[Adopted 5-6-1952 by Ord. No. 986, as amended through 1-1-1997]
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2959; 12-15-2010 by Ord. No. 2990; 12-21-2011 by Ord. No. 2999; 2-14-2024 by Ord. No. 3154; 12-18-2024 by Ord. No. 3173]
A. 
There is hereby imposed upon the owners of properties in the Township of Upper Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, hereinafter called the "Township," which use and property are served by the sewers and sewer system of the Township and by certain wastewater treatment facilities servicing the Township and its residents, hereinafter collectively called the "sewer system," an annual sewer rental, rate or charge for residential or other buildings or structures discharging sanitary, commercial or industrial waste into such sewer system, and the said rental or charge is based upon the following rates and in accordance with the following classifications:
(1) 
Single-family dwelling unit: $280.
(2) 
Apartment unit: $280.
(3) 
Apartment house for each apartment unit: $280.
(4) 
Public, business, commercial or industrial users, for the first 60,000 gallons of water annually: $280.
B. 
Online payments are subject to convenience fees as follows:
(1) 
Credit card processing fee of 2.65% of the transaction total, minimum of $3.
(2) 
E-check processing fee of $1.50.
C. 
Public, business, commercial or industrial users shall pay at the rate of $280 per unit, and the number of units shall be computed to the nearest tenth by use of the following table with interpolations:
Gallons of Water Used per Year by Public, Business, Commercial or Industrial Users
Number of Units
60,000
1
100,000
2
200,000
3
300,000
4
400,000
5
500,000
6
600,000
7
800,000
8
1,000,000
9
1,200,000
10
1,400,000
11
1,600,000
12
1,800,000
13
2,000,000
14
2,200,000
15
2,400,000
16
2,600,000
17
2,800,000
18
3,000,000
19
3,500,000
20
4,000,000
21
4,500,000
22
5,000,000
23
5,500,000
24
6,000,000
25
6,500,000
26
7,000,000
27
7,500,000
28
8,000,000
29
8,500,000
30
9,000,000
31
10,000,000
33
11,000,000
35
12,000,000
37
13,000,000
39
14,000,000
41
15,000,000
43
16,000,000
45
17,000,000
47
18,000,000
49
19,000,000
51
20,000,000
53
21,000,000
55
22,000,000
57
23,000,000
59
24,000,000
61
25,000,000
63
26,000,000
65
27,000,000
67
28,000,000
69
29,000,000
71
30,000,000
73
D. 
When a business or commercial property includes an apartment unit or units and receives water for both the business use and the apartment use under one meter, the basis for the rental, rate or charge on the property for business or commercial use shall be reduced by 60,000 gallons per apartment unit.
[Amended 5-21-1974 by Charter]
The Upper Darby Township Council finds as a fact that the great majority of the public, business, commercial or industrial buildings or structures in the Township obtain water from the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, hereinafter called the "Water Company" and that the Water Company has water meters installed in the said properties.
[Amended 5-21-1974 by Charter]
When a property owner is a public, business, commercial or industrial user and does not discharge all of the metered or wastewater into the sewer system, the Upper Darby Township Council is authorized, upon application by such property owner, to reduce the total number of gallons of water for which the sewer rental, rate or charge is based. Any such application shall be filed with the Chairman of the Finance and Appropriations Committee within one month after the mailing of bills. The decision of the Upper Darby Township Council following the recommendation of the Finance and Appropriations Committee after such hearing shall be final.
[Amended 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2959; 12-15-2010 by Ord. No. 2990; 12-21-2011 by Ord. No. 2999]
Whenever sewer service to any property begins after the first day or terminates before the last day of the year, the sewer rental rate or charge for such property for such year shall be computed at the rate of $51.25 per quarter (three months or fraction thereof) of the year during which the said property is served by the sewer system.
[Amended 5-21-1974 by Charter]
The Finance Director shall administer this article. He shall obtain from the Water Company the number of gallons of water consumed by public, business, commercial or industrial users during the last four quarters immediately preceding December of each year for which computation has been made by the Water Company and shall compute the sewer rental, rate or charge to such users on the amount of water consumed by such users during such four quarters.
[Amended 5-21-1974 by Charter]
Public, business, commercial or industrial users which secure water from other than the Water Company shall pay a sewer rate, rental or charge in an amount to be fixed by the Finance Director and comparable to rentals of establishments of similar character and size. Where it is necessary to measure the discharge into the sewer system in order to determine the annual sewer rental, rate or charge imposed by this article, the proper meters or other measuring devices shall be installed. Such meters or other measuring devices shall be under the control of the Township. The owner of the property upon which such measuring devices are installed shall be responsible for its maintenance and safe keeping, and all repairs thereto shall be made at the cost of the owner of the property.
The Township reserves the right to refuse connection to the sewer system or otherwise to compel discontinuance of use or to compel pretreatment by any industry and to prevent discharge into the sewer system of any industrial wastes deemed to be harmful to the sewer system or to have a deleterious effect on the sewage treatment processes.
The annual sewer rental rate or charge shall be computed and shall be payable on the first day of January of each year in advance for the said calendar year and shall be paid to the Finance Director of the Township of Upper Darby.
[Amended 5-21-1974 by Charter; 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 2959]
The Finance Director shall cause annual bills for sewer rental, rates or charges to be mailed to all owners of properties using the sewer system as aforesaid on or about the first day of February of each year. Sewer rental rates or charges shall be due from such owners whether or not bills have actually been received.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 11, which required the Chief of the Bureau of Public Works to certify unpaid sewer bills to the Solicitor for filing of liens, as amended, was repealed 11-3-1954 by Ord. No. 1155.
The amount of the sewer rental, as shown in such bill, together with penalty of 10% and interest on the principal amount of the said lien from January 1 of the year following the year in which the said sewer rental was due and payable, at the rate of 6% per annum until the date on which the lien is filed, shall be entered as a lien against such property in the Office of Judicial Support of the County of Delaware and collected in the manner provided by law for the collection and filing of municipal liens, and said liens shall be filed by the Solicitor of the Township after May 31 of the year in which such rental was due and payable and not later than three years from December 31 of the year following the year in which such rental was first due and payable. From the date of the filing of the lien therefor, the rate of interest on the unpaid principal amount shall be 10% per annum.