Sewer charges shall be used for deriving revenues for financing
and maintaining wastewater collection and pay for treatment of the
wastewater. Revenues derived from user charges and associated penalties
and impact fees shall be credited to a special fund. Moneys in this
fund shall be used exclusively for the following functions:
A.
For the payment of the operation and maintenance, including repair
and replacement costs of the Town POTW;
B.
The costs of treatment of the wastewater;
C.
For the discovery and correction of inflow and infiltration;
D.
For the payment of interest on and the amortization of or payment
of indebtedness which has been or shall be incurred for the construction
or extension of the Town POTW;
E.
For the extension, enlargement, replacement of and/or additions to
the Town POTW, including any necessary appurtenances, including engineering,
planning, legal, and administrative costs as well as for the acquisition
of land, rights-of-way, and easements where necessary and appropriate
related to these capital improvements.
A.
The Town shall maintain and keep proper books of records and accounts
for the POTW, separate from all other records and accounts, in which
shall be made full and correct entries of all transactions relating
to the POTW. The Town will cause an annual audit of such books of
record and account for the preceding fiscal year to be made by a recognized
independent certified public accountant and will supply such audit
report to authorized officials and the public on request. In conjunction
with the audit, there shall be an annual review of the sewer charge
system to determine if it is adequate to meet expenditures for all
programs for the coming year.
B.
Classification of old and new industrial users should also be reviewed
annually.
C.
The Town shall maintain and carry insurance on all physical properties
of the POTW, of the kinds and in the amounts normally carried by public
utility companies and municipalities engaged in the operation of sewage
disposal systems. All moneys received for losses under any such insurance
policies shall be applied solely to the replacement and restoration
of the property damaged or destroyed.
Sewer charges shall include a sewer usage charge which shall
be levied on owners of properties located within or without the district
boundaries who contribute sewage to the public sewers and a capital
cost amortization charge to be levied on all owners of properties
within the district boundaries, regardless of whether these owners
are connected to the Town POTW.
A.
The following item will be funded by the capital cost amortization
charge:
(1)
The cost of the retirement of the capital funds to the district.
B.
The following items will be funded by the sewer usage charge:
C.
The Town Board reserves the right, from time to time, to change the
sewer usage charges and capital cost amortization charges originally
or previously assigned to any property owner.
D.
In addition to the above-detailed capital cost amortization charge
and sewer usage charge, users may be charged for costs incurred by
other municipalities for the collection and treatment of wastewater
received from the Town POTW. Where these charges apply, property owners
will be billed for these charges directly from the outside municipality
and in accordance to any intermunicipal agreements that may apply
between these outside municipalities and the Town of Catskill for
the purposes of collection and treating wastewater.
E.
Costs and maintenance for all flow not directly attributable to users
shall be distributed among all users of the POTW in the same manner
as costs of operation and maintenance for their actual use.
Each user which discharges to the Town POTW any toxic pollutants
or wastewater with concentrations in excess of pollutant concentrations
in normal sewage which cause an increase in the cost of operating
and maintaining the Town POTW or cause increase in the cost of managing
the effluent or sludge from the Town POTW shall pay a surcharge for
such increased costs. This surcharge shall be in accordance with the
determination of the Superintendent and the Town Board.
The additional charges and fees associated with the operation of the pretreatment program in accordance with Article IX of this chapter and not otherwise paid directly by the user shall be assessed the user, and include:
A.
Reimbursement of costs of setting up and operating the pretreatment
program;
B.
Issuing permits;
C.
Monitoring, inspections, and surveillance procedures;
D.
Costs of equipment and supplies;
E.
Reviewing accidental discharge procedures;
F.
Construction inspections;
G.
Filing appeals;
H.
Application for consistent removal status as outlined in 40 CFR 403;
I.
Other reasonable expenses to carry out the program to satisfy the
requirements of this chapter, the NYSDEC, and the federal government.
The Town Board shall have the authority to impose impact fees
on new development, which development may:
A.
The volume of flow to be used in computing sewer usage charges and
abnormal sewage surcharges shall be based upon metered water consumption,
where available. Where water usage is not metered, the Town shall
have a right to set upon users' property such devices as is necessary
to conduct meter operations, as deemed appropriate by the Superintendent
and the Town Board. Where water usage is not metered and where the
Town opts not to install such metering devices, volume of flow shall
be determined by estimation compared to equivalent property usage
within the District.
B.
In the event that a person discharging wastes into the POTW produces
evidence to the Superintendent demonstrating that a substantial portion
of the total amount of metered water does not reach the POTW, then
the Superintendent shall either establish a percentage of the total
metered water to be used as a basis for such computations, or direct
the installation of appropriate flow-measuring (and- totalizing) devices
to measure and record the actual amount of flow into the POTW. Any
water meters and/or flow-measuring devices installed pursuant to this
section shall be of a type and design acceptable to the Superintendent
and shall be Town of Catskill-installed, -maintained, and periodically
tested as required by the Superintendent, at the owner's expense.
All such meters and/or flow-measuring devices shall be subject to
periodic inspection, testing, and reading by the Superintendent. Any
person discharging wastes into the POTW may install a flow-measuring
device at his option, of the type, design, installation, and maintenance
standards of the Superintendent, at the owner's expense.
Capital cost amortization charges within the Catskill Sewer
District shall be billed and included in the tax statement that is
sent out by the Town for county charges and general Town taxes. These
amortization charges shall be levied on a per-EDU basis based on water
usage and property use classification as may from time to time be
set by the Town Board for the purposes of debt service.
A.
Sewer usage charges. Sewer usage charges shall be billed quarterly
and shall be in accordance with a rate schedule established by the
Town Board.
B.
Sewer usage charges within Catskill Sewer District. Sewer usage charges
within the Catskill Sewer District shall be billed in accordance with
the intermunicipal agreement between the Town and Village of Catskill.
At its discretion, the Town Board may permit properties located
outside of existing sewer districts to connect to the Town POTW. Sewer
charges for such out-of-district properties shall be as provided in
this article, and shall be levied in the same manner as for in-district
properties of the applicable sewer district. The Town Board, at its
discretion, may set separate rates or apply a multiplier to existing
rates for such out-of-district properties served.
Late penalties shall be as specified in the rate schedule.
This article shall take precedence over any inconsistent agreements
between the Town and users of the Town POTW. The provisions of the
intermunicipal agreement between the Town and Village of Catskill
regarding sewer use charges shall take precedence over any inconsistency
in this chapter.
