Chapter 15.60
FEES AND SEWER CAPACITY DETERMINATION
Sections:
15.60.030 Establishment of Annual Sewer Service Charge.
15.60.040 Payment of Annual Sewer Service Charges.
15.60.010 Authority.
The fees and charges referred to in this chapter are adopted pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Sections 5470 and 5471. (Ord. 17-13 § 2, 9/26/17)
15.60.020 Definitions.
The following definitions shall relate to all occurrences of the terms listed below:
“Annual sewer system charge” shall mean the fee or charge levied pursuant to this chapter.
“Department” shall mean the Department of Public Works of the City of Santa Clarita.
“Director” shall mean the Director of Public Works.
“Equivalent benefit unit (EBU)” shall mean the unit of measure that is based on the flow characteristics of an average single-family residence in terms of sewage quantity and constituent quality.
“Fiscal year” shall mean the period from July 1st to the following June 30th, both inclusive.
“Person” shall mean any person, firm, company, corporation, political subdivision, municipal corporation, city, the State of California, the United States of America or any department or agency thereof.
“Premises” shall mean any lot, piece or parcel of land, building or establishment.
“City Vista Canyon sewerage system” shall mean all facilities and appurtenant equipment utilized in the collection, transportation, pumping, treatment and final disposal of wastewater within the City and connected to the Vista Canyon wastewater treatment plant.
“Vista Canyon wastewater sewer fee district” shall mean the area described in the engineer’s report prepared pursuant to provisions of the Health and Safety Code, Division 5, Part 3, Chapter 6, Article 4, “Sanitation and Sewerage Systems,” to calculate fees to support long-term operations of the Vista canyon sewer system.
“Vista Canyon wastewater standby district” shall mean the area described in the engineer’s report prepared pursuant to provisions of the Uniform Standby Charges Procedures Act, Title 5, Division 2, Part 1, Chapter 12.4 of the California Government Code to calculate fees to support long-term operations of the Vista Canyon sewer system.
“Wastewater” shall mean all residential, commercial and industrial liquid wastes authorized for discharge into any collection system operated by the City. (Ord. 17-13 § 2, 9/26/17)
15.60.030 Establishment of Annual Sewer Service Charge.
A. Establishment of Annual Sewer Service Charge. There is hereby levied and assessed upon each premises in the City that discharges sewage directly or indirectly into the Vista Canyon sewer system, and upon each person owning, letting, or occupying such premises, an annual sewer service charge.
B. The annual sewer service charge is based on the City’s annual cost for operation and maintenance of the City Vista Canyon sewerage system, treatment and disposal of wastewater and capital improvement projects. These costs are equally divided among the number of equivalent benefit units (EBUs) connected to the Vista Canyon sewer system.
C. Assignment of Equivalent Benefit Units (EBUs). Each parcel shall be assigned equivalent benefit units in accordance with the factors shown below:
|
Land Use |
EBU Factor |
|---|---|
|
Single-Family Residential |
1.00 EBU per Dwelling Unit |
|
Single-Family Residential—Condo |
0.75 EBU per Dwelling Unit |
|
Multifamily Residential—Apartment |
0.60 EBU per Dwelling Unit |
|
Nonresidential—Office |
0.75 EBU per 1,000 SF |
|
Nonresidential—Retail |
0.38 EBU per 1,000 SF |
|
Nonresidential—Hotel |
0.47 EBU per Room |
|
Nonresidential—Restaurant |
8.86 EBU per 1,000 SF |
(Ord. 17-13 § 2, 9/26/17)
15.60.040 Payment of Annual Sewer Service Charges.
A. Premises identified within the Vista Canyon wastewater sewer fee district and wastewater standby district engineer’s report will be subject to an annual sewer charge collected on the Los Angeles County tax roll in the same manner as, by the same persons as, and at the same time as, together with and not separately from, the ad valorem real property tax beginning on July 1, 2018.
B. Premises will be levied and assessed through the wastewater standby district until such time as each premises discharges sewage directly or indirectly into the City Vista Canyon sewerage system.
C. Government agencies not receiving tax bills will be invoiced in September for their annual sewer service charge.
D. If a use increases, and therefore the annual sewer service charge increases, the initial year difference is paid with issuance of a building permit. Thereafter, the annual sewer service charge shall be collected with the ad valorum property tax or invoiced if the use is a governmental agency. In the event a building permit is not issued for the increased use, the annual sewer service charge shall be collected either with property taxes when the use is a private business or invoiced when the use is a governmental agency.
E. The City Manager shall annually cause to be prepared and filed with the City Clerk the report described in California Health and Safety Code Section 5473.
F. The City Council shall consider said report at a public hearing noticed and conducted pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Sections 5473.1 through 5473.2, following which hearing it may take action on the report, pursuant to Section 5473.3 of that Code, and may direct that the City Clerk file the report and the charges contained therein with the Los Angeles County Auditor pursuant to Section 5473.4 of that Code.
G. Upon the approval and filing of charges, such charges shall be subject to the provisions of California Health and Safety Code Sections 5473.5 through 5473.9, and other applicable law.
H. In the event the City cannot, or does not, complete action pursuant to subsections (E), (F) and (G) of this section to levy the annual sewer service charge against a parcel for a fiscal year, the City may collect such annual sewer service charge for that year with respect to that parcel by mailing a bill to the owner of the parcel; provided, that the report and hearing process required by the Health and Safety Code have been complied with. Any charge billed in this manner shall be due and payable upon presentation, but no earlier than December 1st of the fiscal year for which the charge is imposed. If a charge billed in this manner is not paid within thirty (30) days of the due date, then on the first day of each calendar month thereafter a late fee of two percent (2%) of the amount of the delinquent annual sewer service charge shall be added and become due. If any such charge remains outstanding at the time the report is prepared for a subsequent fiscal year pursuant to subsection (E) of this section, the delinquent charge (and accrued late fees) may be included on such report and collected on the tax roll along with the charges for that fiscal year.
I. In the event the owner of a parcel subject to the annual sewer service charge believes that the estimation of sewer use calculated by the City pursuant to subsection (E) of this section for that parcel for a fiscal year does not accurately reflect the amount of effluent introduced into the sewerage system via the parcel’s connection to the sewerage system, then the owner may file a written appeal of the determination (and the annual sewer service charge against the parcel) with the City Manager (or his or her designee). Such written appeal must be filed before December 31st of the fiscal year and must include evidence that (1) due to the unique or unusual nature of water use on the parcel, the estimation method substantially overestimates the sewer usage of the parcel relative to other parcels with similar actual sewer use, and (2) use of the standard estimation method is manifestly unfair under the circumstances. If the City Manager determines that each of the previous-stated criteria is true, based on the written appeal and on other evidence available to the City Manager, then the City Manager will reduce the annual sewer service charge for that parcel for that fiscal year to the amount he or she determines to reflect an accurate estimate of sewer use and shall either transmit a correct charge to the county or issue a refund in the amount of the reduction. The City Manager’s determination shall be final. (Ord. 17-13 § 2, 9/26/17)
15.60.050 Severability.
A. Severability of Provisions. If any section, subdivision, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this chapter; it being hereby expressly declared that this chapter, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof, would have been prepared, proposed, adopted, approved and ratified irrespective of the fact that any one (1) or more other sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional. (Ord. 17-13 § 2, 9/26/17)