A. 
Fees. All fees, charges, and/or penalties shall be reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees annually. The proposed fees, charges, and/or penalties shall reflect a change in capital costs, operating costs, and maintenance and replacement costs. Said review and approval shall be conducted annually at the April or May meeting by the Board of Trustees. Upon approval of the new fee schedule, the schedule will published in pamphlet form by the Village Clerk as part of the Water and Sewage Department's "Village Services Billing Policy (Addendum I) and Schedule of Charges" (Addendum II). Upon publication, a copy will be made available upon request.[1]
[Amended 6-3-2004 by Ord. No. 427]
[1]
Editor's Note: See the Addendum included as an attachment to this chapter.
B. 
New account setup fee.
(1) 
There shall be a fee for a new water and sewer service account at any location.
(2) 
Exception: Existing service account customers who set up a new water service account because of moving to a different residence within the Village and who have good account payment records shall not be required to pay a second new account setup fee.
(3) 
The new account setup fee shall be nonrefundable and shall be in addition to water usage fees and charges.
A. 
Late payment penalty fee. There shall be a late fee added to accounts that are delinquent one day after the original due date of the account.
B. 
Posting fee. A posting fee will be imposed on any account where the account is more than seven days past due of the late pay date shown on the account and a notice to shut off service has been delivered by mail or posted on the door of the delinquent property.
C. 
Nonpayment disconnection fee. After shutoff, there shall be an additional fee paid prior to resumption of service where the disconnection was due to nonpayment.
D. 
Connection and/or reconnection fee. Customer shall pay a fee for reconnection after shutoff, whether due to customer request or due to involuntary shutoff.
The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the services on such premises, and the service is furnished to the premises by the Village of Forrest only upon condition that the owner of the premises, occupant and user of the service are jointly and severally liable therefor to the Village of Forrest. In the event the occupant and/or user of the service cannot be located or refuses payment, then the property owner will be solely responsible to pay for the services.
A. 
In the event the charges for services are not paid within 45 days after rendition of the bill for such service, such charges shall be deemed and are hereby declared to be delinquent, and thereafter such delinquencies shall constitute liens upon the real estate for which such service is supplied and the Village Clerk is hereby authorized and directed to file statements showing such delinquencies in the office of the Recorder of Deeds of Livingston County, Illinois, and the filing of such statements shall be deemed notice of the lien for payment of the service rendered. The amount of the lien will be the sum of the delinquent amount, plus an administrative fee set by the Village President, in addition to court filing fees and/or any other fees required.
B. 
In the event the charges for such services become delinquent as defined herein, the Village Treasurer or Collector is hereby authorized and directed to cause notification to be given in writing to the owner of the premises, the occupant thereof, and the user of the service that such delinquency exists and that services shall be discontinued without further notice.
No free service of the combined waterworks and sewerage system of the Village of Forrest shall be furnished to any person, firm, organization or corporation, public or private, including a municipality, except where services have been bartered for goods and or services of perceived equal or greater value.
A. 
Every user of the combined waterworks and sewerage system of said Village is to maintain all meters of said system in good and accurate working condition, and to replace all meters as he or she or the Village has determined to have become inaccurate or faulty.
B. 
If any water meter at any time fails to register the quantity of water running through it, the quantity shall be determined and the charge may be based on the average monthly registered during the month preceding the date of such failure, or the usage for the same month of the preceding year.
The President and Board of Trustees shall designate a Collector for the combined waterworks and sewerage system of the Village of Forrest, and it shall be the duty of such Collector to render bills for service and all other charges in connection therewith and to collect all moneys due thereon. Said collector shall be covered to the maximum amount on hand at any time by an approved corporate surety bond. This person may also be the Village Clerk.
[Amended 6-3-2004 by Ord. No. 427; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 100, General Provisions, Art. I)]
All revenue and moneys derived from the operation of the combined waterworks and sewerage system shall be held by the Village Clerk or Collector separate and apart from all other funds of the Village and all of said sum, without any deduction whatever, shall deposited not more than 10 days after receipt of the same, or at such more frequent intervals as may from time to time be directed by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Forrest. The Treasurer shall administer such funds in every respect in the manner provided by statute in the Illinois Municipal Code, as amended (65 ILCS Act 5).
[Added 6-3-2004 by Ord. No. 427]
A. 
The Village Clerk or Collector shall establish a proper system of accounts and shall keep proper books, records and accounts in which complete and correct entries shall be made of all transactions relative to the water and sewer systems, and at regular annual intervals, shall cause to be made an audit by an independent auditing concern of the books to show the receipts and disbursements of the water and sewer systems.
B. 
In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the water and sewer facilities, including replacement cost. The financial information shown in the audit report shall include the following:
(1) 
Flow data showing total gallons received at the water plant for the current fiscal year.
(2) 
Billing data to show total number of gallons billed per fiscal year.
(3) 
Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year.
(4) 
Number of users connected to the system.
(5) 
Number of nonmetered users.
A. 
The Village Clerk or Collector shall receive all such revenue from the combined waterworks and sewerage system and all other funds and moneys incident to the operation of such system as the same may be delivered to him or her and deposit the same in a separate fund designated as the "Water Fund," Sewerage Fund," and "Garbage Fund" of the Village of Forrest, and said Village Clerk or Collector shall administer such fund in every respect in the manner provided for by the Illinois Municipal Code and all laws amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, in addition to the requirements of an ordinance creating an issue of $250,000 Waterworks and Sewerage Revenue Bonds of 1970. The Village Clerk or Collector shall be fully covered by a corporate surety bond.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 9.09B, regarding system of accounts and books, of the 2008 Municipal Code, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 100, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
Furthermore, it shall be the duty of the Village Clerk or Collector to file with the President and Board of Trustees a monthly report which shall include for the month:
(1) 
A list of the turnoff notices which were provided the Superintendent of the system; and
(2) 
A list of the current month delinquencies.
In addition to the charges set forth above, sewer users shall be charged an additional fee as a surcharge for suspended solids and/or BOD found in the sewer discharge of the user at the established at the time of discharge.
A. 
Bulk sale of water. Bulk water sold to tank wagons loading water at a location provided by the Village shall be charged at the rate established at the time of sale.
B. 
Users outside Village limits. Users outside the Village limits shall pay the same rates as a consumer within the Village limits plus a surcharge of 50%.
C. 
Hydrant rental. A hydrant rental charge shall be paid into the water fund of the Village of Forrest computed on the basis of the number of fire hydrants connected to the system. The amount of such charge shall be the same dollar value of the first 2,500 gallon water usage rate for Village consumers, per hydrant, per month to defray the cost of repairing the replacing hydrants, and adding new hydrants where needed in order that adequate facilities are available for fire protection.
D. 
Changes. The Village of Forrest shall draft or make such reasonable changes in the rates and charges it makes for water and sewer services, and shall make such further rules and regulations as may from time to time be expedient and necessary, provided that no such changes shall diminish the security and source of payment of any bonds of the Village payable from the income and revenues of the water and sewer system.