It is determined and declared to be necessary and conducive to the protection of the public health, safety, welfare and convenience of the city to collect charges from all users who contribute wastewater to the city’s treatment works. The proceeds of such charges so derived will be used for the purpose of operating and maintaining the public wastewater treatment works.

(Ord. 1037, Art. 1)

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this ordinance shall be as follows:

(a)   BOD (denoting Biochemical Oxygen Demand) - shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20°C, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l) or parts per million (PPM) as indicated by context.

(b)   Normal Domestic Wastewater - shall mean wastewater than has a BOO concentration of not more than 200 mg/l and a suspended solids concentration of not more than 250 mg/l.

(c)   Operation and Maintenance - shall mean all expenditures during the useful life of the treatment works for materials, labor, utilities, and other items which are necessary for managing and maintaining the works to achieve the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.

(d)   Replacement - shall mean expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories, or appurtenances which are necessary during the useful life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed. The term operation and maintenance includes replacement.

(e)   Residential Contributor - shall mean any contributor to the city’s treatment works whose lot, parcel of real estate, or building is used for domestic dwelling purposes only.

(f)   Shall is mandatory; May is permissive.

(g)   SS (denoting Suspended Solids) - shall mean solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

(h)   Treatment Works - shall mean any devices and systems for the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal sewage, domestic sewage, or liquid industrial wastes. They include intercepting sewers, sewers, sewage collection systems, individual systems, pumping, power and other equipment and their appurtenances, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities; and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residue resulting from such treatment (including land for composting sludge, temporary storage of such compost, and land used for the storage of treated wastewater in land treatment systems before land application) or any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating, or disposing of municipal waste or industrial waste, including waste in combined storm water and sanitary sewer systems.

(i)    Useful Life - shall mean the estimated period during which treatment works will be operated.

(j)    User Charge - shall mean that portion of the total wastewater service charge which is levied in a proportional and adequate manner for the cost of operation, maintenance, and replacement of the wastewater treatment works.

(k)   Water Meter - shall mean a water volume measuring and recording device, furnished and/or installed by the city or furnished and/or installed by a user and approved by the city.

(Ord. 1037, Art. II, Secs. 1: 11; Code 1985)

The user charge system shall generate adequate annual revenues to pay costs of annual operation and maintenance including, replacement and costs associated with debt retirement of bonded capital associated with financing the treatment works which the city may by ordinance designate to be paid by the user charge system. That portion of the total user charge which is designated for operation and maintenance including replacement of the treatment works shall be established by this article.

(Ord. 1037, Art. III, Sec. 1)

That portion of the total user charge collected which is designated for operation and maintenance including replacement purposes as established in this article, shall be deposited in a separate non-lapsing fund known as the Operation. Maintenance and Replacement Fund and will be kept in two primary accounts as follows:

(a)   An account designated for the specific purpose of defraying operation and maintenance costs (excluding replacement) of the treatment works (operation and maintenance account).

(b)   An account designated for the specific purpose of ensuring replacement needs over the useful life of the treatment works (replacement account). Deposits in the replacement account shall be made annually from the operation, maintenance and replacement revenue in the amount of $3,258 annually.

(Ord. 1037, Art. III, Sec. 2)

Fiscal year-end balances in the operation and maintenance account and the replacement account shall be carried over to the same accounts in the subsequent fiscal year, and shall be used for no other purposes than those designated for these accounts. Monies which have been transferred from other sources to meet temporary shortages in the operation, maintenance and replacement fund shall be returned to their respective accounts upon appropriate adjustment of the user charge rates for operation, maintenance and replacement. The user charge rate(s) shall be adjusted such that the transferred monies will be returned to their respective accounts within the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the monies were borrowed.

(Ord. 1037, Art. III, Sec. 3)

(a)   Residential Sewer charges shall be based on an average of the gross water consumption by each customer for the months of December, January and February of each year.

In City Limits- Minimum $22.05 if water is on with no usage; an additional $5.80 per 1,000 gallons of water used shall be charged.

Outside City Limits- Minimum $38.60 with no usage.  An additional $10.15 per 1,000 gallons of water used shall be charged.

New Residential Customer- shall be charged $56.85 per month until there are sufficient records to calculate the average for such customer.

(b)   Commercial Sewer Charges - shall be based on each month’s water use; at a rate of $22.05 minimum and $5.80 per 1,000 gallons of water usage for that month.

55% added to above rates for customers not in the city limits

(c)   Septic Dump Charge- $25 per dump

(Ord. 1355, Sec. 1; Code 2006; Code 2012; Res. 15-2013; 2015 fee schedule; Res. 09-2016; Res. 21-2021; Res. 28-2022; Res. 11-2023)

The user charge rates established in this article apply to all users of the city’s treatment works.

(Ord. 1037, Art. IV, Sec. 5)

(a)   The rates established for sewer service will be due and payable on the first (1st) day of each month. After the fifteenth (15th) day of each month, unpaid bills shall be delinquent.

(b)   A late payment penalty often percent (10%) of the sewer use charge will be added to each delinquent bill for each month of delinquency. If the account is not paid on or before the last day of each month, the services will be discontinued and shall remain so until the account is paid in full.

(Ord. 1342; Code 2006)

(a)   The city shall review the user charge system bi-annually and revise user charge rates as necessary to ensure that the system generate adequate revenues to pay the costs of operation and maintenance including replacement and that the system continues to provide for the proportional distribution of operation and maintenance including replacement costs among users and user classes.

(b)   The city shall notify each user at least annually, in conjunction with a regular bill, of the rate being charged for operation, maintenance including replacement of the treatment works.

(Ord. 1037, Art. VI, Secs. 1, 2)

The city shall cause each user’s bill for sewage service to be combined with his or her bill for water service and collected as a combined bill in accordance with the provisions of section 15-609. However, in any instance where the sewage system user does not obtain a water supply from the city, such user shall be billed separately.

(Ord. 995, Sec. 5; Code 1985)

No sanitary sewage service shall be furnished or rendered by the city’s sewage treatment plant and system free of charge.

(Ord. 995, Sec. 3)

All funds received by virtue of this article shall be deposited in the sewage utility fund.

(Ord. 995, Sec. 10)