[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Netcong 6-8-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-9. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
A municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Utility (hereinafter "Utility") is hereby established by the Borough of Netcong.
B. 
The Utility is created to transact and administer the collection and disposal of solid waste and recycling materials within the Borough of Netcong.
C. 
The Utility shall be operated by the Borough Council of the Borough of Netcong and its assigned designee(s).
D. 
The Utility shall be a publicly owned municipal utility that, for accounting and management purposes, is a separate instrumentality of the Borough of Netcong, having separate accounts, budget, property, borrowing capacity and ability to contract.
E. 
The Utility shall be self-liquidating with dedicated budget as authorized by P.L. 1960, c. 169, § 1.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40A:5-17.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
NGU
Nonresidential Generating Unit.
NONRESIDENTIAL GENERATING UNIT
Each commercial, industrial, institutional or other nonresidential establishment within the Borough of Netcong.
RECYCLABLE MATERIAL
Shall have the same meaning as set forth in Article II of Chapter 243 of this Code.
RECYCLING
The collection and disposal of recyclable material as defined in Article II of Chapter 243 of this Code.
RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNIT
Each separate structural unit in which an individual or family resides, whether a single-family dwelling, condominium unit, cooperative unit, or multifamily apartment unit.
RESIDENTIAL GENERATING UNIT
Each residential dwelling unit within the Borough of Netcong.
RGU
Shall mean "residential generating unit."
SOLID WASTE
Shall have the same meaning as set forth in Article I of Chapter 243 of this Code.
The Utility shall be empowered to:
A. 
Contract for the collection and disposal of solid waste and recyclable materials.
B. 
Operate and such vehicles and facilities necessary for the Utility's operation.
C. 
Establish and collect fees from RGUs and NGUs for the administration, collection and disposal of solid waste and recycling materials within the Borough of Netcong.
D. 
Establish and enforce liens and charge interest against RGUs and NGUs for delinquent remittance of fees.
E. 
Undertake all necessary and proper actions required to operate the Utility.
F. 
Establish a Solid Waste and Recycling Utility Fund and adopt an annual budget that may contain a reserve account, which shall not exceed 5% of the prior year's collection, disposal and administrative expenses.
The costs associated with the collection and disposal of solid waste and recycling, plus uniform fixed fees that are established from time to time, shall be collected from RGUs and NGUs. The funds so collected shall be paid into the dedicated Solid Waste Utility Fund of the Borough of Netcong.
There is hereby established a solid waste service charge to be imposed annually upon the owners of those RGUs and NGUs for which solid waste and recycling collection and disposal service are made available by the Utility. The solid waste service charge for each RGU shall be computed by dividing the approved annual budget of the Utility for residential solid waste and recycling collection and disposal by the number of RGUs to which service will be made available by the Utility. The solid waste service charge for each NGU shall be computed by dividing the approved annual budget of the Utility for nonresidential solid waste and recycling collection and disposal by the total number of cubic yards of nonresidential solid waste and recycling generated and applying that rate for each cubic yard of solid waste and recycling allocated to an NGU.
The Solid Waste and Recycling Utility shall prepare bills setting forth the annual solid waste charges and transmit them in January of each year to the owners of RGUs and NGUs through the U.S. Postal Service. Bills that are not delivered by the U.S. Postal Service shall, nevertheless, remain due and owing. The payment or nonpayment of utility bills is the responsibility of the property owner and shall constitute a lien against the property serviced by the Utility. The annual service charges shall be due in installments on March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1 each year. All payments of service charges are due by the due date on the bill. In the event that the bill is not paid within 10 days of its due date ("grace period"), the account shall be subject to an 8% late charge, which shall be added to the amount of the bill and collected as additional charges.
Remittance of service charges shall be payable to the Netcong Borough Solid Waste and Recycling Utility. The Utility shall have the same remedies for the collection of delinquent payments, inclusive of penalties, interest and costs, as authorized for the collection of taxes upon real estate. In the event that a bill remains unpaid for 30 days or more after the due date of such bill, the Utility shall comply with the following procedure:
A. 
A delinquent notice shall be sent to the account stating that service the bill remains unpaid for 30 days. This notice shall be deemed satisfactory if sent to the physical address of the owner of the RGU or NGU as reflected on the tax duplicate maintained by the Borough Tax Collector.
B. 
If the account remains delinquent for more than 90 days, an authorized employee of the Utility shall certify the amount of the delinquency to the Borough of Netcong Tax Collector, who shall include and enforce the certified amount as a lien upon the real property in the same manner of ad valorem taxes and as provided by N.J.S.A. 40:66-12.
An NGU or a multifamily apartment facility, condominium association, cooperative or horizontal property regime association having more than 10 dwelling units may opt out of receiving Utility services by providing written notice to the Utility on or before January 10 of each year. Such notice shall include proof of a valid contract with a licensed solid waste collector. Copy E