[Adopted as Ch. 4, Art. 3 of the 1972 City Code; amended
in its entirety at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. II)]
This article is called and may be cited as the "Natural Gas
Ordinance" for the City of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
In the interpretation of the Natural Gas Ordinance, the following
definitions and rules of construction shall be observed, unless it
shall be otherwise expressly provided in any section of this article,
or unless inconsistent with the manifest intent of this article:
BILLING MONTH
Any period of 25 to 35 consecutive days, which shall normally
be the time between readings of the customer's meter. In the event
that, for any reason, the customer's meter is not read on this schedule,
the customer's use of natural gas for a billing month may be estimated
using information from the customer's records for previous billing
months. Customers shall normally be billed on a monthly basis. If,
for any reason, the City fails to send a bill to a customer, the City
shall retroactively bill that customer.
CITY
The City of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
CNG
Compressed natural gas.
COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER
Any person or entity which takes natural gas service from
the City's gas utility system, and is engaged in a business or governmental
activity which is not generally recognized as an industrial, mining,
and/or manufacturing activity or residential occupancy.
CUSTOMER
Any person or entity which takes natural gas service from
the City's gas utility system, and maintains an account with the City
for the provision of such service.
DIRECTOR
The Gas Department Director appointed pursuant to the Charter
and ordinances of the City of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
DWELLING UNIT
A single unit used for residential occupancy which may be
a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a recreational vehicle, or other
structure used in such manner.
FIRM GAS CUSTOMER
Those customers who do require continuously available supplies
of natural gas.
GAS UTILITY SYSTEM
The physical system of pipes, connectors, regulators, service
lines and associated equipment used to transport and deliver natural
gas; and the metering, accounting and recordkeeping systems required
to measure and record the delivery of natural gas to the City or to
customers, to provide technical and business information concerning
the gas utility system, and to provide for billing and recordkeeping
for customer accounts; and the personnel and equipment required for
the management, construction, operation and maintenance of the gas
utility system. The gas utility system shall terminate at the customer's
side of the meter through which natural gas is delivered to the customer.
INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER
Any person or entity which takes natural gas service from
the City's gas utility system, and is engaged in an industrial, mining,
and/or manufacturing activity.
INTERRUPTIBLE CUSTOMER
Those who do not require continuously available supplies
of natural gas and who have been approved in advance by the City as
an interruptible customer.
LANDLORD
The owner of a dwelling unit or other structure which is
not occupied by the owner, and which dwelling unit or other structure
is supplied natural gas service by the City's gas utility system.
The landlord shall be and remain responsible for payment of amounts
due for natural gas service to the dwelling unit or other structure
for which it is the owner.
LARGE VOLUME USER
A customer of the City's gas utility system which receives
natural gas service through a meter having a size or capacity larger
than two inches. A large volume user may be a residential, commercial
or industrial customer.
MCF
One thousand cubic feet of natural gas. All natural gas service
provided by the City's gas utility system shall be measured, metered
and billed to the customer in MCF.
NATURAL GAS SERVICE
The acquisition and delivery of natural gas to customers
by the City of Las Vegas gas utility system, including the metering
and billing of volumes received by the customer.
PERSON
Any human being or legal entity, whether incorporated or
unincorporated.
RENTAL CUSTOMER
A customer who rents or leases a dwelling unit or a commercial
or an industrial facility which is serviced by the City's natural
gas system.
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER
A person or entity which takes natural gas service from the
City's gas utility system at an individual dwelling unit.
SERVICE LINES
All gas lines and parts from the meter to the main.
SHALL; MAY
"Shall" is mandatory, and "may" is permissive.
SMALL VOLUME USER
A customer of the City's gas utility system which receives
natural gas service through a meter having a two-inch or smaller size
and/or capacity. A small volume user may be a residential, commercial
or industrial customer.
Any person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of
this article shall be fined not more than $300 or imprisoned for a
period of not more than 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment,
and each day this article is violated shall constitute a separate
offense; provided, however, that if a specific penalty is provided
therefor in any particular and individual section of this article,
then the specific penalty shall prevail.
There is hereby adopted the conditions, provisions, limitations
and terms of the Natural Gas Code of the State of New Mexico, and
if any provisions of this article be in conflict therewith, the stricter
provisions shall prevail.
It shall be unlawful for any person to tamper with any gas meter,
or move any gas meter, do natural gas work (on the City's natural
gas system) or to connect a customer to the natural gas system of
the City without first obtaining a permit for such purpose.
An identified representative of the City shall have the right
to convenient ingress and egress to and from the customer's premises
for the purpose of inspecting, maintaining, testing, reading, changing,
installing or removing its meters; if such duly identified representative
is refused admittance or hindered or prevented from performing the
above duties, the gas service to the customer may be discontinued
until free access is given.
[Amended 5-15-2024 by Ord. No. 24-01]
A. Unless otherwise provided, billings will be made on a monthly basis.
All amounts due shall be payable when billed and shall become delinquent
if not paid by the due date, a minimum of 20 days from billing.
B. The City may take the following action in response to delinquent
user fees:
(1) If payment of any amount due is not made by the due date, the bill
will be deemed delinquent and the customer will be given 15 calendar
days from the date the bill is deemed delinquent before utilities
to the property are discontinued and shall not be again resumed until
payment of amounts due, plus any penalties and interest, have been
paid in full or an arrangement has been made. Reasonable notice and
right to protest must be given to the customer prior to actual cut
off of utilities. The City's Customer Service Division shall
notify the customer of delinquent amounts and that service shall be
terminated on a particular date, not less than 15 days after mailing
of the notice. Each delinquent notice shall contain the following
language:
"This is to notify you that unless you bring your utility accounts
current, your utility service(s) will be cut off 15 days after the
date this notice was mailed. You have the right to protest this termination
as unjustified if you believe that you have been overcharged or charged
for services not rendered. If you believe there is a mistake in this
billing, you have the right to be heard and to present your argument
and evidence. The City will evaluate your complaint and determine
whether you owe the amounts in question. To protest this billing,
you must contact the City's Collection Agent at 454-1401 prior
to the cutoff date."
(2) If a customer is delinquent in the payment of utilities at one location,
the customer shall not be entitled to service at another location
until such prior delinquency has been paid.
(3) If utilities owed are not paid to the City within six months after
the initial billing date, a lien against the property shall be filed
according to the New Mexico State Statutes.
(4) The City may disconnect the private service line of the delinquent
account from the City distribution main.
C. Late payment fee. All amounts billed for utilities or other charges
specified in this chapter shall be due and payable when the bill is
issued, and shall become subject to a late payment fee in the event
the customer fails to pay any amount due at the time of the issuance
of the next bill. The City shall assess a fee of 1.25% per month to
amounts which have not been paid at the time of the issuance of the
next bill. The fee shall be compounded for each month for which amounts
remain unpaid.
For the purpose of convenience, the billing and collecting of
the charges levied for the service by this article shall be done by
the Finance Department of the City, and such charges shall be payable
at the Cashier's Office in the same manner as other services are billed
and collected by the City.
It shall be unlawful for any person to in any way interfere
with any employee of the City or its designated representative in
any discharge of their duties.