Fontana Municipal Code Div. 1 Generally

(a) Every person whose property in the city is served by a connection to the city's sewer system is subject to the fees and charges established in this chapter or by resolution or ordinance adopted by the city council.

(b) The city council may, from time to time in its discretion, and by resolution or ordinance, alter, change, amend or revise the fees and charges for services and facilities in connection with the sewer system.

(c) It shall be the duty of the chief financial officer to collect all fees and charges provided for in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

(a) An applicant for a new sewer connection shall pay a sewer connection fee prior to the issuance of a sewer connection permit. The fee is calculated in accordance with section 23-316.

(b) In addition to the sewer connection fee in subsection (a), commercial and industrial applicants shall deposit with the chief financial officer an amount equal to four times the monthly charge set forth in section 23-317 prior to the issuance of a sewer connection permit. The deposit shall be retained by the city and, in case of delinquency, it shall be applied as necessary to liquidate the cumulative amount of the delinquent charges plus penalties and the cost of collection.

(1) After a connection is established, if the monthly rate is increased or decreased, the owner shall be required to make a supplementary deposit equal to four times the increase in monthly rate in the case of an increase, and the City shall refund to the owner an amount equal to four times the decrease in the monthly rate in the case of a decrease.

(c) Revenue collected under this section shall be used in a manner that is consistent with article VIII, division 3.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

(a) Upon sale of the property, the former owner shall furnish the chief financial officer with the correct name and mailing address of the new owner. The former owner shall be entitled to a refund of the unused portion of his deposit only after all bills and penalties and other charges have been paid and after the new owner has effected transfer of sewer service by applying for service, by guaranteeing that the bills for service to the property or to the occupant thereof will be paid, and by making the required deposit, which four actions shall constitute transfer of sewer service. Bills will continue to be sent to the former owner, or to the occupant in case the occupant is being billed, until the sewer service has been transferred or until such other date as may be agreed upon between the former owner and the new owner.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a former owner who has sold a property shall be entitled to a refund of any unused portion of his deposit after all bills, penalties and other charges for which he is responsible have been paid and when he has shown proof that the sale has been completed. For the purpose of this subsection, the former owner shall be responsible for bills, penalties and charges until the end of the month during which he shows proof of the sale, except that under unusual circumstances and upon written appeal by the former owner the city council may determine some other appropriate date for the cessation of such responsibility.

(c) If a new owner fails for one month to apply for service or make the guarantee or deposit required, the chief financial officer will mail a copy of the sewer bill to the address of the new owner beginning the date the county reflects transfer of ownership up to two years in arrears of failure to create an account. If, after the payment has not been received after 60 days, a lien will be placed against the property, and any associated penalties and costs will be added.

(d) If service has been disconnected or terminated it shall not be reconnected or restored until all charges, including penalties, have been paid as provided in section 23-356 or in section 23-357, except that, when the responsibility for the payment of delinquent charges plus penalties or accrued charges is in bona fide dispute, a new owner may obtain temporary service by paying the reconnection charge or restoration charge and by applying for service, guaranteeing that the bills for service to the property or to the occupant thereof will be paid, and making the required deposit. Temporary service shall be for a period not to exceed four months, by the end of which time all charges remaining unpaid shall have been paid or service shall be disconnected or terminated. Bills for temporary service shall be rendered in the same manner as for ordinary service. All rules and regulations pertaining to bills, delinquencies and disconnections shall apply to temporary services in the same manner as they apply to ordinary services.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

(a) Whenever the chief financial officer finds that the use of a property has changed so that the classification to be used as a basis for determining monthly sewer charges has changed, they shall change the classification accordingly. The owner shall be notified of the change in classification. The effective date of change in classification shall be the first day of the month following the change.

(b) If an owner believes his property is improperly classified, he may request a change in classification. This request shall be filed in writing with the planning department and shall state the reasons why the owner believes the classification should be changed. Upon receipt of a request for change of classification, the planning department shall investigate the request and either change the classification as provided in this section or, if a change is not justified, notify the owner of this fact.

(c) If the use of the property has changed so that the monthly sewer charge will be decreased, the responsibility for notifying the city of the change shall rest with the owner and he shall not be entitled to a refund of sewer charges paid in excess of the proper charges as a result of his failure to notify the city of the change in use. If a change in use results in an increase in monthly sewer charge the responsibility for determining the change in use shall rest with the city and the owner shall not be liable for any back charges for increased sewer charges except where it can be shown that the owner has concealed the fact of the change in use or has knowingly withheld information which could have been used in determining the true circumstances.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

(a) All sewer connection fees for residential, commercial and industrial uses shall be based upon the residential equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) service unit rate established in this section.

(b) Residential. Each structure or part of a structure which is designed for the purpose of providing permanent housing for one family or tenant shall be one EDU. On average, this flow is 270 gallons per day. Residential uses include without limitation single-family detached residences, apartments, townhouses, condominiums, mobile homes and trailer spaces.

(c) Commercial. Commercial structures are those structures designed for the purpose of providing a permanent structure for enterprises engaged in the exchange of goods and services. This includes but is not limited to all private business and service establishments, schools, churches and public facilities. For purposes of establishing connection fee, commercial equivalent dwelling units shall be determined by multiplying the fixture units (as defined by the 2010 California Plumbing Code) shown on the approved building plans by the appropriate sewage factor from the following table (Table I). Total equivalent dwelling units for commercial centers with various use categories will be the sum of the equivalent dwelling units computed for each use category.

(d) Industrial. Industrial structures are those designed for the purpose of providing a permanent structure for an enterprise engaged in the production, manufacturing or processing of material. For purposes of establishing industrial connection charges, equivalent dwelling units for industrial uses shall be determined as follows:

(1) For domestic wastewater, multiply the fixture units (as defined by the 2010 California Plumbing Code) as shown on approved building plans by a sewage factor of 0.0741 based upon a 20-gallon-per-fixture unit flow per day.

(2) For nondomestic wastewater, compute from information contained on the Wastewater discharge permit using the following formula:

EDU = NDF / 270 ;mb=2q;[0.37 + 0.31 (BOD) / 230 + 0.32 (SS) / 220 ]

Where:

(3) Combine the resultant EDU's derived from subsections (1) and (2).

TABLE I Commercial Use Categories and Sewage Factors

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

Monthly sewer charges for residential, commercial and industrial uses shall be determined based upon the service unit rate formula:

Service Unit Assignment Formula

SU = F / (270) (0.37) + BOD / (230) × (0.31) + SS / (220) × (0.32)

Monthly Sewer Service Charge = SU × Service Unit Rate

Where:

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

(a) Single-family dwelling, multi-family dwelling, church/social hall, public buildings and schools base sewer charge for property located within the city limits shall be based upon the city's operation, maintenance and replacement rate per the equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) as calculated in section 23-317, plus any currently applicable, legally adopted monthly charge assessed by a control authority.

(b) The commercial base sewer charges for property located within the city limits shall be the combined total of the following in accordance with the most current rates adopted by the city:

(1) The city's operation, maintenance and replacement rate per month per EDU;

(2) The city's administrative rate for supervising commercial uses within the city per month per EDU; and

(3) Any currently applicable, legally adopted monthly charge assessed by any agency or district providing sewer treatment service to the city.

(c) The industrial base sewer charge for property located within the city limits shall be the combined total of the following in accordance with the most current rates adopted by the city:

(1) The city's operation, maintenance and replacement rate per month per EDU;

(2) The city's administrative rate for supervising industrial uses within city limits per month per EDU; plus

(3) Any currently applicable, legally adopted monthly charge assessed by any agency or district providing sewer treatment service to the city.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

The city may charge an additional extraterritorial monthly charge per EDU for users outside the corporate limits of the city, as agreed upon by the city council and the applicant for service.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

After a property has been connected to the sewer system, the monthly sewer charge shall be imposed, whether the property is occupied or not, until such time as the structure using the sewer service is demolished or unoccupied and the sewer connection is capped. The capping of the sewer service is to be inspected by the building official.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)

Any increase in any currently applicable, legally adopted monthly charge assessed by a control authority shall be immediately passed through to the affected property owners. Any amounts over-collected by the city shall be applied first to the deficit recovery, if any, then to fund balance.

(Ord. No. 1984, § 2(Exh. A), 3-10-26)