Subject to statutory provisions as now or hereafter authorized,
the city shall have the power to acquire, own, establish, construct,
operate, improve, enlarge, extend, repair and maintain, either within
or without its corporate limits, any public utility.
All municipally owned and operated utilities shall be administered
as a regular department of the city government under the management
and supervision of the City Manager.
The Commission shall have the power to fix from time to time
such just and reasonable rates and other charges as may be deemed
advisable for supplying the inhabitants of the city and others with
such public utility services as the city may provide. There shall
be no discrimination in such rates within any classification of users
thereof, nor shall free service be permitted. Higher rates may be
charged for service outside the corporate limits of the city.
The Commission shall provide by ordinance for the collection
of all public utility rates and charges of the city.
Such ordinance shall provide at least:
(a) That the city shall have as security for the collection of such utility
rates and charges such liens permitted by statute upon the real property
supplied by such utility, which liens shall become effective immediately
upon the supplying of such utility service and shall be enforced in
the manner provided by such ordinance.
(b) The terms and conditions under which utility services may be discontinued
in case of delinquency in paying such rates or charges.
(c) That suit may be instituted by the city before a competent tribunal
for the collection of such rates or charges.
With respect to the collection of rates charged for water the
city shall have all the powers granted to cities by Act 178 of the
Public Acts of 1939.
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Unless approved by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the
electors voting thereon at a regular or special election, the city
shall not sell, exchange, lease or in any way dispose of any property,
easements, equipment, privilege or asset belonging to and appertaining
to any municipally owned public utility which is needed to continue
operating such utility. All contracts, negotiations, licenses, grants,
leases or other forms of transfer in violation of this section shall
be void and of no effect as against the city. The restrictions of
this section shall not apply to the sale or exchange of any articles
of machinery or equipment of any city owned public utility which are
worn out or useless or which have been, or could with advantage to
the service be, replaced by new and improved machinery or equipment,
to the leasing of property not necessary for the operation of the
utility, or to the exchange of property or easements for other needed
property or easements. It is provided, however, that the provisions
of this section shall not extend to vacation or abandonment of streets,
as provided by statute.
The rates and charges for any municipal public utility shall
be so fixed as to at least meet all the costs of such utility including
depreciation.
Transactions pertaining to the ownership and operation by the
city of each public utility shall be recorded in a separate group
of accounts under an appropriate fund caption, which accounts shall
be classified in accordance with generally accepted utility accounting
practice. Charges for all service furnished to, or rendered by, other
city departments or agencies shall be recorded. An annual report shall
be prepared to show fairly the financial position of each utility
and the results of its operation, which report shall be available
for inspection at the office of the Clerk.