Los Altos Municipal Code Art. 3 Sewer Service Charges

Editor's note— Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, adopted July 9, 2013, amended Art. 3 in its entirety, in effect repealing and reenacting said article to read as set out herein. The former Art. 3, §§ 10.12.090—10.12.230, pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. No. 08-324, § 4 (part).

This article may be cited as the "City of Los Altos Sewer Service Charge Ordinance."

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

This article is adopted pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of Division 5 of the California Health & Safety Code (Section 5470 et seq.) and Section 7 of Article XI of the California Constitution.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

Unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms used in this article shall have the following meanings:

A.

"Actual water consumption," with respect to a parcel, shall mean the water consumption indicated for that parcel on the records of the California Water Service Company (or its successor) or such other water utility as serves the parcel. Provided, however, with respect to a condominium unit that has an assigned county assessor's parcel number, a water sub-meter, and the owner of the property has requested and been authorized by the city to be billed based on sub-metered water usage, "actual water consumption" shall be determined in accordance with Section 10.12.137 of this article.

B.

"Appeals administrator" shall mean the city manager or his or her designee.

C.

"City" shall mean the City of Los Altos.

D.

"County" shall mean the County of Santa Clara.

E.

"Parcel that is connected to the sewer system" shall mean a parcel that is either (i) located in the city and connected to the city's sewer system, (ii) located in the city and connected to the City of Mountain View's sewer system by arrangement between the city and the City of Mountain View, or (iii) located in an unincorporated area of the county (or a portion of the county that was unincorporated as of July 1, 2013) and connected to the city's sewer system.

F.

"Sewer service charge" shall mean the charge imposed pursuant to Section 10.12.120 of this article.

G.

"Wet season months" shall mean, with respect to a specific calendar year, the three (3) monthly billing periods for which the records of the California Water Service Company (or its successor) indicate the lowest total water consumption during that fiscal year by parcels connected to the city's sewer system that are served by the California Water Service Company (or its successor).

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013; Ord. No. 2018-445, § 8(a), 7-10-2018)

There is imposed upon each parcel connected to the sewer system an annual sewer service charge.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

The rates of the sewer service charges shall be stated as a rate per equivalent dwelling unit, plus a rate per unit of estimated sewer use, and shall be established by a resolution adopted by the city council pursuant to Section 5471 of the California Health and Safety Code.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013; Ord. No. 2018-445, § 8(b), 7-10-2018)

Each parcel shall be assigned one (1) equivalent dwelling unit for each dwelling unit on the parcel.

Parcels with non-residential structures or improvements shall also be assigned one (1) equivalent dwelling unit for the first one hundred ten (110) units (or fraction thereof) of estimated sewer use for non-residential improvements on the parcel plus a number of additional equivalent dwelling units (or fractions thereof) equal to the remaining estimated sewer use for non-residential improvements on the parcel divided by one hundred ten (110).

Where multiple non-residential parcels share a common water meter, the equivalent dwelling units calculated based on water use measured by that meter shall be divided equally amongst the parcels sharing the meter.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, and except as provided herein, the owners of two or more condominium units that are connected to and served by the same single master water meter and are collectively billed for their water use by the California Water Service Company (or its successor), may request to be billed based on sub-metered water usage for their sewer use charges, provided that: (i) each of the condominium units has an assigned county assessor's parcel number; (ii) each of the condominium

units has a separate water sub-meter; and (iii) all of the owners of the condominium units that are connected to the same master water meter(s) or governing HOA board, on behalf of all condominium units connected to the same water meter(s), agree in writing to be billed separately for sewer service.

Actual water consumption for each condominium unit shall mean each condominium unit's monthly sub- metered water consumption for the entire prior calendar year, which shall be submitted by each condominium owner or governing HOA to the city engineering services department no later than January 31 of each year in which the owners request to be billed based on sub-metered water usage.

The owner of each condominium unit authorized to be billed based on sub-metered water usage for sewer service pursuant to this Section 10.12.137 shall, at his or her sole expense, cause his or her sub-meter to be read monthly by a licensed professional in accordance with the California Division of Measurement Standards and to cause such professional to submit to the city the sub-metered water consumption data of his or her condominium for each month of the calendar year. The total calendar year water consumption data of all of the owners of the condominium units shall equal the total metered water consumption of the single master meter for the condominium units reported by the California Water Service Company (or its successor) for the same period, as approved by the city engineer. The city shall not be responsible for reconciling the total sub-metered water consumption data reported by the condominium unit owners with the metered water consumption data reported by the California Water Service Company (or its successor). If the water consumption data reported by the condominium owners cannot be reconciled with the metered water consumption data reported by the California Water Service Company (or its successor), then the sewer use of such condominium owners shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 10.12.140 of this article.

At a minimum of once every ten (10) years, at no expense to the city, each condominium owner authorized to be billed for sewer service pursuant to this Section 10.12.137 shall submit verification of testing and inspection of his or her sub-meter by a licensed professional in accordance with the California Division of Measurement Standards. No later than March 15 of each tenth year, each condominium owner, or governing HOA board on behalf of all condominium owners in the complex, shall submit to the city engineering services department the results of the inspection, testing, and verification of his or her sub- meter. The cost of complying with the provisions of this paragraph for each condominium shall be the responsibility of the respective condominium owner, provided that the HOA Board may provide for compliance with the provisions herein on behalf of the individual condominium owners. Nothing contained herein shall require that the city bear the cost of any expenses for compliance with this paragraph. If the verification of testing and inspection is not submitted as required above, then the sewer use of such condominium owners shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 10.12.140 of this article.

For the purposes of this Section 10.12.137 and Section 10.12.140 of this article, the sewer use for each condominium unit upon which a sewer service charge for that parcel shall be calculated for a fiscal year shall be estimated by multiplying by twelve (12) the average actual monthly water consumption for each condominium unit during the three wet season months for the prior calendar year. One unit of sewer use shall be assigned for each one hundred (100) cubic feet of water use. Provided, however, that if any owner of a condominium unit authorized to be billed for sewer service pursuant to this Section 10.12.137 fails to comply with any of the requirements of this Section 10.12.137, then the sewer use of all condominium

owners within the same condominium complex shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 10.12.140 of this article.

(Ord. No. 2018-445, § 8(c), 7-10-2018; Ord. No. 2019-463, § 1, 10-22-2019)

The sewer use of a parcel upon which the sewer service charge for that parcel shall be calculated for a fiscal year shall be estimated by multiplying by twelve (12), the average actual monthly water consumption for each water account (excluding water accounts used solely for irrigation) on that parcel during the three (3) wet season months for the prior calendar year. One (1) unit of sewer use shall be assigned for each one hundred (100) cubic feet of water use.

Where actual monthly water consumption data is not available for a water account on a parcel (as when a structure(s) on the parcel is recently connected to a water system), sewer use shall be estimated as the average estimated sewer use for the prior fiscal year of all parcels in the same land use. For purposes of this section, land use classes shall be:

Single-family home.

Condominium unit.

Multifamily residence (two (2) dwelling units).

Multifamily residence (three (3) to four (4) dwelling units).

Multifamily residence (five (5) or more dwelling units).

Church.

Commercial/industrial.

Institutional.

Park.

School.

Government.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

The city continues its election to have the sewer charges for each forthcoming fiscal year collected on the Santa Clara County tax roll in the same manner as, by the same persons as, and at the same time as, together with and not separately from, the city's general tax.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

The public works director shall annually cause to be prepared and filed with the city clerk the report described in Section 5473 of the California Health and Safety Code.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

The city council shall consider said report at a public hearing noticed and conducted pursuant to Sections 5473.1 through 5473.2 of the California Health and Safety Code, following which hearing it may take action on the report, pursuant to Section 5473.3 of that Code and may direct that the city clerk file the report and the charges contained therein with the Santa Clara County Auditor pursuant to Section 5473.4 of that Code.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

Upon the approval and filing of charges, such charges shall be subject to the provisions of Section 5473.5 through 5473.9 of the California Health and Safety Code, and other applicable law.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

The county shall be compensated for services rendered in connection with the levy, collection, and enforcement of sewer service charges for the city in accordance with the usual practices of the county or in accordance with an agreement between the city and the county for the collection of general taxes for the city.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

In the event the city cannot, or does not, complete action pursuant to Sections 10.12.160 through 10.12.170 of this code to collect the sewer service charge against a parcel for a fiscal year, the city may collect such sewer service charge for that year with respect to that parcel by mailing a bill to the owner of the parcel. Any charge billed in this manner shall be due and payable upon presentation, but no earlier than December 1 of the fiscal year for which the charge is imposed. If a charge billed in this manner is not paid within thirty (30) days of the due date, then on the first day of each calendar month thereafter a late fee of two (2) percent of the amount of the delinquent sewer service charge shall be added and become due. If any such charge remains outstanding at the time the report is prepared for a subsequent fiscal year pursuant to Section 10.12.160, the delinquent charge (and accrued late fees) may be included on such report and collected on the tax roll along with the charges for that fiscal year.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

In the event the owner of a parcel subject to the sewer service charge believes that the estimation of sewer use calculated by the city pursuant to Section 10.12.140 for that parcel for a fiscal year does not accurately reflect the amount of effluent introduced into the sewer system via the parcel's connection to the sewer system, then the owner may file a written appeal of the determination (and the sewer service charge against the parcel) with the appeals administrator (or his or her designee). Such written appeal must be filed before December 31st of the fiscal year and must include evidence that (i) due to the unique or unusual nature of water use on the parcel, the estimation method substantially overestimates the sewer usage of the parcel relative to other parcels with similar actual sewer use, (ii) the owner could not have avoided the error in estimation by establishing a separately metered water account for any unusual and intentional non- domestic use, and (iii) use of the standard estimation method is manifestly unfair under the circumstances. If the appeals administrator determines that each of the previous-stated criteria is true, based on the written appeal and on other evidence available to the appeals administrator, then the appeals administrator will reduce the sewer service charge for that parcel for that fiscal year to the amount he or she determines to reflect an accurate estimate of sewer use and shall either transmit a correct charge to the county or issue a refund in the amount of the reduction. The appeals administrator's determination shall be final.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)

Sewer service charge proceeds shall be used only for the acquisition, construction or reconstruction, maintenance and operation of sanitation or sewerage facilities of the city and to repay principal and interest on bonds issued for the construction of such sanitary or sewerage facilities and to repay federal, state, county or other loans or advances made to the city for the construction or reconstruction of sanitary or sewerage facilities; provided, however, that such revenue shall not be used for the acquisition or construction of new local street sewers or laterals, as distinguished from main trunk, interceptor and outfall sewers.

(Ord. No. 2013-394, § 3, 7-9-2013)