Notwithstanding any provision in any ordinance of the Township to the contrary, it is recognized that paying the fees and charges required and paying the cost of tying into sewers may create undue financial hardship on property owners who are required to hook up to a sewer. In order to prevent such undue hardship, there is hereby established a Sewer Appeal Board. Said Board shall have three members, one of whom shall be the Township supervisor, one of whom shall be a member of the Township Board, appointed by the Board, and who shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, and one of whom shall be a resident of the Township, appointed by the Board and who shall serve at the pleasure of the Board. Any two members of the sewer appeal board shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of taking action on any application.
Any residential property owner who believes that the payment of sewer connection charges imposed by the Township and the payment of the cost of connecting his structure to the sewer will subject him to undue financial hardship may apply to the sewer appeal board for relief from the payment of said charges imposed by ordinance. Such application shall be in writing, signed by the property owner under penalty of perjury, and shall contain such financial information about the applicant and the persons permanently residing at the premises as may be required by the Appeal Board in order for the Board to determine whether the laws requiring hookup and service by sanitary sewer will, in fact, subject the property owner to undue financial hardship. An application for deferment shall be filed with the Township within 45 days of notice of availability or notice of mandatory connection where there is no applicable notice of availability. The Sewer Appeal Board shall meet within 20 days thereafter to consider such applications and shall render its decision within 10 days after such meeting. Applications received after the 45-day period will be considered for installment payments due more than one year after the 45-day period described above. No deferment of said charges shall be granted except to residential property owners who reside on the premises for which deferment is sought.
[Amended 9-15-2008]
Undue financial hardship exists when:
A.
The cost of installing the sewer from the property line to the structure to be served and connecting the structure to said sewer, plus the total of Township sewer connection charges imposed by Township ordinance, will exceed 50% of the household income. Property owners must submit evidence that the cost of installing the sewer from the property line to the structure was bid by at least three contractors with the lowest bid being used for the purpose of computing the cost of installation. Bids shall not be required where the total of the sewer connection charges imposed by the Township exceeds 50% of the household income.
B.
Undue financial hardship shall be presumed present in all cases where applicant is an owner of a homestead, is 65 years of age or older, or is totally and permanently disabled, and in addition whose household income is at or below the poverty levels established for the county by the state department of social services at the time of the hardship determination, and in addition where the applicant lives on the premises which are required to be connected to the sewer.
C.
The Appeal Board may consult any well-established standards, such as those adopted from time to time by the county department of social services or other source, in order to determine whether hardship exists in the household.
D.
Notwithstanding the above, the Appeal Board shall consider the availability of other property interests as well as tangible or intangible personal property, or cash, in its decision regardless of household income or the foregoing standards.
Household income shall include pension, annuity, disability compensation, compensation for services rendered, net receipts from sales, social security, interest income, dividend income, and shall include, but not be limited to, income as defined under the state Income Tax Act, and shall include all such income received by all persons permanently residing on the premises.
[Amended 9-15-2008]
A.
Deferral of charges. In all cases where the Sewer Appeal Board finds the property owner will be subject to undue financial hardship if required to connect to an available sanitary sewer, said Board may defer all or part of the charges and fees imposed by the Township for the periods set forth in Subsection C of this section, for a set term, or by installment payments. The owner shall be required to execute a promissory note and mortgage to the Township in the amount of the charges and fees so deferred. Such note and mortgage shall bear interest on the unpaid balance at the rate of 6% per annum, and contain appropriate terms determined by the Board. Each deferral granted shall be reviewed annually by the appeals board.
B.
Supplemental relief. An owner who qualifies for or has been granted a deferment of all of the connection and service charges may qualify for supplemental relief as provided in this subsection. "Supplemental relief" shall mean that the Township shall, upon written request of the owner upon a form provided by the Township, have the connection from the structure to the public sanitary sewer made and shall pay for such connection, provided the requirements of § 390-15A are met. The owner shall be required, prior to the connection to execute a promissory note and mortgage to the Township in the amount of the estimated cost of such connection. The amount of the note and mortgage shall be adjusted to the actual cost of such connection, if there is a variance between the estimated and actual cost. Such note and mortgage shall bear interest on the unpaid balance at a rate of 6% per annum.
C.
Mortgage due date. The entire balance of the note and mortgages provided in Subsections A and B of this section, with interest as provided, shall be due on the dates and by their terms provided or upon the sale of the property, whether for cash or extended terms, upon any conveyance or leasing of the property, or upon the death of the owner who qualified for the deferment, or in the case of more than one owner qualifying, upon the death of the survivor of those qualifying owners, or in the event that all of the qualifying owners move their residence from the premises, or in the case of a false statement of an applicant who would not otherwise have been qualified. Notwithstanding any other provision, all mortgages provided in Subsections A and B of this section shall be due 14 years from the date of the execution of said mortgage. If, at the expiration of said 14-year period, the owner is still qualified for deferment, he may apply for such deferment as provided in this article.
The Sewer Appeal Board has continuing authority over all deferments granted by it. The Board may require a property owner receiving a deferment to periodically supply the Board with data from which the Board can determine whether a deferment should be continued. If it should appear to the Board that a deferment theretofore granted should be terminated because of a change in the circumstances of the household, the Board shall notify the owner in writing that it proposes to terminate the owner's deferment and, after granting the owner an opportunity to be heard, the Board may either continue the deferment or terminate same in whole or in part. All mortgages signed under this article shall contain the condition that the due date may be accelerated by the Board's action under this section.
In addition to determining hardship deferrals, the sewer appeal board shall advise the supervisor in his determinations regarding deferrals of sewer connection fees for persons 65 years or older or permanently and totally disabled, who seek to qualify under Act 225 of the Public Acts of 1976, as amended. All applications for said deferrals shall be processed by the sewer appeal board and recommendations by the Board shall be submitted to the supervisor. Nothing in this Part 1 shall be construed to allow deferral of connection charges in addition to the relief afforded by Public Act No. 225 of 1976 (MCL 211.761 et seq.) if such relief is obtained, and if connection charges are completely discharged by the said relief.