12.04.240 Payment of accounts—Dispute resolution.
A. Water/sewer/utility charges shall be the responsibility of, and billed directly to, the property owner or the address designated by the owner in writing. They shall be due and payable on the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the service was rendered. If any account becomes delinquent for more than thirty (30) days, the City Clerk shall give notice in writing to the owner or the address the owner designated as listed in the City utility records, or the best address available to the Clerk, of such delinquency, advising that the City will exercise its statutory right in compliance with this chapter and state law to terminate water service to the premises in question unless the account is paid in full. Such notice shall indicate that the delinquent user may contact the City Clerk or other responsible City official at City Hall during business hours to make arrangements to bring the account current. In the event the City should terminate water service to any property which has failed to bring its account current after mailing of written notice, the employee of the City dispatched to turn off the water service shall make a reasonable effort to inform the user that water service is being terminated. The City employee shall not terminate water service to the property until the user has been afforded an opportunity of not less than thirty (30) minutes in length to reach City Hall and arrange to bring the account current.
B. In the event the water supply is turned off, the same shall not be turned on again until all delinquent utility charges have been paid in full. The account shall be charged the sum provided by city ordinance as a water service turn on charge.
C. The city shall have a lien against the premises for unpaid water/sewer/utility charges as provided for by state law for unified utility billings.
D. The city clerk shall inform all customers of the water/sewer/garbage utility of the city of the availability of a dispute resolution system in the event of a disputed water/ sewer/utility billing. Such notification shall occur via a notice on each billing that the customer may dispute the correctness of that billing by contacting the city administrator's office.
E. Customer Dispute.
1. At any time before the date of termination of water service for nonpayment of the amount shown on a water/sewer/utility bill, or a notice of termination, a customer may dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount shown in accordance with the provisions of this section. A customer shall not be entitled to dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount if all or part of the amount was the subject of a previous dispute under this section.
2. The procedure for customer disputes shall be as follows:
a. Before the date of termination, the customer shall notify the clerk's office in writing, that the customer disputes all or part of the amount shown on a water/sewer/utility bill or a notice of termination, stating as completely as possible the basis for the dispute.
b. If the city administrator's office determines that the present dispute is untimely or that the customer previously disputed the correctness of all or part of the amount shown, the clerk's office shall mail to the customer a notice stating that the present dispute is untimely or invalid. The city shall then proceed as if the customer had not notified the city of the present dispute.
c. If the city determines that the present dispute is not untimely or invalid under this section, the city, within three days after receipt of the customer's notice, shall arrange an informal meeting between the customer and the clerk's office.
d. Based on the city's records, the customer's allegations and all other relevant materials available to the clerk's office, the clerk's office shall resolve the dispute, attempting to do so in a manner satisfactory to both the city and the customer.
e. Within five days of completion of the meeting, the clerk's office shall mail to the customer a copy of its decision resolving the dispute.
f. That decision shall be final and binding on the customer.
3. Utilization of this dispute procedure shall not relieve a customer of his obligation to timely and completely pay all other undisputed charges and/or installments and surcharges, and the undisputed portion of the amount which is the subject of the present dispute. Notwithstanding this section, failure to timely and completely pay all such undisputed amounts shall subject the customer to termination of water service in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance.
4. Until the date of the decision of the city administrator's office, the city shall not terminate the water service of this customer and shall not issue a notice of termination to this customer solely for nonpayment of the undisputed amount. If it is determined that the customer must pay some or all of the disputed amount, the city shall promptly mail to, or personally serve upon the customer, a notice of termination, which shall contain the following:
a. The amount to be paid;
b. The date of the notice of termination;
c. The date of termination, which shall be at least ten days after the date of the notice of termination is issued;
d. Notice that unless the city receives complete payment of the past due amount shown prior to the date of termination, water service shall be terminated;
e. An informational telephone number. [Ord. 2023-04 § 2, June 2023; Ord. 1997-04, June 1997.]