Borough of Lititz, PA Sewer Service Charges

[Amended 11-26-1963 by Ord. No. C-27, approved 11-26-1963; 1-26-1965 by Ord. No. C-44, approved 1-28-1965; 1-28-1969 by Ord. No. C-91, approved 1-31-1969; 4-27-1971 by Ord. No. C-118, approved 5-12-1971; 6-29-1971 by Ord. No. C-123, approved 6-29-1971; 6-24-1975 by Ord. No. C-167, approved 6-24-1975; 5-25-1976 by Ord. No. C-186, approved 5-25-1976; 5-30-1978 by Ord. No. C-212, approved 5-30-1978; 10-31-1978 by Ord. No. C-224, approved 10-31-1978; 5-29-1984 by Ord. No. C-279-2, approved 5-29-1984; 6-25-1991 by Ord. No. 345, approved 6-25-1991]

There is hereby imposed upon the owners of improved properties served by the sewers, sewer system and sewage treatment works (hereinafter in this Article all collectively called "sewer system") in the Borough of Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who have the use of said sewer system, and who shall pay connection charges and an annual rental or charge, payable as hereinafter provided, for the use, the following schedule of rates in accordance with the following classifications.

Application, connections to the borough's sewer system shall not be made to any premises until application shall have been made to the Borough Manager by the owner of such premises or by his authorized agent. Such application shall be made upon a form to be prescribed by the borough, and, upon such application, the applicant shall state fully all purposes for which he shall desire such sewer and shall answer fairly and without concealment all necessary questions.

Connection fee.

(1)

There is hereby imposed and fixed upon the owner of each property making a connection to the sewer system a connection fee in an amount equal to the actual costs incurred by the borough in respect of each connection to the sewer system. Such costs shall include the borough's actual costs involved in opening and closing the street, making the tap, laying the service connection and costs of all equipment and materials used in making the service connection.

(2)

The borough's costs shall include actual labor costs at the borough's then-current rates, the costs of all materials used to construct the lateral sewer or service connection and the reasonable rental value of all equipment used by the borough or its agents in making such connections. The borough shall publish, on at least an annual basis, a schedule of its then-current rates for labor and equipment. The schedule of rates will be available for inspection by the public during the borough's regular business hours.

Customer facility fee. There is hereby imposed and fixed upon the owner of each property making a connection to the borough's sewer system a customer facility fee in an amount equal to the borough's actual costs incurred by the borough in supplying and installing any customer facilities required to provide sewer service to the customer's property. Such fee shall also include installation costs thereof, when such equipment is necessary to serve the customer's property, and inspection fees, where applicable, to confirm compliance with the borough's rules and regulations.

Tapping fee. There is hereby fixed and imposed upon the owner of each property making a connection to the borough's sewer system a tapping fee per EDU as set forth below:

[Amended 7-26-2005 by Ord. No. C-468, approved 7-26-2005]

(1)

The capacity-related tapping fee for the sewer system shall be $2,061.9 per EDU based on an EDU of 237 gallons per day for the sewer system.

(2)

The connection-related tapping fee for the sewer system shall be $497.70 per EDU based on an EDU basis of 237 gallons per day.

(3)

The total sewer tapping fee shall be $2,559.60 per EDU based on EDU value of 237 gallons per day.

(4)

Notwithstanding any other definition of an EDU as set forth in Ord. No. C-345, or the Code of Ordinances of Lititz Borough, for the purposes of calculating sewer tapping fees, an EDU shall be calculated on the basis of 237 gallons per day per EDU.

Date of payment.

(1)

Tapping fees imposed hereunder shall be paid to the borough at the time a property owner makes an application for a permit to connect to the borough's sewer system.

(2)

At the time a property owner makes an application for a permit to connect to the sewer system, the borough shall estimate the connection fee and customer facilities fee (if any) to be payable with respect to such connection. The estimated connection fee and customer facility fee shall be payable at the time application is made for a connection permit. The estimated amount held by the borough shall be applied to the borough's actual costs for making such connection and providing and installing any customer facilities which may be necessary for such connection. After the connection is completed, if the combined amount of the estimated connection fee and customer facility fee was in excess of the actual cost of such connection, the borough shall refund the excess to the property owner within 30 days following the completion of the connection. If the combined estimated connection fee and customer facility fee is less than the borough's actual cost for making such connection, the borough shall bill the property owner for the additional costs, which bill shall be payable within 30 days of the date of said bill.

Annual sewer rentals and regulations.

(1)

Annual sewer rental.

(a)

Sanitary sewage. The sewer rental hereby imposed shall be an annual charge, payable as hereinafter provided, based upon the water consumption of the property served as shown by the meter readings. The schedule of rates to be used in determining the charge for sewer rentals by the Borough of Lititz to users of the Borough of Lititz sewer system, based on three months' usage, shall be as provided for in Chapter 55, Fees. Dwellings or establishments which have sources of water supply other than the Borough of Lititz water system will be required to provide a meter at the source of supply. This meter and its installation must be furnished by the property owner and must be acceptable to the borough and shall be available to borough employees for meter reading at any time. The amount of water consumed, as shown by their meter readings, will be the basis for the sewer rental charge.

(b)

Minimum charge. The minimum charge for each meter shall be as provided for in Chapter 55, Fees, and shall be billed as follows: on March 10, on June 10, on September 10 and on December 10 of each year. Minimum charges for additional dwelling unit(s) served by the same meter and billed to one account shall be appropriate multiples of this schedule. For services outside of the borough limits, the minimum charges contained herein shall be as provided for in Chapter 55, Fees.

(c)

(Reserved)

(d)

(Reserved)

(2)

Water not discharged into sewer system. Whenever a property upon which a sewer supply is hereby imposed uses water from the borough water supply system[1] and/or from an independent supply for industrial purposes such that the water so used is not discharged into the sewer system, the quantity of water so used and not discharged into the sewer system shall be excluded in determining the sewer rental of said property, provided that the quantity of water so used and not discharged into the sewer system is measured by a device or devices approved by the borough and installed without cost to the borough. The quantity used to determine the sewer rental shall be computed by deducting the water not discharged into the sewer system from the borough water meter readings; provided, however, that when, in the opinion of the Borough Engineer, it is not practical to install measuring devices to continuously determine the quantity of water not discharged into the sewer system, the borough shall determine, in such manner and by such method as it may prescribe, the percentage of metered water discharged into the sewer system, and the quantity of water used to determine the sewer rental shall be the quantity measured by the water meter or meters. Any dispute as to the estimated amount shall be determined by the borough after notice of the estimate, whose decision on the matter shall be final for the current year.

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 118, Water.

(3)

Measuring devices. All meters or other measuring devices installed or required to be used under the provision of Subsection B(2) of this section shall be under the control of the borough. The owner of the property upon which any such measuring device is installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safekeeping, and all repairs thereto shall be made at the property owner's expense, whether such repairs thereto shall be made necessary by wear and tear or other causes.

Industrial waste. The borough reserves the right to refuse connection to the sewer system or otherwise to compel discontinuance of use or to compel pretreatment by any industry to prevent discharge into the sewer system of any industrial wastes deemed to be harmful to the sewer system or to have a deleterious effect on the sewage treatment process.