[1]
Editor's Note: Local Law 5-1996, adopted 7-18-1996, added
only the title "Part A, Department of Public Works."
A.
The Department of Public Works as constituted under Article VII of the Second Class Cities Law, as amended, is hereby continued in and for the City. The Commissioner of the Department of Public Works as provided for by Article VII of the Second Class Cities Law, is a position in unclassified service, vested with authority, direction and control over said department, with power and authority to appoint and remove officers and employees therein. The Commissioner shall be appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor with advice and consent of the City Council.
B.
There shall be in the department up to two Deputy Commissioners of
the Department of Public Works, a position in the exempt class of
the civil service, with power to act generally for and in place of
the Commissioner during the Commissioner's absence, disability or
vacancy.
All functions previously performed by the Department of Public Works pursuant to Local Law No. 4 of 1990 except relating to Water or Sewer Bureaus are hereafter to be performed by the City Engineer pursuant to Article X of the Charter.
[Added 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 5-1996]
As used in Part B of this Article:
The Bureau of Water Works shall constitute a bureau in the Department
of Public Works and the chief officer thereof, subject to the Commissioner
of the Department of Public Works, shall be the Superintendent of
Water Works.
The Commissioner may enter upon any public street, highway or
place in the city for the purpose of laying, altering, repairing and
maintaining conduits, mains and pipes for the conveyance of water
and for the purpose of constructing, repairing, altering, maintaining
or extending any portion of the waterworks of said city, and may lay
and construct such conduits, mains and pipes over, under or across
any watercourse, canal or railroad, and may enter upon any public
street, highway or place without the city limits in the County of
Westchester, subject to regulation by the officials having control
thereof, for the purpose of laying, altering, repairing and maintaining
conduits, mains and pipes for the conveyance of water, and may carry
and conduct the same over, under or across any watercourse, canal
or railroad without the limits of the city, provided that such public
street, highway or place, or watercourse, canal or railroad crossing
so entered upon is restored in as good condition as before such entry;
and the city may maintain its conduits, mains and pipes in and under
the public streets, highway and places within and without the city
in which they are now laid, and over, under or across the watercourses,
canals and railroads over, under or across which they are now maintained.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
The Commissioner may adopt plans for the extension or improvement
of the waterworks system, or for the acquisition of an additional
supply of water for public and private use. A plan so adopted by him
or her shall be submitted to the City Council for its approval. If
such plan is approved by the City Council, the Commissioner shall
cause such work to be done, and necessary lands and water rights to
be acquired, in accordance therewith. The contracts for such work
shall be let in accordance with such plan, and in the same manner
as other contracts for public improvements.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
The Commissioner may enter into or upon any land or water in
the County of Westchester for the purpose of making surveys. The Commissioner,
with the assent of the City Council, may agree with the owner of any
property in the County of Westchester which in his or her judgment
may be required for such extension, improvement, protection or increase
in supply, or which may be injuriously affected by such work connected
with such improvement as to the amount of compensation to be paid
to such owner. If the Commissioner shall agree with any owner for
the purchase of any lands or easement in the same, or for the taking
of any water or water rights, all such agreements and conveyances
shall be made and taken in the name of the City of Yonkers. If the
Commissioner is unable to agree with the owner of any such lands or
easement, water or water rights, as to the amount of compensation
to be paid therefor, the City of Yonkers may acquire such lands or
easement, water or water rights, by condemnation as provided in this
Charter, or as otherwise provided by law.
Whenever there is money in the treasury applicable to such purpose,
or the issue of obligations for such purpose has been authorized,
the City Council may, by ordinance, direct the Commissioner to cause
the line of water mains or pipes for the city waterworks to be extended
in any street in the city.
The Commissioner shall procure and set hydrants for the supply
of water for the extinguishment of fires, of such kind, in such manner
and such places in the public streets of the city as the City Council
shall direct.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008; 11-26-2013 by L.L. No.
9-2013; 2-28-2017 by L.L. No. 4-2017]
A.
The connecting or supply pipes leading from the mains or distributing
pipes to any dwelling or other private property and the water meter
or meters, which shall be of a size and type approved by the Commissioner
and shall be purchased from the Bureau of Waterworks by the owners
or occupants of the premises at a cost to be fixed and determined
by the Commissioner, shall be inserted and installed at the expense
of the owners or occupants of the premises. Water meters must be kept
accessible at all times. Connecting or supply pipes shall not be inserted
or connected with the main pipe until a permit therefor shall be obtained
from the Commissioner and shall be constructed and placed under and
according to the direction of said Commissioner. Such connecting or
supply pipes shall be kept in repair at the expense of the owners
or occupants of the premises.
B.
The Commissioner, where a meter fails to register correctly or ceases
to record the full flow of water, shall have full power and authority
to remove the meter and to replace such meter with an approved meter
of similar size at the cost and expense of the city. In the event
it is determined that the damage or tampering to the meter, including
damage by freezing, is due to the neglect or acts of the owners or
occupants, or of their agents, servants or employees, the cost of
the repair or replacement thereof shall be borne by the owner of the
premises from which such meter is removed and shall be included in
the statement or account rendered for water rents and be a lien on
said premises. Prior to the transfer of title or any interest therein,
a final reading of the water meter serving the property which is the
subject of the transfer will not be issued unless a water meter approved
for use by the Commissioner has been properly installed.
C.
The employees and/or agents of the Bureau may enter the premises
of the property owner at any reasonable time to examine the meter
and its connections and to determine the quantity of water used and
the method and manner of its use. Except in cases of emergency, the
hours between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. shall be considered as reasonable
hours for this purpose.
D.
The Commissioner shall have full power and authority to require the
owner of property abutting upon a street which shall have a connection
by a service pipe to the main water supply pipe to repair any leak
in the said service pipe. Where the owner of such property shall fail,
or neglect to make the said repairs to the service pipe within 48
hours after written notice so to do has been served upon him or her,
either personally or by delivering the same at his or her residence,
or if he or she be a nonresident, by mailing the same to him or her
at his or her last known place of residence, or if the name of the
owner or his or her place of residence cannot be ascertained after
due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous place upon the
premises; or where the owner of any such premises shall fail or neglect
to make the repairs to the aforesaid service pipe, after the same
has been leaking for a period of 48 hours, the Commissioner is authorized
to immediately make the necessary repairs to the said service pipe
and a bill for the expense of the said repairs incurred by the Commissioner
shall be presented to the owner personally or by leaving the same
at his or her residence or if he or she be a nonresident, by mailing
the same to him or her at his or her last known place of residence,
or, if the name of such owner or his or her place of residence cannot
be ascertained after due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous
place on the said premises to which the said service pipe connects;
and if he or she shall fail to pay the same, the Commissioner shall
file each year immediately preceding the time for making the annual
assessment roll, his or her certificate of the actual cost of repairs
to the said service pipe and other incidental work, together with
a statement as to the location of the property to which the said service
pipe connects with the City Assessor of the City of Yonkers, who shall
in the preparation of the next assessment roll of general city taxes,
assess such amount upon such property, and the same shall be levied,
corrected, enforced and collected in the same manner by the same proceedings,
at the same time, under the same penalties and having the same lien
upon the property assessed as the general city taxes and as a part
thereof.
E.
Nothing contained hereinabove, however, shall require the service
of the forty-eight hour written notice to prevent loss or injury or
damage to the city or others, occasioned by one or more leaks, in
any service pipe, connected with the main water supply pipe, and in
such cases, the Commissioner shall immediately post a written notice
upon such premises, vacant or improved, whereas said leak exists,
to the effect that unless said leak is repaired forthwith by the owner,
or occupant, the Commissioner will repair the same, the expense thereof
to be a lien upon the real property, served by said pipe.
F.
The Commissioner shall also endeavor to cause a copy of such notice
to be served, personally or otherwise, upon the owner or occupant
of the affected premises immediately after such posting.
G.
Where, after such posting, and service or endeavor to serve, such
notice, a reasonable time has elapsed, and said leak or leaks have
not been repaired and loss, injury or damage is caused thereby, or
likely to be caused thereby, to the city or others, the Commissioner
shall immediately make the necessary repairs to said service pipe,
and thereafter the same procedure shall be followed as outlined herein
to effect a lien against the real estate served by said service pipe
so repaired by the Commissioner to prevent loss, injury or damage.
H.
Any person, firm or corporation who/which shall violate any of the
provisions hereof, or who/which shall omit or refuse to do any act
by the terms of this chapter required to be performed by him, her
or it, or who/which shall obstruct, hinder or prevent any officer
or employee of the Yonkers Bureau of Water Works of the Department
of Public Works, duly authorized, from the discharge of any duty required
of him under any of the provisions of this chapter, shall be deemed
to be a disorderly person and shall be prosecuted as such, and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be subject to a penalty of not more than
$250 or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or both,
and each day such violation shall continue shall be deemed and shall
constitute a separate offense. In addition, the City may also, at
any time, maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the City,
in a court of competent jurisdiction, to compel compliance with or
to restrain by injunction the violation of this provision, rule, regulation,
part or portion thereof.
A.
The Commissioner, with the consent of the City Council, shall establish
a scale of rents to be charged and paid from time to time, either
in advance or at such time or times as he or she shall prescribe,
for the use and supply of water to be called water rents on all classes
of building in said city in which water shall be used, and in the
establishment of such scale of rents shall have reference to the ordinary
or extraordinary uses of said water for dwellings, stores, shops,
hotels, factories, livery stables, wharves, barns and all other buildings,
establishments and trades, yards, number of families or occupants,
or consumption of water for useful or ornamental purposes, as near
as may be practicable, and from time to time the Commissioner may,
with the approval of the City Council, modify, amend, increase or
diminish such rents, but the rents shall be so fixed and kept that
no consumer shall obtain water for less than cost, and that the aggregate
annual amount collected therefrom shall equal each year at least two
per centum of the then existing water debt of the city, over and above
all expense of repairs, maintenance, operation, management, salaries
and the interest on the water debt. But before any such annual rents
shall be fixed, established or increased by the Commissioner, he or
she shall give five days' public notice in the official newspaper
or newspapers of the city that he or she has prepared a proposed scale
of water rents and that the same is subject to the inspection of any
resident of said city, for the period of at least five days, at a
place to be named by the Commissioner, and that he or she will be
present at the time and place, which shall be named in such notice,
for the consideration of such proposed scale and for the hearing and
consideration of any complaint that may be then or there made thereto
by any interested party of said city. At the time and place so appointed
he shall hear the complaints and allegations of all parties interested,
and may take proof in relation thereto, and may confirm and adopt
the said proposed scale without alteration, or with such alteration
as he or she may deem proper, except that he shall not increase any
rent or rents. The Commissioner may, subject to the approval in each
instance of the City Council, remit or reduce any water rate or rent,
determined by meter charges, with the interest and penalties thereon
deemed by him or her to be erroneous or excessive. Any such decision
by the Commissioner to remit or reduce any water rate or rent, including
interest and penalties thereon, determined to be erroneous or excessive
shall be limited to the two semiannual billing cycles immediately
preceding the receipt of the written complaint by the Commissioner's
office alleging erroneous or excessive charges.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008; 6-14-2016 by L.L. No. 5-2016]
B.
The Commissioner, when a meter fails to register correctly or shall
cease to record the flow of water, shall disregard such incorrect
registry or such nonregistry and shall charge for water supplied during
the period of incorrect registry or nonregistry at the average daily
registration of water indicated by the meter for such premises for
an appropriate period prior or subsequent to such period.
C.
In addition to the water rents provided for in this section, there
shall be a frontage tax of one dollar and forty cents a front foot
in each and every year on all real estate facing on a street or alley
in which a water main is now laid, or shall hereafter be laid, which
shall be a lien on the real estate affected.
D.
The frontage for frontage tax purposes for corner lots, shall be
computed by determining footage on the front chosen as the address
of the premises only.
E.
The frontage for the purpose of this section, in regard to unimproved
lots, shall be the front as determined by the Department of Assessment
and Taxation.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
All water rents shall be paid to the Commissioner of Finance
of the city, in accordance with statements or accounts of the amounts
due which shall be prepared and sent within ten days after the same
shall be due by the Commissioner to the owners of the premises liable
therefor, but the failure to render such statements shall not affect
the lien of such rents. The Commissioner of Finance shall on the first
day of each month report to the Commissioner all payments of water
rents made or collected during the preceding month and keep a separate
account of the amounts so received, and of all payments made in such
month for maintaining and operating the city waterworks. It shall
be the duty of the Commissioner, immediately preceding the time for
making the annual assessment rolls, to make out a list or roll of
each ward of the city in which he or she shall set out the amount
of water rents accrued or chargeable upon each lot, part of lot or
building, and which shall not have been paid or included in a preceding
like list or roll, and file the same with the Commissioner, who shall
in the preparation of the next assessment roll for general city taxes,
in separate columns thereof, assess such amounts upon such property;
and the same shall be levied, corrected, enforced and collected in
the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time, under
the same penalties, and having the same lien upon the property assessed
as the general city tax and as a part thereof.
A.
In addition to all other rights and liens given to the City of Yonkers
and the Commissioner of the City of Yonkers in the preceding sections
of this Article and in § § 94 and 95 of the Second
Class Cities Law, in any case where a statement or account of the
amount due for water rents has been sent to the owner of any premises
liable therefor and the same remains unpaid for a period of thirty
days thereafter, a notice shall be mailed, addressed to the "owner
or occupant" of such premises stating that such water rents are unpaid
and that unless payment of the same together with any interest and
penalties thereon accruing shall be made in accordance with the provisions
of this Article within ten days after the mailing of such notice,
the Commissioner of the City of Yonkers without further notice may
cause the supply of water to such premises to be cut off or shut off,
and in the event that such notice is mailed to the "owner or occupant"
the Commissioner of the City of Yonkers shall have the power to cut
off or shut off the supply of water to the said premises in accordance
with the terms of the said notice. Such notice shall have printed
or written thereon a copy of this section.
B.
In addition to all remedies granted by law for the nonpayment of
water rents and interest and penalties thereon, and in addition to
the right to collect water rents, and interest and penalties thereon
by sale of tax lien, the city may maintain an action for their recovery
against the person for whose benefit or by whom the water is or has
been taken or used.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
The water bond sinking fund is continued with the moneys and
investments now contained therein.
The water rents collected as hereinbefore provided and any moneys
which may be raised by a direct tax to make up a deficit therein,
as hereinafter provided shall be paid into the city treasury, and
the Commissioner of Finance shall keep a separate account of the rents
so received, and all payments made in each year for operating and
maintaining the waterworks and for interest on all water bonds of
the city heretofore issued. On or before the fifth day of January
in each year the Commissioner of Finance shall make a detailed statement
of the amounts so received, and the payments so made to the City Council.
Any surplus income, after paying the necessary expenses of operating
and maintaining the waterworks and paying interest on all outstanding
water bonds of the city heretofore issued, shall constitute a sinking
fund for the retirement of said water bonds heretofore issued, and
with all income received from investments of such sinking fund, shall
be invested by the Commissioner of Finance under the direction of
the City Council, either in bonds of the United States, or of the
State of New York, or any bonds of the City of Yonkers. Any water
bonds of the city heretofore issued, so purchased, shall be stamped
as belonging to the sinking fund, but the Commissioner of Finance
shall collect the interest thereon and upon all other bonds held by
said sinking fund and invest said interest as hereinbefore provided.
Any bonds held in said sinking fund other than water bonds of the
city heretofore issued may from time to time be sold by the Commissioner
of Finance with the consent of the City Council and the proceeds thereof
reinvested as aforesaid. If in any fiscal year the water rents collected
shall not be sufficient to show a surplus after deducting all payments
made in such year for operating and maintaining waterworks and for
paying interest on all water bonds of the city heretofore issued which
shall equal at least two per centum of the face amount of all outstanding
water bonds of the city heretofore issued including such water bonds
heretofore issued as are held in the sinking fund the deficit shall
be inserted in the next annual estimate and collected by direct tax.
Whenever in the judgment of the Commissioner the supply of water
shall exceed the needs of the city, the city, by ordinance of the
City Council, shall have power to contract with any corporation or
corporations, municipal or otherwise, or person or persons without
said city, to supply to such corporation or person such water for
a term not exceeding five years, and to supply and deliver such water
under such contract.
The City Council shall have power to prevent drainage into any
lake, stream, pond or spring within or without the City of Yonkers
in the County of Westchester used for the purposes herein set forth,
or the erection of slaughterhouses, privies, stables or other structures
or works, causing or being liable to cause impurities to the waters,
at any place within five hundred feet of any such lake, stream, pond
or spring. No person shall willfully do, or cause to be done, any
act whereby any work, materials or property whatever, erected or used,
or hereafter to be erected or used for the purpose of procuring or
keeping such supply of water, shall in any manner be injured, nor
erect or place any nuisance on the banks of any lake, stream, pond
or spring from which supply of water is obtained, nor throw anything
into such lake, stream, pond or spring, or into the aqueduct, or into
any reservoir or pipe. Any person who shall violate any ordinance
enacted hereunder or commit any act herein prohibited shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and further shall forfeit the sum of one hundred
dollars for each violation, to be recovered by action by the Commissioner.
A.
SEWER RENTS
SEWER SYSTEM
PART
SEWAGE
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
OTHER WASTES
COMMISSIONER
Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the meaning of terms
used shall be as follows:
As used herein shall be as defined in Section 451 of the
General Municipal Law of the State of New York.
All sewer pipes and other appurtenances which are used or
useful in whole or in part in connection with the collection, treatment
or disposal of sewage, industrial waste and other wastes, and which
are owned, operated or maintained by the City of Yonkers as part of
the public sewer system, including sewage pumping stations and sewage-treatment
disposal works.
As used in relation to the term "sewer system": all lateral
sewers, or all branch sewers, or all interceptor sewers, or all trunk
sewers, and any sewage-treatment and disposal works, each part with
necessary appurtenances, including sewage pumping stations.
The water-carried human or animal wastes from residences,
buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with
such groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present.
The admixture with sewage, as above defined, of industrial waste or
other wastes, as hereafter defined, also shall be considered "sewage"
within the meaning of this section.
Any liquid, gaseous, solid or other waste substance or a
combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing,
trade or business, or from the development or recovery of any natural
resources.
Garbage, refuse, decayed wood, sawdust shavings, bark, sand,
lime, cinders, ashes, offal, oil, tar, dye-stuffs, acids, chemicals
and all other discarded matter not sewage or industrial waste.
As used herein shall refer to the Commissioner of Public
Works of the City of Yonkers.
B.
Imposition and computation of sewer rents.
(1)
Imposition. In addition to any other fees or charges provided by
law, the owner of any parcel of real property connected with the sewer
system, including but not limited to real property connected with
the sewer system by means of a private sewer or drain emptying into
the sewer system, shall pay a sewer rent for the use of the sewer
system. Such charge is imposed pursuant to the provisions of Article
14-F of the General Municipal Law and shall be based on the water
supplied to any such real property. Such charge shall be computed
by the Commissioner in accordance with the provision of this section,
and shall be effective beginning with quarterly bills for water rents
rendered after January 1, 1971 for water consumed during the billing
period covered by such bill. If any parcel of real property is not
connected with the sewer system, the owner of such parcel shall not
pay said sewer rents on the water supplied to any separate drainage
system which is not so connected; provided, however, that the owner
of such parcel files a written protest with the Commissioner in accordance
with the procedure set forth in Subdivision (7) of this section.
(2)
Rate for users of city-supplied water. For any such real property
supplied with water from city water supply, the semiannual sewer rent
charge in the City of Yonkers shall be at the rate of one dollar and
thirty-one cents ($1.31) per one hundred (100) cubic feet of water
supplied to such property from the city water supply system.
[Amended 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 7-1996; 6-28-2002 by L.L. No.
4-2002; 6-25-2003 by L.L. No. 4-2003; 6-14-2007 by L.L. No.
8-2007; 6-10-2008 by L.L. No. 7-2008; 6-20-2009 by L.L. No.
2-2009; 6-23-2011 by L.L. No. 7-2011; 6-10-2014 by L.L. No.
12-2014; 6-30-2015 by L.L. No. 16-2015; 6-9-2016 by L.L. No. 3-2016; 6-18-2019 by L.L. No. 8-2019; 5-28-2021 by L.L. No. 8-2021;[1] 5-25-2022 by L.L. No. 5-2022[2]; 5-26-2023 by L.L. No. 11-2023[3]]
(3)
Rate for users of water from other sources. For any such property
supplied with water by a private water company or other non-city water
system, the sewer rent charge shall be at the rate of one dollar and
thirty-one cents ($1.31) per one hundred (100) cubic feet of water
supplied to such property from the said private water company or other
non-city water system.
[Amended 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 7-1996; 6-28-2002 by L.L. No.
4-2002; 6-25-2003 by L.L. No. 4-2003; 6-14-2007 by L.L. No.
8-2007; 6-10-2008 by L.L. No. 7-2008; 6-20-2009 by L.L. No.
2-2009; 6-23-2011 by L.L. No. 7-2011; 6-10-2014 by L.L. No.
12-2014; 6-30-2015 by L.L. No. 16-2015; 6-9-2016 by L.L. No. 3-2016; 6-18-2019 by L.L. No. 8-2019; 5-28-2021 by L.L. No. 8-2021;[4] 5-25-2022 by L.L. No. 5-2022[5]5-26-2023 by L.L. No. 11-2023[6]]
(4)
Minimum charge estimate. The minimum semi-annual charge for sewer
rents shall be thirty-two dollars and seventy-four cents ($32.74),
and for the purpose of billing for payment under this section the
quantity of water supplied to such property from the City water-supply
system, a private water company or other non-city water system may
be estimated.
[Amended 7-18-1996 by L.L. No. 7-1996; 6-28-2002 by L.L. No.
4-2002; 6-25-2003 by L.L. No. 4-2003; 6-14-2007 by L.L. No.
8-2007; 6-10-2008 by L.L. No. 7-2008; 6-20-2009 by L.L. No.
2-2009; 6-23-2011 by L.L. No. 7-2011; 6-10-2014 by L.L. No.
12-2014; 6-30-2015 by L.L. No. 16-2015; 6-9-2016 by L.L. No. 3-2016; 6-18-2019 by L.L. No. 8-2019; 5-28-2021 by L.L. No. 8-2021;[7] 5-25-2022 by L.L. No. 5-2022[8]; 5-26-2023 by L.L. No. 11-2023[9]]
(5)
Powers of the Commissioner. The Commissioner may require every person
who owns or occupies real property within the city to furnish him
or her with such information as may be necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section. Every such person shall cooperate with
the Commissioner in carrying out the provisions of this section. The
Commissioner shall have the power to hold such hearings and to subpoena
such witnesses, direct the production of such books and papers and
enter such properties for the purpose of inspection, observation,
measurement, sampling and testing as may be necessary to carry out
the provisions of this section.
[Amended 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
(6)
Time and manner of payment. All sewer rents imposed hereunder shall
be due and payable at the times and in the manner provided for the
payment of water charges of each property, including any penalties
or interest thereon which shall be imposed, in the same manner as
provided for the imposition of penalties and interest on water charges.
(7)
Protest. Within thirty (30) days following the payment date of the
first quarterly installment for sewer rents in any calendar year,
the owner of any parcel of real property not connected with the sewer
system may file with the Commissioner a written application protesting
the imposition of a sewer rent upon such property. Such application
shall contain the identity of such property by block and lot designation
on the city Tax Map and a description of the separate drainage system
servicing the property. If, after review, the Commissioner determines
that such property is not connected with the sewer system, the sewer
rents imposed for the calendar year in which the protest has been
filed shall be cancelled and sewer rents shall not thereafter be imposed
against such property until it shall become connected to the sewer
system. Cancellation shall not be made for past-due sewer rents not
protested in accordance with this subdivision.
(8)
Use of money collected.
(a)
Revenues derived from sewer rents, including penalties and interest,
shall be credited to a special fund, to be known as the "sewer rent
fund." Moneys in such fund shall be used in the following order:
[1]
For the payment of the costs of operation, maintenance and repairs
of the sewer system or such part or parts thereof for which sewer
rents have been established and imposed.
[2]
For the payment of the interest on and amortization of, or payment
of, indebtedness which has been or shall be incurred for the construction
of the sewer system, or such part or parts thereof for which sewer
rents have been established and imposed (other than indebtedness and
the interest thereon which is to be paid in the first instance from
assessments upon benefited real property).
[3]
For the construction of sewage-treatment and disposal works
with necessary appurtenances, including pumping stations, or for the
extension, enlargement or replacement of, or addition to, such sewer
systems, or part or parts thereof.
(b)
Such revenues from sewer rents shall not be used:
[1]
To finance the cost of any extension of any part of a sewer
system (other than any sewage-treatment and disposal works with necessary
appurtenances, including pumping stations) to serve unsewered areas
if such part has been constructed wholly or partly at the expense
of real property especially benefited, or
[2]
For the payment of the interest on, and the amortization of,
or payment of, indebtedness which is to be paid in the first instance
from assessment upon benefited real property.
(9)
Collection of unpaid charges. The Commissioner shall collect unpaid
sewer rents in the same manner as unpaid water rents are collected.
