[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting
of the Town of Belchertown 5-13-2013 by Art. 22.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article also repealed former Ch. 278,
User Charge System, adopted by the Board of Selectmen May 1997.
A.
This user charge system has been designed to produce
revenues required for the operation and maintenance of the Town of
Belchertown's wastewater treatment plant and sanitary sewers, including
capital costs for wastewater treatment plant upgrade and sanitary
sewer extensions.
B.
This user charge system is also designed to generate
sufficient revenues to cover, at a minimum, replacement stock for
sewers; costs relating to the replacement and repair of sewers, including
street work and maintenance of all equipment and related appurtenances
necessary for provision of wastewater treatment services; all costs
of chemicals and other supplies relating to the treatment of wastewater;
costs relating to personnel for wastewater collection and treatment
systems; and all administrative costs relating to operation of the
wastewater collection and treatment system and the collection of fees
as provided for by this user charge system.
C.
This user charge system has been developed in accordance
with the requirements, providing that each user which discharges pollutants
that cause an increase in the cost of managing the effluent or sludge
from the treatment works shall pay for such increased cost.
Notification of fees and other charges assessed
under this user charge system shall be provided to users in conjunction
with a regular bill to be issued quarterly under most circumstances,
but in no case less than annually. This notification shall include
the rate and that portion of the user charges which is attributable
to wastewater treatment services.
The Town shall maintain a financial management
system that will accurately account for revenues generated by this
user charge system and expenditures for operation and maintenance
(including replacement) of the treatment system, based on an adequate
budget identifying the basis for determining the annual operation
and maintenance costs and the costs of personnel, material, energy
and administration. The budget shall be prepared on an annual basis
and shall be approved by Town Meeting vote. An independent audit of
the financial management system shall be performed on a periodic basis.
This user charge system provides for the recovery
of wastewater and sewer-related costs from three sources: user fees,
wastewater treatment assessments and general property tax rates. This
system has been designed to acknowledge that the improvements to the
wastewater treatment works will benefit the community as a whole and
will benefit future as well as current users.
A.
User fees. User fees shall be developed based on the
annual projected budget for operation and maintenance of the wastewater
treatment facilities, including maintenance and repair of the collection
system. These costs shall be allocated to all users based on equivalent
dwelling units as calculated per 310 CMR 15.203 (Title V design criteria)
or based on estimates of the long-term average flow for the facility
or other method as deemed appropriate by the Board of Selectmen to
capture the costs and expenses of the services provided by the Town
through such system. Multiple-family dwelling establishments shall
not be calculated below 0.67 EDU per living unit. Where a commercial
or industrial user discharges wastes of unusual characteristics, the
Board of Selectmen may impose additional fees to cover the costs associated
with treatment of such wastes. Billing will be conducted quarterly
as described herein:
(1)
Any
person proposing a new discharge into the sewer system or a substantial
change in the volume or character of pollutants is required to complete
a connection application. The Board of Selectmen, acting through the
Department of Public Works, will review, and if found appropriate,
approve, the connection application constituting the issuance of a
connection permit. Once a sewer connection permit is issued, it is
the permit holder’s responsibility to notify the Department
of Public Works at least 24 hours in advance of any work related to
the installation of the sanitary sewer service. The Department will
schedule the necessary inspections. If the connection is installed
properly and ready for use, the Department of Public Works will notify
the appropriate Town agencies, and sewer billing will be implemented
in the following manner:
(a)
For existing, developed property, and modifications to an existing
connection which will result in a substantial change in the volume
or character of pollutants, sewer billing will begin as of the date
the connection is deemed complete.
(b)
For new construction requiring a building permit, sewer billing will
begin as of the date the building inspector issues a certificate of
occupancy. For multiple-unit facilities, sewer billing will begin
for the total number of units for which the Building Inspector issued
a certificate of occupancy, during the billing period (quarterly).
(2)
New
accounts, regardless of type, will be established in the following
manner:
(a)
If the account status is billable prior to the middle of the quarter,
sewer billing will include the entire quarterly charges; if the account
status is billable on or after the middle of the quarter, billing
will begin on the first day of the next quarter.
(b)
Account status will remain as billable unless the property is deemed uninhabitable by the Building Inspector or by the issuance of a demolition permit, condemnation order, or any similar order that may be issued by the local, state, or federal agencies with the proper authorization to do so. It is the property owner’s responsibility to notify the Town when their property becomes uninhabitable. Abatements and/or status change, if approved, will be effective as of the date written notification was received by the Town. Properties deemed uninhabitable will be required to obtain a connection permit, in accordance with Chapter 256 of the Code of Belchertown.
Modifications to existing accounts will only be considered upon
written request from the property owners or their authorized representative.
The Town may, from time to time, audit accounts on file and make changes
as required. All modifications will be implemented as of the date
written notification was received, in the manner previously described.
B.
Wastewater treatment assessments. The capital costs
for wastewater treatment plant improvements shall be recovered in
majority through a wastewater treatment assessment applied to all
users. Wastewater treatment assessments will apply to all users based
on equivalent single-family dwelling units as per 310 CMR 15.203 (Title
V design criteria) or based on estimates of the long-term average
flow for the facility or other method as deemed appropriate by the
Board of Selectmen to capture the costs and expenses of the services
provided by the Town through such system. Additionally, a portion
of the capital costs for the wastewater treatment system improvements
may be funded through the general tax rolls.
(1)
For the purposes of calculating the wastewater treatment
assessment, the total capital costs for the improvements over the
loan period will be divided by the existing equivalent dwelling units.
This will determine the wastewater treatment assessment per equivalent
single-family dwelling. The wastewater treatment assessment for other
types of residential or commercial facilities will be determined by
multiplying the single-family equivalency factor times the single-family
dwelling wastewater treatment assessment. That portion of the capital
costs for the wastewater treatment improvements which is not covered
by revenues generated by the wastewater treatment assessment will
be adsorbed by the general tax revenues.
C.
General property tax. As discussed above, a portion
of the capital costs for wastewater treatment facility improvements
may be funded from the general property tax revenues. The amount to
be funded from the general property tax rolls may decrease as additional
users are brought online. The amount to be funded from the general
tax rolls will be determined each year by the Board of Selectmen by
subtracting projected revenues from betterment and wastewater treatment
assessments from the total capital recovery costs for the year.
A.
Abatements shall be given for errors in billing calculations,
provided such errors are brought to the Board's attention within 60
calendar days of the billing date. Abatements may be granted for financial
hardship if it is in the opinion of the Board of Selectmen that such
abatement is warranted. Abatements will only be granted for sewer
costs; assessments and betterments will still apply.
C.
Time limits for applications.
(1)
Review
and comment by the Board of Selectmen or its designee will begin once
the applicant has provided sufficient documentation to support the
reasons for the abatement.
(2)
When
the request is deemed complete, the Board of Selectmen or its designee
will stamp the request complete, indicating the date of completion.
Completed abatement requests shall be approved or denied by the Board
of Selectmen or its designee within 30 days of completion date.
A sewer connection permit may be considered
as an inactive account if the owner of record can provide satisfactory
documentation, in the form of water or electrical usage, that the
premises have not been occupied for a period of 366 consecutive days.
Those accounts that are deemed to be inactive shall be placed in an
inactive file and not billed for the current fiscal year. The status
of inactive accounts shall be checked from time to time and reviewed
annually. When an inactive account has been reoccupied and reconnected
to the utilities, the permit shall be considered active and billed
from the period when utilities were reconnected to the end of the
fiscal year, at the prevailing rate.
