Rates for Schedule I and Schedule II shall be as provided in § 100-19K.
A.
The schedule of rentals or charges for the use of Water and Sewer Utility facilities in the Town shall be charged in accordance with Schedules I and II of § 228-17.
[Amended 2-13-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-2]
B.
Water rates shall be based upon the quantity of water used as shown
by the quarterly meter readings and when the consumer uses both water
and sewer service, then the combined rate set forth in Schedule I
shall be charged.
C.
Consumers using in excess of 1,000,000 gallons of water per quarter,
only a portion of which is discharged into the sanitary sewer, shall
be permitted to separate water going into the sewer from water not
going into the sewer by using separate meters for that purpose, which
meters shall be set up under the supervision of the Superintendent
of the Water and Sewer Department of the Town. In the event it is
impractical or impossible to make such separation by use of meters,
then the customer may show by an engineering study including a schematic
sketch of operations acceptable to the Utility Advisory Board, the
percentage of water consumed or the amount which enters the sanitary
sewer. Upon effecting a separation by either of the above methods,
the consumer shall be charged quarterly sewer rentals on the basis
of water entering the sanitary sewer in accordance with Schedule II.
D.
Consumers who use sewer facilities only shall be charged quarterly
rates in accordance with the rate schedule set forth in Schedule II
above. The consumers shall show by an engineering study or on some
other basis acceptable to the Utility Advisory Board, the amount of
water normally entering the sanitary sewers each quarter. The Utility
Advisory Board may require an annual review of the basis of estimating
the amount of water entering the sewer system.
E.
Whenever any premises used for human occupancy are within 200 feet
of a sanitary main line sewer or such other reasonable distance as
determined by the Utility Advisory Board, such property shall be charged
the prevailing sewer use rate, whether or not the property is actually
connected to the sewer. Appeals may be made to the Utility Advisory
Board when it is alleged that extenuating circumstances make it unlikely
that a connection will ever be needed.
F.
A capital improvement fee of $10 for water per quarter and $10 for sewer per quarter shall be billed to each account (residential, commercial, industrial, apartments, discounted water, discounted sewer, tax exempt, and any and all other customers) in accordance with the billing and collecting procedures set forth in § 228-19 of the Newton Town Code.
[Added 4-10-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-6]
[Amended 5-12-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-8]
The Water and Sewer Department of the Town of Newton will prepare
bills setting forth water, sewer and other Department charges and
send them to its customers through the U.S. Postal System. Bills that
are not delivered by the U.S. Postal System shall, nevertheless, remain
due and owing. The amount of such nondelivered bills shall, upon request,
be made available to customers either in person, in writing or by
telephone.
A.
All accounts will be billed quarterly on the 15th day of February,
May, August, and November. Bills must be paid on or before the 15th
day of March, June, September, and December. All bills not paid within
30 calendar days after the billed date, March 15, June 15, September
15, and December 15, are subject to a ten-percent penalty, which shall
be added to the amount of the bill and collected as other charges.
Should the due date fall on a weekend or legal holiday observed by
the Town of Newton, the due date will be extended to the next business
day.
[Amended 12-12-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-17; 11-28-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-25]
B.
All bills shall be due no later than the due date set forth on said
bill. To avoid additional charges, such as on and off fees, payments
for delinquent accounts must be paid before 10:00 a.m. on the scheduled
shutoff day. If the payment is not received by this time and date,
the water will be shut off and any fees so stated in this chapter
will be imposed.
C.
Charges for both connection and use shall be payable to the Town
of Newton Water Sewer Utility. The Town shall have the same remedies
for the collection charges with penalties and costs as the collection
of taxes upon real estate.
D.
In the event that a bill remains unpaid for 30 days or more after
the due date of such bill, the Department may discontinue water service
to the property for which the water bill is due, provided that the
Department has complied with the following procedure:
(1)
A delinquent notice shall be sent to the account stating that service
will be discontinued because the bill remains unpaid for 30 days.
This notice shall be deemed satisfactory if sent as follows:
(a)
By regular mail, provided that the mailing is made to the last
known address of the owner of record.
(2)
The Town may also deliver this notice to the physical address or
phone the account if that number has been provided to the Utility
Collector.
(3)
The notice must be postmarked at least 10 days prior to the date
of the discontinuation of service.
(4)
In the event that the delinquent account is that of a landlord/tenant
situation, then the tenant will have the option of paying the delinquent
bill.
(5)
In the event that a partial payment of the amount due and owing on
a bill is made but the outstanding balance is more than $25, no additional
notices will be given before discontinuance of service as set forth
in this section.
E.
A customer must contact the Town Water/Sewer Utility Clerk, by phone,
in person or in writing, to arrange for a payment agreement to avoid
the scheduled discontinuation of service. If the payment agreement
is violated, service may be discontinued.
[Amended 12-12-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-17]
F.
A service charge shall be assessed for the restoration of service
when service to a property has been discontinued. Said service charge
shall be due and payable immediately upon restoration of service.
If said service restoration fee is not paid within one business day
of the date of restoration, the service may be discontinued without
further notice.
G.
The Utility Advisory Board shall have the authority to recommend
to Newton Town Council to waive any fees or service charges incurred
on account of the provisions of this section for reasons of hardship
or upon other good cause shown.
H.
All accounts will be listed in the name of the legal owner of the
property and forwarded to the property owner's last known address.
I.
In the event that more than one resident is connected to the curb
box, preventing a shutoff, the shutoff fee will nevertheless be imposed.
Furthermore, a delinquent owner of a residence which cannot be shut
off due to a shared curb box will be required to install a separate
curb box in the event that a shutoff would have been imposed for two
consecutive quarters. It is the intent of this chapter to permit a
shared curb box only if it may be accomplished without conflict and
without problems. In the event a conflict or problem should arise,
the Utility Advisory Board, in its sole and absolute discretion, may
recommend to the Town Council that it may require the property owner
to install separate curb boxes.