[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
It is determined and declared to be necessary and conducive
to the protection of the public health, safety, welfare, and convenience
of the City to collect charges from all users who contribute wastewater
to the City's treatment works. The proceeds of such charges so derived
will be used for the purpose of operating, maintaining, and retiring
the debt for such public wastewater treatment works.
[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning
of terms used in this Article shall be as follows:
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5)
days at twenty degrees Celsius (20° C.), expressed in milligrams
per liter (mg/l).
Wastewater that has a BOD concentration of not more than
two hundred fifty (250) mg/l and a suspended solids concentration
of not more than three hundred (300) mg/l and any other pollutant.
All expenditures during the useful life of the treatment
works for materials, labor, utilities, and other items, including
replacement, which are necessary for managing and maintaining the
sewage works to achieve the capacity and performance for which such
works were designed and constructed.
Expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories,
or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the
treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which
such works were designed and constructed. The term "operation and
maintenance" includes replacement.
Any contributor to the City's treatment works whose lot,
parcel of real estate, or building is used for domestic dwelling purposes
only.
The fee collected from new users of the treatment works to
be used to provide for the expansion of the treatment works and/or
the wastewater treatment facility handling City effluent.
[Bill No. 90, 11-13-2001]
Is mandatory; "May" is permissive.
The solids that either float on the surface of or are in
suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids and which are removable
by laboratory filtering.
Any devices and systems for the collection, storage, treatment,
recycling, and reclamation of municipal sewage, domestic sewage, or
liquid industrial wastes. These include interceptor sewers, outfall
sewers, sewage collection systems, individual systems, pumping, power,
and other equipment and their appurtenances; extensions, improvements,
remodeling, additions, and alterations thereof; elements essential
to provide a reliable recycled supply, such as standby treatment units
and clear well facilities; and any works, including site acquisition
of land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or
is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment;
and any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing,
storing, treating, separating, or disposing of municipal waste or
industrial waste, including waste in combined stormwater and sanitary
sewer systems.
The estimated period during which the treatment works will
be operated.
That portion of the total wastewater service charge which
is levied in a proportional and adequate manner for the cost of operation,
maintenance, and replacement of the wastewater treatment works.
A water volume measuring and recording device, furnished
and installed by the City of Merriam Woods.
[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
A.Â
The user charge system shall generate adequate annual revenues to
pay the costs of annual operation and maintenance, including replacement,
and costs associated with debt retirement of bonded capital associated
with financing the treatment works, which the City may by ordinance
designate to be paid by the user charge system. That portion of total
user charge which is designated for operation and maintenance, including
replacement of the treatment works, shall be established by this Article.
B.Â
That portion of the total user charge collected which is designated for the operation and maintenance, including replacement purposes, as established in Section 710.040, shall be deposited in a separate non-lapsing fund known as the "Sewer Operation, Maintenance, and Replacement Fund" and will be kept in four (4) primary accounts as follows:
1.Â
The Operation and Maintenance Account shall be an account designated
for the specific purpose of defraying the operation and maintenance
costs of the treatment works. Deposits in the Operation and Maintenance
Account shall be made as collected from the operation and maintenance
revenue.
2.Â
The Replacement Account shall be an account designated for the
purpose of ensuring replacement needs over the useful life of the
treatment works. Deposits in the Replacement Account shall be made
annually from the replacement revenue in the amount of six thousand
dollars ($6,000.00).
3.Â
The Reserve Account shall be an account designated for the specific
purpose of depositing monies as required by USDA Rural Development.
4.Â
The Expansion Account shall be an account designated for the
purpose of acquiring additional treatment capacity or expanding the
treatment works. The Sewer Capacity Fees collected from new users
of the treatment works shall be deposited and held in this account
until such time as expansion of the treatment works or additional
capacity is needed.
C.Â
Fiscal year-end balances in the Sewer Operation, Maintenance, and
Replacement Fund shall be carried over to the same accounts in each
subsequent fiscal year and shall be used for no other purposes than
those designated for these accounts. Monies which have been transferred
from other sources to meet temporary shortages in the Operation, Maintenance,
and Replacement Fund shall be returned to their respective accounts
upon appropriate adjustment of the user charge rates for operation,
maintenance, and replacement. The user charge rate(s) shall be adjusted
such that the transferred monies will be returned to their respective
accounts within the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which
the monies were borrowed.
[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
A.Â
Each user shall pay for the services provided by the City based on
their use of the treatment works as determined by water meter(s) acceptable
to the City.
B.Â
Determination Of User Charges.
1.Â
For residential contributors, monthly user charges will be based
on average monthly water usage during the months of January, February,
and March. If a residential contributor has not established a January,
February, and March average, their monthly bill shall be the median
charge of all other residential contributors.
2.Â
For industrial and commercial contributors, user charges shall
be based on water used during the current month. If a commercial or
industrial contributor has a consumptive use of water, or in some
other manner uses water which is not returned to the wastewater collection
system, the user charge for that contributor may be based on wastewater
meter(s) or separate water meter(s) installed and maintained at the
contributor's expense, and in a manner acceptable to the City.
C.Â
The minimum charge per month shall be twenty-three dollars ($23.00),
including one thousand (1,000) gallons of treatment (as determined
by Appendix A).[1] In addition, each contributor shall pay a user charge for operations and maintenance, including replacement, of six thousandths of a cent ($0.006) (as determined by Appendix A) per gallon of water or wastewater as determined in Subsection (B).
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendixes A and B to this Article are on file
in the City offices.
D.Â
The user charge rates established in this Section apply to all users
of the City's treatment works, regardless of the user's location.
[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
A.Â
All users shall be billed monthly. Billings for each month shall
be made within ten (10) days after the end of the month in which services
are received. Payments are due on the 20th of the month following
the closing date of the bill. Any payment not received by the 20th
day after the closing date of the bill shall be delinquent.
B.Â
A late payment penalty of ten dollars ($10.00) will be added to each
delinquent bill for each thirty (30) days of delinquency. When any
bill is thirty (30) days delinquent, water service to the premises
shall be discontinued until the outstanding balance and associated
fees are paid in full.
[Bill No. 71, 8-30-1999]
A.Â
The City shall review the user charge system annually and revise
user charge rates as necessary to ensure that the system generates
adequate revenues to pay the costs of operation and maintenance, including
replacement, and that the system continues to provide for the proportional
distribution of operation and maintenance, including replacement costs,
among users and user classes.
B.Â
The City will notify users at least annually, in conjunction with
a regular bill, of the rate being charged for operation and maintenance,
including replacement of the treatment works.
