Chapter 13.16 SEWER USER CHARGES

“BOD” (biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 1, 1981)

13.16.020 Collection system.

“Collection system” means the system of public sewers to be operated by the city designed for the collection of sanitary sewage. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 2, 1981)

13.16.030 Commercial user.

“Commercial user” means any premises used for commercial or business purposes which is not an industry as defined in this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 3, 1981)

13.16.040 Domestic waste.

“Domestic waste” means any wastewater emanating from dwellings or from domestic activities which are performed outside the home in lieu of a home activity directly by or for private citizens. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 4, 1981)

13.16.050 Industrial user.

“Industrial user” means any nongovernmental user of the public treatment works identified in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, Office of Management and Budget, as amended and supplemented, under the following divisions:

A. Division A: Agriculture, forestry and fishing;

B. Division B: Mining;

C. Division D: Manufacturing;

D. Division E: Transportation, communications, electric, gas and sanitary services;

E. Division I: Services.

A user in these divisions may be excluded from the industrial category if it is determined that it will introduce primarily domestic wastes and wastes from sanitary conveniences. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 5, 1981)

13.16.060 Industrial waste.

“Industrial waste” means that portion of the wastewater emanating from an industrial user which is not domestic waste or waste from sanitary conveniences. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 6, 1981)

13.16.070 Operation and maintenance.

“Operation and maintenance” means all activities, goods, and services which are necessary to maintain the proper capacity and performance of the treatment works for which such works are designed and constructed. “Operation and maintenance” includes replacement as defined in this article. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 7, 1981)

13.16.080 Person.

“Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 8, 1981)

13.16.090 Public treatment works.

“Public treatment works” means a treatment works owned and operated by a public authority. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 9, 1981)

13.16.100 Replacement.

“Replacement” means acquisition and installation of equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary during the service life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 10, 1981)

13.16.110 Service area.

“Service area” means all the area served by the treatment works and for which there is one uniform user charge system. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 11, 1981)

13.16.120 Sewage.

“Sewage” means a combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground waters, surface waters and storm waters as may be present. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 12, 1981)

13.16.130 Sewage treatment plant.

“Sewage treatment plant” means an arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 13, 1981)

13.16.140 Suspended solids.

“Suspended solids” means solids that either float on the surface or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 15, 1981)

13.16.150 Treatment works.

“Treatment works” means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage, “Treatment system” and “sewerage system” shall be equivalent terms for “treatment works.” (Ord. 603 Art. I § 16, 1981)

13.16.160 User.

“User” means every person using any part of the public treatment works of the city. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 17, 1981)

13.16.170 User charge.

“User charge” means the periodic charges levied on all users of the public treatment works and shall, at a minimum, cover each user’s proportionate share of the cost of operation and maintenance. (Ord. 603 Art. I § 18, 1981)

Article II. Sewer User Charges

13.16.180 Scope – Distribution of costs.

User charges shall be levied on all users of the public treatment works which shall cover the cost of operation and maintenance, debt service, taxes and other administrative costs of such treatment works. The user charge system shall distribute these costs in proportion to each user’s contribution to the wastewater loading of the treatment works. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 1, 1981)

13.16.190 Volume.

Since the only wastewater characteristic which influences costs of operation and maintenance in the Okanogan treatment works is volume, a flow charge shall be established such that all costs associated with this treatment works shall be distributed in proportion to each user’s volumetric contribution to the waste stream with the exception of billing costs which shall be imposed equally upon each account. The sewage volume shall be based on flows measured by the domestic water meter. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 2, 1981)

13.16.200 Classes of users.

Certain users shall be grouped into classes of users discharging approximately the same volume of wastewater and shall be levied a flat charge which is calculated from the flow charge by applying the average volume for that class. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 3, 1981)

13.16.210 Assignment of billing volume.

Those users who are not in one of the user classes with assigned average flow volumes and whose water consumption or wastewater discharge is not metered shall be assigned an approximate wastewater volume on an individual basis by the city superintendent and shall be billed on the flow charge according to this assigned volume. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 4, 1981)

13.16.220 Review of individual charges.

Should any user believe that he has been incorrectly assigned to a particular user class or incorrectly assigned a wastewater volume, or should any user believe that a portion of his metered flow is not discharged into the sewerage system, that user may apply for review of his user charge as provided in Article V of this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 5, 1981)

13.16.230 Reassignment.

Should the city superintendent determine that a user is incorrectly assigned to a user class or incorrectly assigned a wastewater volume, he shall reassign a more appropriate user class or wastewater volume to that user and shall notify that user of such reassignment. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 6, 1981)

13.16.240 Records.

Records of all assigned rates and any assigned wastewater volumes to users and user classes shall be kept on file with the city clerk-treasurer and shall be open for public inspection. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 7, 1981)

13.16.250 Amount.

The sewer user charges are established by ordinance. (Ord. 762 § 10, 1992; Ord. 705 § 10, 1988; Ord. 702 § 1, 1987; Ord. 683 § 1, 1986; Ord. 664 § 1, 1985; Ord. 640 § 1, 1984; Ord. 631 § 1, 1984; Ord. 619 § 1, 1982; Ord. 603 Art. II § 8, 1981)

13.16.260 Billing charge.

An additional charge as established by ordinance per account shall be levied against all users to cover the billing. (Ord. 762 § 10, 1992; Ord. 705 § 10, 1988; Ord. 702 § 2, 1987; Ord. 683 § 1, 1986; Ord. 664 § 1, 1985; Ord. 640 § 2, 1984; Ord. 603 Art. II § 9, 1981)

13.16.270 Commencement – Reduction when water shut off.

The sewer user charge for all occupied property shall begin 60 days after the sewer service becomes available or the day that connection is made to the public sewer, whichever occurs first. The sewer user charge for all unoccupied property shall begin within 30 days after the property is ready far occupancy or on the first day of occupancy, whichever occurs first. All unoccupied property which is ready for occupancy at the time the sewer service becomes available shall be treated as occupied property. Once the sewer user charge has commenced, no credit shall be given for vacancy unless it can be demonstrated that water service to that property from any and all sources has been discontinued, at which time the user charge shall be reduced to no less than zero per month and the regular user charge shall be reinstated as soon as water service to that property from any source has begun. If the dates upon which the user charge is commenced or altered does not fall on the first day of a billing period, the rates shall be appropriately prorated. (Ord. 603 Art. II § 10, 1981)

13.16.280 Annual review of all charges.

The sewer user charges established in this article shall, as a minimum, be reviewed annually and revised periodically to reflect actual costs of operation, maintenance, replacement and financing of the treatment works and to maintain the equitability of the user charges with respect to proportional distribution of the costs of operation and maintenance in proportion of each user’s contribution to the total wastewater loading of the treatment works. (Ord. 603 Art. III § 1, 1981)

Article III. Payment

13.16.290 Responsibility.

The person who owns the premises served by the sewerage system shall be responsible for payment of the sewer user charge for that property, notwithstanding the fact that the property may be occupied by a tenant or other occupant who may be required by the owner to pay the charges. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 1, 1981)

13.16.300 Billing frequency.

The users of the sewerage system shall be billed on a monthly basis for services after rendered or in accordance with the rate schedule as set forth in Article II of this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 2, 1981)

13.16.310 Date of billing.

The date of billing shall be the first day of the month for which the sewer user charge is calculated as provided in Article II of this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 3, 1981)

13.16.320 Due date.

Sewer user charges shall be due and payable to the city clerk-treasurer no later than 12 days after the date of billing. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 4, 1981)

13.16.330 Delinquency.

Sewer user charges levied in accordance with this chapter shall be a debt due to the city and a lien upon the property. If this debt is not paid within 40 days after is due and payable, it shall be deemed delinquent and may be recovered by civil action in the name of the city against the property owner, the person or both. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 5, 1981)

13.16.340 Interest and penalty.

A penalty shall be assessed at a rate as established by ordinance from the date of delinquency which shall be added to the account and shall accrue interest in the same manner as all other delinquent charges beginning the following month. The penalty provision of this section shall not apply to accounts for service to the United States Government, the state or political subdivisions of the state. (Ord. 1014 § 1, 2005; Ord. 762 § 10, 1992; Ord. 705 § 10, 1988; Ord. 640 § 3, 1984; Ord. 603 Art. IV § 6, 1981)

13.16.350 Shutoff for nonpayment.

In the event of failure to pay sewer charges after they have become delinquent, the city shall have the right to remove or close sewer connections and enter upon the property for accomplishing such purposes. The expense of such discontinuance, removal or closing, as well as the expense of restoring service, shall be debt due to the city and lien upon the property and may be recovered by civil action in the name of the city against the property owner, the person or both. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 7, 1981)

13.16.360 Restoration of service.

Sewer service shall not be restored until all charges, including interest accrued and the expense of removal, closing and restoration, have been paid. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 8, 1981)

13.16.370 Changes of ownership or occupancy.

Change of ownership or occupancy of premises found delinquent shall not be cause for reducing or eliminating these penalties. (Ord. 603 Art. IV § 9, 1981)

Article IV. Handling of Funds

13.16.380 Mailing of bills.

Bills for sewer user charges shall be mailed to the address specified in the application for permit to make the connection unless or until a different owner or user of the property is reported to the city clerk-treasurer’s office. (Ord. 603 Art. V § 1, 1981)

13.16.390 Collection by clerk-treasurer.

All collections of sewer user charges shall be made by the city clerk-treasurer by and through his office. Sewer user charges shall be computed as provided in Article II of this chapter and shall be payable as provided in Article III of this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. V § 2, 1981)

13.16.400 Deposit of revenues.

The city clerk-treasurer is directed to deposit in the sewer fund all of the gross revenues received from charges, rates and penalties collected for the use of the sewerage system as provided in this chapter. (Ord. 603 Art. V § 3, 1981)

13.16.410 Use of revenues.

The revenues deposited in the sewer fund as provided in OMC 13.16.400 shall be used exclusively for the operation, maintenance and repair of the sewerage system, reasonable administration costs, expenses of collection of charges imposed by this chapter and connection fees provided for in Chapter 13.08 OMC, and payments of the principal and interest on any debts of the sewerage system of the city. (Ord. 603 Art. V § 4, 1981)

Article V. Appeals

13.16.420 Request.

Any sewer user who feels his user charge is unjust and inequitable as applied to his premises within the intent of the foregoing provisions may make written application to the city council requesting a review of his user charge. The written request shall, where necessary, show the actual or estimated average flow and/or strength of his wastewater in comparison with the values upon which the charge is based, including how the measurements or estimates were made. (Ord. 603 Art. VI § 1, 1981)

13.16.430 Review.

Review of the request shall be made by the city council and the city superintendent and shall determine if it is substantiated or not, including recommending further study of the matter by the superintendent. (Ord. 603 Art. VI § 2, 1981)

13.16.440 Recomputation of charges.

If the request is determined to be substantiated, the user charges for that user shall be recomputed based on the approved revised flow and/or strength data and the new charges thus recomputed, shall be applicable retroactively up to four months, as applicable. (Ord. 603 Art. VI § 3, 1981)