A.
The Town Council shall provide, by ordinance from
time to time, a use or service charge which is reasonable and necessary
to provide for the cost of operating the sewers within the locus,
which amount shall be set by the Town Council on an annual basis;
an ad valorem tax on personal and real property on abutting estates
within the locus to provide for the payment of all indebtedness incurred
by the Town for the purpose of constructing and maintaining such sewers,
including capital improvements for wear and tear as necessary; and
also suitable sums from year to year on the general tax rate to provide
for the payment for so much of the indebtedness incurred for constructing
and maintaining said sewers as is not paid by the ad valorem tax assessment.
B.
The Assessor of Taxes for the Town shall each year
assess against the ratable property within the locus, which boundaries
may be extended from time to time by the Town Council, such pro rata
amount as the Town Council by ordinance shall find reasonable and
necessary to provide for the indebtedness incurred by the Town for
the purpose of constructing and maintaining such sewers, pump stations,
interceptor lines, laterals, wastewater treatment facilities, and
other facilities supporting the wastewater treatment system, as well
as necessary capital improvements for wear and tear; and also suitable
sums from year to year on the general tax rate to provide for the
payment for so much of the cost of constructing and maintaining such
sewers as is not paid by assessments upon abutting estates.
C.
The Department of Public Works, when so directed by
the Town Council, shall levy and assess against the ratable property
within the locus a use or service charge at such pro rata amount for
each housing unit as the Town Council by ordinance shall find reasonable
and necessary to provide for the cost of operating the sewers within
the locus, pursuant to such rules and regulations as prescribed by
the Town Council by ordinance for the control, management, and care
of the maintenance and operation of the system of sewers, including
the processing of applications for service within the locus and the
billings and assessments thereon.
D.
The amounts described in Subsections A, B and C of this section to be levied and assessed from year to year against the ratable property in the locus shall be a lien upon the property against which the same is assessed and shall be collected as a portion of the annual taxes against such ratable property; and, if not paid in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance concerning such payment, same shall be collected in the same manner as are taxes in the Town; provided, however, that the Town shall not be entitled to collect any such ad valorem tax or sewer use charge on any estate in such locus until such time when sewers are available to such estate.
Whenever any sewer shall be constructed by the
Town, the Town Council shall direct an assessment to be made upon
all estates abutting upon that portion of any street or highway in
which any such sewer shall be located, and upon those estates as such
sewer is made available. Such assessments shall be made upon all estates
abutting upon that portion of any street or highway in which such
common sewer shall be located at a rate not exceeding actual construction
costs, including costs for bringing such sewer through intersections
or across other public properties, apportioned for each front foot
of such estates upon such streets and highways, but only for its frontage
upon such street, or for the availability of such sewer. All such
assessments, as aforesaid, shall be effective against such abutting
estates as of the time that such sewer is or was available to such
estates. The Department of Public Works shall make the assessments
as aforesaid when so directed by the Town Council upon all such estates
abutting upon that portion of any street or highway in which any sewer
shall be located and upon such estates as such sewer is made available.
Whenever any sewer or main drain shall be constructed
on any street abutting corner lots, the Town Council may upon the
recommendation of the Department of Public Works abate, postpone or
cancel such assessments levied on one of either of the two sides of
such corner lots.
The Department of Public Works shall make a report in writing of all fees and assessments made in accordance with the provisions of §§ 206-5 and 206-6 and shall within 30 days after determining such fees and assessments give notice to the owners of the estates so charged and assessed of such charge and assessment by mailing notice of the same to such persons at their place of residence. Within 30 days from and after making such report, the Department shall forthwith make a copy of the assessments and deliver it to the Town Tax Collector, who shall proceed and collect the several sums of money, therein expressed, of the persons and estates liable therefor at the times established for collecting the same. The Department of Public Works shall also within said 30 days report to the Tax Assessor those additional estates to which sewer service has been made available and which estates have connected to the sewer system so that assessments may be made as of December 31 of the year in which sewer service is made available or connected to such estates. All such estates shall be liable for paying such assessments and fees notwithstanding any inability of the Department of Public Works to comply with the time provisions of this section.
All assessments ordered to be made under authority of § 206-5 shall be due and payable within 60 days from the day of the lodgment of the assessment with the Town treasurer. However, if the owner of any estate against which an assessment has been made shall within 60 days after notice of such sewer assessment thereon notify the Town Council in writing to apportion the same, the Town Council shall apportion such assessment into five equal parts, and shall certify such apportionment to the Assessors of Taxes and the Assessors shall add one of such parts with interest from the date of such apportionment to the annual tax of said estate for each of the five years next ensuing. All deferred payments are to bear interest at the rate of 6% per annum, and said interest upon all balances remaining unpaid shall be paid at the time of payment of any installment together with the interest of the installment. Upon failure to pay said assessment or any of the installments thereof at the time the same become due and payable as aforesaid, the whole assessment then remaining unpaid shall become due and payable and shall be collected as the ordinary taxes of the Town are collected. Persons availing themselves of the aforesaid option to make payments in five annual installments may, at any time thereafter that an installment becomes due, pay the portion of such assessment then remaining unpaid, with all interest due thereon, and on every portion thereof, up to the time of such payment, and thereupon their estate shall be free from such assessments.
[Amended 4-26-2004 by Ch. No. 1482]
A.
That certain resolution establishing right-of-entry
fee for sewer services, adopted by the Town Council June 10, 1985,
is hereby ratified and reaffirmed, except that the fee shall be designated
as an impact assessment fee to provide a sinking fund for future capital
expenditures necessitated by expansion of the sewer system, which
fund may also provide for the costs of additional maintenance thereof.
The Town Council hereby ratifies and reaffirms that said impact assessment
fee shall apply to all building structures as regulated by the Town
of Westerly Code of Ordinances Chapter 1242 Zoning Ordinance[1], including but not limited to residential, industrial,
manufacturing, commercial, utilities and service, business and professional.
Said impact fee shall apply for all structures that utilize the municipal
sewer distribution system.
B.
Such fee shall be levied and assessed by the Town
Council by resolution upon all properties for all uses that require
a building permit. Said fee shall be determined based upon the proposed
use as defined in the standards of daily flow contained in the Rules
and Regulations Establishing Minimum Standards Relating to Location,
Design, Construction and Maintenance of Individual Sewage Disposal
Systems, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, September,
1998, and any amendments thereto. The Superintendent of Utilities
shall determine the use category of the RIDEM regulations to be utilized
for uses not specifically set forth in said regulations.
C.
Such fees shall be collected from each housing unit
connected to the sewer system subsequent to June 30, 1985. Except,
however, that such fee shall not be levied or assessed upon any housing
unit constructed prior to June 30, 1985, in those areas listed below
that had been previously authorized for expansion of the sewer system.
D.
The Building Official shall not issue a building permit
for any structure until such time as the receipt of all impact fees
as established herein are certified as paid by the Tax Collector.
The Building Official may issue a foundation permit at his discretion.
E.
The dollar amount of the Capacity Fee shall be determined
as described in Appendix A - Schedule of Fees.[2]
[Added 4-23-2012 by Ch. No. 1770; amended 5-10-2021 by Ch. No. 2001]
[2]
Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment to this chapter.
F.
There is hereby established a six-month amnesty period
allowing 13 noncomplying residents, under contracts numbered 5, 9,
13, 14, to revert to the $500 right-of-entry fee in place when said
residences were sewered, if said fee plus a service charge of $250
is paid in full to the Department of Public Works on or before November
1, 2004.
[Added 3-22-2010 by Ch.
No. 1709]
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this article, the
Town Manager is authorized to establish guidelines for installment
payments for any impact fees assessed on any commercial development
and any multi-unit residential development of four units or more and
not to exceed five years. Provided the Manager has approved an installment
agreement in accordance with uniform standards established by the
Manager, the Building Official shall issue a building permit for the
subject establishment or development and any necessary business licenses
shall issue. Failure to comply with any terms or payments of the installment
agreement shall result in termination of utility services.
[Added 5-10-2021 by Ch.
No. 2001]
A connection/extension fee shall be charged to any new connection
the Town of Westerly's sewer system. The dollar amount of the connection/extension
fee shall be determined as described in Appendix A - Schedule of Fees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment to this chapter.
