Kern County Municipal Code Art. VI Rates and Charges

A. The provisions of this chapter are adopted pursuant to and shall be construed in conformity with Article 4 of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of Division 5 of Health and Safety Code (commencing with Section 5470).

B. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as a limitation on the power of the county to provide by appropriate proceedings under said provisions of the Health and Safety Code for collection of charges and penalties with charges for other utility services or on the county tax roll or by imposition of liens.

C. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as a limitation on the power of the county to revise or to provide new rates, fees and charges, or to vary the same between areas of zones of benefit within areas, or to collect the same by any appropriate legal proceeding.

D. Revenues derived from application of this chapter shall be used only in conformity with the provisions of Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code, except in the case mentioned in subsection (E) of this section.

E. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as a limitation on the power of the county to fix other fees or charges for the privilege of connecting to sanitation or sewerage facilities provided by the county under the provisions of Section 5474 through 5474.10 of the Health and Safety Code or other applicable provisions of law, and the revenues derived there from shall be used only in conformity with such provisions.

F. Rates and fees shall be adopted by resolution and/or other ordinances.

(Ord. G-6746 § 12, 2001: prior code § 3909.5)

A. Charges are deemed to accrue from the first day of the month following the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter derives, or following the effective date of any revision or specification of new rate or charge, as the case may be.

B. A charge based on existence of a building, establishment, dwelling or other unit of accommodation shall accrue from the first day of the month following the month in which final acceptance thereof takes place for building inspection purposes or ninety (90) days, whichever comes first.

C. Annual charges shall be prorated and run to June 30th following the accrual date, and thereafter shall run from July 1st of each year to June 30th of the year following, both inclusive, to be billed on August 15th.

(Ord. G-6746 § 13, 2001: prior code § 3909.1)

A. Annual charges shall be delinquent if not paid in full within thirty (30) days after billing.

B. Monthly charges shall be delinquent if not paid in full on or before the 20th day of the month following billing.

C. Charges for extraordinary services shall be deemed delinquent if not paid in full within thirty (30) days after billing.

(Prior code § 3909.2)

A. A basis penalty of ten percent (10%) shall be added at time of delinquency on amount of charges not paid prior to delinquency.

B. An additional penalty of one percent (1%) per month shall be imposed on amount of charges and basic penalty, for each calendar month after the delinquency date during which the same remains unpaid, and each fraction of such calendar month.

C. This section is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Section 5473.10 of the Health and Safety Code, and shall be construed in conformity therewith.

(Ord. G-6746 § 14, 2001: prior code § 3909.3)

A. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the charges and penalties provided by this chapter shall constitute a lien against the lot or parcel of land against which the charge and penalty was imposed, if such charge and penalty remain delinquent for a period of sixty (60) days.

B. A statement shall be included on the bill to each landowner which shall notify him of such lien.

C. A notice of such lien shall be recorded with the county recorder.

D. The board of supervisors may file a tax lien that is due and subject to the same collection policies, penalties and interest as general taxes.

E. This section is adopted pursuant to the provisions of Section 5473.11 of the Health and Safety Code, and shall be construed in conformity therewith.

(Ord. G-6746 § 15, 2001: prior code § 3909.4)

A. The landowner shall be charged the actual cost to the county for performing extraordinary services, relating to sewage disposal systems, beneficial to his lot or parcel, plus administrative costs and interest.

B. Extraordinary costs shall be deemed to include, but are not confined to: cost of cleaning private systems; cost of regulation, repair, modification or replacement of private systems; cost of filing private system after abandonment; and cost of connection to public system.

(Ord. G-6746 § 17, 2001: prior code § 3909.6)