Water and sewer bills shall be mailed to customers by the City on a monthly basis and shall be due and payable on receipt. All such bills shall become delinquent if not paid by 5:00 p.m. on the twentieth day following the date of mailing of each such bill. This shall be known as the delinquency date. At the beginning of business on the first day of the month immediately following the delinquency date, a basic penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the delinquent bill shall then accrue to the delinquent account. A collection charge of one-half percent (0.5%) shall also be charged at the beginning of each month on the amount then accrued in delinquent accounts.
If any water and sewer bill is not paid in full before the delinquency date, then City staff are directed to mail a notice of termination to the delinquent customer. Said notice shall set a termination date for termination by City of the applicable water or sewer services upon which the customer is delinquent. The termination date shall be at least fifteen (15) days from the date of mailing the notice of termination.
Prior to the actual termination of water or sewer service, the City must provide twenty-four (24) hours’ notice of the actual termination to the delinquent customer. This notice shall be provided by telephone or personal contact, or, if such telephone or personal contact cannot be made, the City shall provide forty-eight (48) hours’ notice of the actual termination by mail or by posting the notice on a conspicuous location on the premises. The City shall not terminate water or sewer services by reason of delinquent payment on any Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or at any time during which the business offices of the City are not open to the public. Prior to actually disconnecting water or sewer service or discontinuing garbage service, the City shall ensure that payment in full has not been made. If payment in full has not been made, including all administrative fees and collection charges, then the service may be disconnected or discontinued by the City pursuant to this Chapter.
After service has been disconnected or discontinued pursuant to this Chapter, it shall not again be connected or recommenced until the entire balance of the delinquent account has been paid and an additional reconnection fee has been paid to the City. The amount of the reconnection fee shall be set by resolution by the City Council.
Any person, except a City employee, who reconnects water or sewer service after it has been disconnected pursuant to this Chapter, or who draws water from a water meter without first applying to the City for water service, is guilty of a misdemeanor as provided for in Section 625 of the California Penal Code.
Partial payments may be made only on current charges when payment is made prior to the delinquency date. If there is a past due balance on a water or sewer charge, then no partial payment may be made and the delinquent provisions of this Chapter shall apply.
The occupant of any premises shall be primarily liable and responsible for the payment of water and sewer service charges. In the event service charges are not paid by the occupant prior to delinquency, the owner of the premises shall become liable and responsible for the payment of same.
In the event a personal check offered by a customer in payment for water or sewer services is returned without payment, the City may impose a reasonable charge upon said customer to recover the City’s processing and collection costs. Said charge shall include any charge the City is assessed by a financial institution by reason of the returned check. In addition, in regard to a bill upon which a customer’s check is returned without payment, the City may require such a customer to pay said bill in cash or cashier’s check.
If the City’s refuse, recycling, and yard waste services franchisee submits evidence that a customer has not paid for the franchisee’s services for at least ninety (90) calendar days, and the franchisee requests that the City disconnect the customer’s water service, the City may disconnect that customer’s water service after complying with the requirements of SJBMC 3-5-110.
Subject to the notice, protest and hearing requirements of Article XIII D, Section 6 of the California Constitution, the City Council may adopt and revise sewer rates by ordinance or resolution.
Subject to the notice, protest and hearing requirements of Article XIII D, Section 6 of the California Constitution, the City Council may adopt and revise water rates by ordinance or resolution.
Beginning on July 1, 2020, the base rates and the per-gallon discharge and usage rates established by SJBMC 3-5-150 and 3-5-155 shall be adjusted annually by an amount equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics. This adjustment shall be applied to the first billing cycle occurring after July 1st of each year.
The City may collect delinquent charges by recording a lien against the lot or parcel of land for which the water service was provided. To establish such a lien, the City must:
(A) 
Notify the assessee shown on the latest equalized assessment roll whenever unpaid charges for water or sewer services remain delinquent and unpaid for sixty (60) days; and
(B) 
Record a certificate specifying the amount of the unpaid charges with the County Recorder.
When so recorded, the lien shall have the force, effect and priority of a judgment lien and continue for three (3) years from the time of recording unless sooner released or otherwise discharged.