewater flow monitoring fee of $30 monthly. Where no such facility is provided, measurement of water discharged shall be determined by metered water consumption. Data thus collected shall be used to compute the flow charge.
B.
Flow measurement of non-MCI wastewater volume. Flow
measurement of non-MCI waste volume of wastewater received from a
non-MCI user may be determined using metered wastewater discharge
upon that user's compliance with the following:
(1)
The measurement of volume of wastewater discharge
shall be accomplished on a continuous basis in accordance with a protocol
to be established by the Joint Sewer Board.
(3)
The user shall pay a wastewater flow monitoring
fee of $360 per year. One-half (1/2) of said fee shall be payable
with each semiannual sewer billing.
C.
Other waste characteristics. The measurement of BOD5, suspended solids, TKN and other waste characteristics shall be through sampling of MCI waters or wastes in accordance with § 236-716 and the MCI's discharge permit and shall be performed by the Joint Sewer Board. Data thus collected shall be used to compute the BOD5 charge, the suspended solids charge
and the TKN charge.
D.
Malfunctioning monitoring facility/missing data. In
the event of the malfunction of any monitoring equipment or water
meter or the loss of monitoring or meter data during any billing period
or one or more occurrences during a billing period where peak flow
in the monitoring station exceeds the user's permit limit for peak
flow, or whenever, under low flow conditions, the average daily flow
with a given flume size is as follows, the Joint Sewer Board shall
have the right to utilize flow, BOD5, suspended
solids and TKN data from the previous and following billing periods
and water meter data from the billing periods and to extrapolate from
said data and the MCI user's operational days a fair and equitable
sewer use billing for the period in question.
|
Size of Flume
|
Gallons per Day
(inches)
|
|---|---|
|
9
|
Less than 64,700
|
|
6
|
Less than 32,300
|
|
3
|
Less than 19,400
|
E.
Split samples. Upon request, split samples of all
samples collected for billing purposes will be provided to the MCI
user. The MCI user must provide its own suitable containers for this
purpose. The Joint Sewer Board may, upon request, provide suitable
containers for this purpose and shall be authorized to charge the
user on his next bill for said containers.
A.
All users shall be entitled to a hearing before the
Joint Sewer Board concerning their sewer bill. Said hearing shall
be presided over by the Chairman of the Joint Sewer Board and shall
be held pursuant to procedures to be adopted by the Joint Sewer Board
in its rules and regulations. There shall be a presumption that all
sewer bills are fair and accurate. The burden of proof of rebutting
this presumption shall be with the MCI user requesting the hearing.
The Joint Sewer Board shall have the authority to hear all evidence
regarding sewer billings which is relevant, competent and material.
The Joint Sewer Board, in making a decision, may accord greater weight
to analytical data of waste characteristics which is derived from
a sample or split sample which is taken by the equipment in a monitoring
station and which is analyzed by a laboratory licensed by the State
of New York to analyze water samples in a manner and time framework
consistent with the standard sampling procedure established by the
Joint Sewer Board than to other evidence not obtained in the aforesaid
manner. In the event that the state certifies certain laboratories
to analyze wastewater samples, this certification shall be substituted
as the standard in the foregoing subsection.
B.
In order to assert surcharging as the grounds for
disputing a bill, the MCI user must notify the Joint Sewer Board within
24 hours of its occurrence.
C.
Any request for a review of a sewer bill must be made
in writing to the Joint Sewer Board within 30 days of the receipt
of the sewer bill.
A.
In general.
(1)
Sewer revenue collected for any fiscal year
shall not be less than the actual expenditure of the Joint Sewer Board
for all costs allocable to that fiscal year. Sewer user charges are
established to pay costs incurred as allocated to two major categories:
B.
Components of user charge.
(1)
Annual allocation of plant capacity. The capacity
of the sewage treatment plant is a function of the ability to the
plant operating within its design parameters to receive influent of
flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN and to
treat said influent so that the plant's effluent will be within the
State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit. On or
before April 30 of each year, the Joint Sewer Board shall allocate
plant capacity and charges to users as follows:
(a)
MCI users. The sewer user charge for MCI's consists
of four component parts: the capital portion, the O & M portion,
the infiltration/inflow portion and the monitoring portion.
[1]
Allocated capacity. Allocated capacity for purposes
of determining the capital portion of the rate shall be as follows:
flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN contributions
shall be determined using annual average workday loading allocations,
as defined in the rules and regulations of the Joint Sewer Board issued
for each MCI user in its industrial wastewater discharge permit.
[2]
Anticipated plant usage/rate. The O & M
portion of the rate for this class of user shall be determined by
the Joint Sewer Board by the making of an estimate based upon past
usage of the sewer treatment plant by the MCI's and all available
data which reflects on probable future usage. This calculation shall
be known as "anticipated plant usage."
(b)
Non-MCI users. The sewer user charge for non-MCI's
consists of three component parts: the capital portion, the O &
M portion and the infiltration/inflow portion.
[1]
The capital portion of the rate for this class
of user shall be based on a prorated share of the total allocated
capacity which reflects the contribution of this class of user.
[2]
The O & M portion of the rate for this class
of user shall be a prorated share of the total cost to operate the
plant for the year in question, based upon relative loadings of MCI's
and non-MCI's in the aggregate.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B(1)(c),
Retroactive adjustments, which immediately followed this subsection,
was repealed 6-26-2001 by L.L. No. 3-2001.
(2)
Infiltration and inflow (I/I) for MCI and non-MCI
users. A sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment system experiences
a certain percentage of its total flow which is not accounted for
by the sum of total metered water and/or metered sewage flow of all
users. This unaccounted-for contribution to flow is called infiltration
and inflow. For the purpose of determining the annual allocation of
plant capacity, infiltration and inflow shall be determined by the
Joint Sewer Board based upon all available flow data. I/I costs will
be as follows:
(a)
Forty-five percent of the I/I figure as determined
by the Joint Sewer Board shall be assessed on the basis of the volume
of flow estimated to be contributed by each user during the year,
and costs for treating this portion of the I/I shall be incorporated
in the volume rate of the sewer charge system for both MCI's and non-MCI's.
(b)
Fifty-five percent of the I/I figure as determined
by the Joint Sewer Board will be assessed on the basis of the number
of connections to the sanitary sewer. The foregoing I/I calculation
shall result in a charge separate from the sewer use rate. This charge
shall be known as the "I/I fee." The charge per connection shall be
the same for all MCI and non-MCI users, and it shall be determined
by the Joint Sewer Board on an annual basis.
(3)
Scheduled compliance monitoring, MCI users only.
(a)
In general. Scheduled industrial monitoring
is necessary to meet the general requirements of the Gloversville
and Johnstown Pretreatment Program. Each year the Joint Sewer Board
shall establish a sampling schedule for the following pollutants:
(c)
Monitoring charges.
[1]
The Joint Sewer Board shall have the authority to determine the frequency and extent to which MCI users in either class defined in § 236-905B(3)(b) are monitored for the pollutants enumerated in § 236-905B(3)(a).
[2]
The Joint Sewer Board shall have the authority to assess a charge which shall be known as the "monitoring fee" to each class of MCI user based upon the cost of performing the analyses for pollutants enumerated in § 236-905B(3)(a) and the frequency they are performed.
[3]
This monitoring fee shall be added to the I/I
fee to be assessed to each MCI user. Where an MCI user has more than
one sampling point, a separate fee shall be charged for each sampling
point.
C.
Assessing capital costs. Capital costs are assessed
proportionally to flow, BOD5, suspended solids
and TKN as these factors influence the cost of each project or improvement
at the wastewater treatment plant.
(1)
Project cost percentages. For all projects which
are bonded or anticipated to be bonded, the Joint Sewer Board shall
determine what percentage of the total project costs shall be assessed
to flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN.
(2)
Annual allocation of capital costs.
(a)
Debt service. Annual debt service costs shall
be assessed to flow, BOD5, suspended solids
and TKN using the project cost percentages determined by the Joint
Sewer Board.
(b)
Ancillary costs. All ancillary costs related
to the project which are bonded or anticipated to be bonded shall
be assessed to flow, BOD5, suspended solids
and TKN in the same proportion as the sum of all debt service costs.
(3)
Annual capital charge rate. The annual capital charge rate shall be determined by dividing the allocated capital costs computed in § 236-905C(2) by the allocated plant capacity computed in § 236-905B.
D.
Assessing operation and maintenance (O & M) costs.
O & M costs are assessed proportionately to flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN factors which influence the
cost of operation and maintenance.
(1)
Annual allocation of O & M costs.
(a)
The Joint Sewer Board shall determine annually
what percentage of each major category in the wastewater facility
O & M budget shall be assessed to flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN. The costs of scheduled industrial monitoring as required in § 236-905B(3) and as determined by the Joint Sewer Board shall not be included in this allocation.
(b)
Administrative, billing and ancillary costs.
All other O & M costs shall be assessed to flow, BOD5, suspended solids and TKN in the same proportion as
the wastewater facility O & M costs in the preceding subsection.
(2)
Annual O & M charge rate. The annual O & M charge rate shall be determined by dividing the allocated O & M costs computed in § 236-905D(1) by the anticipated plant usage computed in § 236-905B(1)(a)[2] and § 236-905B(1)(b).
[Amended 6-26-2001 by L.L. No. 3-2001]
E.
Annual adoption of new rates.
(1)
New rates will be adopted annually by Joint
Sewer Board resolution, after a public hearing, on at least five days'
public notice, held by the Joint Sewer Board on or before April 30
of each year, in accordance with the foregoing sewer user charge system.
(2)
It shall be the obligation of the Joint Sewer
Board to provide that each sewer user be notified, at least once per
year in conjunction with their regular bill, of the sewer grant and
that portion of the user charges which are attributable to wastewater
treatment services.
F.
Surcharge: exceeding permitted flows and loadings.
In addition to other penalties as set forth in this chapter, the following
penalties shall apply:
(1)
In general. Consistent with § 236-705 of this chapter, the rules and regulations of the Gloversville-Johnstown Joint Sewer Board and the wastewater discharge permit issued to each MCI, no MCI may exceed the allocated capacities for flow, BOD5, suspended solids or TKN which have been assigned to
them in their discharge permit without the imposition of a surcharge,
as follows:
(a)
Exceeding any permitted annual allocated capacity shall result in a mandatory adjustment of the violating MCI's discharge permit, together with the imposition of a surcharge to the MCI's sewer bill which shall be equivalent to a recalculation of the capital charges based on the actual usage plus a twenty-five-percent penalty of the difference between the permit discharge and the actual discharge. The adjusted actual discharge shall be equal to the MCI user's actual discharge less any discharges for which a surcharge to the MCI user's sewer bill has previously been paid under Subsection F(1)(b) of this section.
(b)
Exceeding any maximum monthly limit as set forth
in the MCI user's discharge permit and rules and regulations of the
Joint Sewer Board shall result in the imposition of a surcharge to
the MCI's sewer bill equivalent to 75% of the difference between the
permit discharge and the actual discharge for that month.
A.
All MCI's shall be billed on a monthly basis with
the I/I fee and monitoring fee in the first billing of the fiscal
year.
B.
All non-MCI's shall be billed on a semiannual basis,
with the I/I fee equally divided between the two billings.
C.
A penalty of 5% will be on all sewer bills unpaid
30 days after billing, and an additional penalty of 1% shall be added
for each additional thirty-day period thereafter.
[Amended 2-27-1990 by L.L No. 2-1990]
The foregoing sewer use charge system set forth in Article IX shall take precedence over any terms or conditions of agreements or contracts which are inconsistent with the requirements of Section 204(b)(1)(A) of the Federal Clean Water Act and USEPA regulations 40 CFR 35.2 140.
