[Amended by Ord. No. 05-17-99B; Ord. No. 07-03-00; Ord. No. 12-15-03B; Ord. No. 02-02-09; Ord. No. 10-01-07]
The user charge system as hereinafter set forth has been developed
as required by the City Council of the City of Mendota. Wastewater
expense requirements shall constitute the basis for determining industrial
and domestic user charges.
A.
The wastewater service charge for the use of and for the service
supplied by the wastewater facilities of the City of Mendota shall
consist of 1) a monthly customer charge to pay a portion of all general,
billing and administrative costs of the system; 2) a wastewater use
rate to pay all other general, debt service, maintenance, billing
and administrative costs as related to the wastewater system; and
3) a surcharge, if applicable.
(1)
The monthly customer charge shall be computed by allocating a portion
of the total of general and administrative expense (as audit report)
equally among all users by dividing the sum of such general and administrative
expense by the number of users served.
(2)
The wastewater use rate shall be based on water usage as recorded
by water meters and/or sewage meters for the purpose of paying the
remaining or variable cost associated with general, debt service,
maintenance, billing and administrative costs of the system.
(3)
A surcharge, in addition to the above-mentioned charges, shall be
paid by all users whose discharge exceeds the average concentrations
for BOD (200 mg/l), SS (200 mg/l) and ammonia nitrogen (15 mg/l).
The unit rate for BOD5, SS and NH3-N for the
purpose of determining the basic rate and the surcharge rate shall
be based on the total of operation, maintenance, replacement and debt
service expense and shall be computed as follows:
(a)
Proportion the estimated annual revenue required to operate
and maintain the wastewater facilities, including the equipment replacement
fund, to the major plant categories.
(b)
Proportion the cost of the major plant categories to volume,
BOD5, SS and NH3-N.
(c)
Estimate wastewater volume, pounds of BOD5, pounds of SS and pounds of NH3-N to be treated.
(d)
Compute the unit cost per 1,000 gallons and per pound of BOD5, SS and NH3-N based on average strength waste.
B.
The adequacy of the wastewater service charge shall be reviewed annually
by certified public accountants to the City of Mendota in their annual
audit report. The wastewater service charge shall be revised periodically
to reflect a change in debt service or a change in the number of users
and in operation and maintenance costs, including equipment replacement
costs. The purpose of annual review is to assure that each user, through
the wastewater service charge, pays a proportionate share of operation
and maintenance, including debt service, and to maintain proportionality
of the user charge system.
The volume of flow used for computing basic user charges and
surcharges shall be the metered water consumption read to the lowest
even increment of 100 cubic feet.
A.
If the persons or other dischargers (industrial, commercial, etc.)
discharging wastes into the public sewers procure any part or all
of their water from sources other than the public waterworks system,
all or part of which is discharged into the public sewers, the person
or discharger shall, if directed by the City of Mendota, install and
maintain, at his or its expense, a water meter(s) of a type approved
by the Superintendent for the purpose of determining the volume of
water obtained from these other sources.[1]
B.
Devices for measuring the volume of waste discharged may be required
by the Superintendent if these volumes cannot otherwise be determined
from the metered water consumption records.
C.
Metering devices for determining the volume of waste shall be installed,
owned and maintained by the person or discharger. Following approval
and installation, such meters may not be removed without the consent
of the Superintendent.
There shall be and are hereby established wastewater service
charges for the use of and for the service supplied by the wastewater
facilities of the City of Mendota to be paid by each user of the service
as stated and defined below. Charges shall be set from time to time
by the City Council.
A.
Residential, commercial, industrial and municipal.
(1)
Monthly customer charge. A portion of all general, billing and administrative
costs of the wastewater system is to be paid monthly. This cost reflects
the minimum charge for all customers.
(2)
Wastewater use rate: all the general, debt service, maintenance,
billing and administrative costs as related to the wastewater system;
a cost per 100 cubic feet of use as recorded by the water meter.
Any resident who has a water leak from broken or damaged pipes
from which water leakage does not pass through the sewer system, and
whose water billing for said month is more than twice the normal water
usage, may request a refund of the excess sewer portion of said bill
for said month. All requests for refunds shall be brought before a
meeting of the Committee on Public Works. The Committee on Public
Work's decision to grant the requested refund, or any portion thereof,
or to deny the request for a refund shall be forwarded to the City
Council. The City Council shall accept or reject the Committee's recommendation
at the next regularly scheduled meeting following receipt of the recommendation.
Any decision by the City Council is final. This amendment is being
made to alleviate extraordinarily high sewer billings in cases where
the owner was not at fault and the water did not pass through the
sewer system.
In the event use of wastewater facilities by nonresidential
users is determined by the Superintendent to include wastes in addition
to average strength domestic waste, the user shall pay a surcharge
cost in addition to the debt service charge, the basic user charge
and the basic user rate. The rates of surcharge for BOD5, SS and NH3-N shall be set from time to time by the
City Council.
The surcharge per user shall be computed by the following formula:
A.
BOD surcharge computation formula.
(1)
If the daily concentration is greater than 200 ml/l, then:
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S = V/1,000,000 * [A(BOD5 - 200) * 8.34]
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(2)
If the total number of pounds of BOD sent to the wastewater treatment
facility is greater than 1,500 pounds, then the BOD surcharge shall
be computed by the following formula:
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S = Total # pounds 1,500 * $0.0867 + (1,500 - allowable #pounds
* $0.039)
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B.
TSS surcharge computation formula.
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S = V/1,000,000 * [B(TSS - 200) * 8.34]
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C.
NH3-N surcharge computation formula.
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S = V/1,000,000 * [C(NH3-N - 15) * 8.34]
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D.
Where:
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S = Amount of surcharge in dollars.
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V = Wastewater volume in gallons per day.
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A = Unit charge for BOD5 per pound.
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BOD5 = 5-day biochemical oxygen demand,
mg/l.
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B = Unit charge for TSS per pound.
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TSS = Total suspended solids, mg/l.
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C = Unit charge for NH3-N per pound.
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NH3-N = Total ammonia as nitrogen, mg/l.
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