Chapter 13.89 — FEES AND CHARGES IN COUNTY SERVICE AREAS AND MAINTENANCE DISTRICTS

Editor's note— Ord. No. 667, § 2, adopted October 8, 2013, amended Chapter 13.89 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Chapter 13.89, §§ 13.89.010—13.89.016, pertained to similar material, and

derived from Ord. No. 473, 1983; Ord. No. 473A, 1983; Ord. 473EE, 1990 and Ord. No. 473FF, 1997.

A.

This chapter establishes the procedures for setting the fees and charges for sewage disposal and domestic water supply services and facilities, and street lighting, and establishes procedures for collection thereof.

B.

Fees and charges shall be established by resolution of the board of supervisors and shall be collected either by installment billing or in conjunction with the county's ad valorem property taxes.

C.

"Entity," as used in this chapter, means a maintenance district, county service area, street lighting district or water works district.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

A.

Applications for utility services shall be in writing on a form prescribed by the public works director or designee.

B.

The applicant requesting utility service must be the property owner. Tenants are not allowed to initiate utility services.

C.

A non-refundable application fee of twenty dollars shall be collected from each applicant for utility services for each service location. The amount of the application fee will be as set by resolution of the board supervisors.

D.

Deposit requirements, unless waived as provided in this chapter, shall be determined by the public works director, or designee, based on the applicant's past county utility account history and any other pertinent information pursuant to this chapter.

E.

Accepted applications will be set up as utility accounts and thereafter billed accordingly as set forth by resolutions, ordinances, and/or policies in effect at the time of application, and at all times of service.

Outstanding balances on accounts are the property owner's responsibility to zero out before the property is sold. The property owner may obtain an account payoff from the public works department, or the account can be paid off through escrow.

F.

County utility policies shall govern the obligations and rights of utility customers. The utility policies shall consist of ordinances, resolutions, and shall be consistent with applicable sections of the California Public Utilities Code, and administrative directives applying to municipal utilities.

G.

Upon completion and acceptance of the application the property owner will be responsible for the utility bill at the service location. A change to the responsible applicant can only be made upon change of ownership. The utility service cannot be terminated unless there is a change in ownership or delinquency.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

A.

Applicants for utility services may be required to guarantee, with a security deposit, the payment of utility services. Residential accounts shall deposit with the county one hundred fifty dollars. All other accounts including multi-family will deposit with the county a sum equal to three months average monthly billing.

B.

A deposit for residential services may be waived if the applicant meets one of the following criteria:

If the applicant has not previously been delinquent on another county utility account in the previous twelve months. If a deposit is waived, it shall be on the condition that the applicant remains current on all future utility bills; or

If the applicant has a previous credit history with the county and can demonstrate that there have been no delinquencies on his or her account. Credit history would consist of consecutive current payments made to the tax collector or another county account with regularly scheduled payments.

C.

In the event of non-payment of all or a portion of the utilities bill, the deposit shall be applied against the outstanding charges upon termination of service, as deemed necessary by the public works director, or designee.

D.

Upon the property owner's request, deposits shall be applied to the account after a one-year period; however, if the customer has been delinquent more than once during the one-year period, the deposit will be applied to the account six months after the last delinquent payment.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

The county shall mail bills to the owner of each parcel of real property for which a fee or a charge is set by this chapter. The owner shall be that person shown on the current tax roll as the property owner. The billing shall be due and payable in full within thirty days of the billing date. Payment shall be made to the county.

The property owner is the only person who can dictate where he/she wants he/she bill sent. If a property owner wants his/her bill sent to a different address than what the county has on file, he/she would need to request that from the public works department. No other person can request a change of mailing address.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

Any charge or fee installment that remains unpaid after the due date of billing is delinquent and will be subject to additional fees as follows:

A.

A late fee of ten percent will be applied if the bill is not paid on or before the due date.

B.

The late fee will be included with the next billing.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

Any charge or fee installment that remains unpaid for a period of thirty days after the date of billing is delinquent and may be collected as follows:

A.

Collection on the Tax Roll.

Once each year, at the end of the fiscal year, or more frequently as needed, the county's public works department shall prepare and submit to the board of supervisors a report of delinquent charges and fees. The report shall contain a description of each delinquent parcel of real property and the amount of delinquent charges or fees. Those parcels that have entered into a repayment agreement will be withheld from this list.

The board of supervisors shall hold a hearing to consider objections or protests to the report. Each owner of property listed in the report shall be given ten days' mailed notice of the time, date and place of the hearing. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the board may make revisions or corrections to the report as it deems just and shall confirm the report by resolution.

The delinquent charges set forth in the report as confirmed by the board shall constitute special assessments on the secured tax roll against the respective properties and shall be recorded as a lien on those properties for the amount of such delinquent charges or fees as of the date of the board confirms the report.

The assessment lien shall appear as a separate item on the secured tax bill and shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as the ad valorem property taxes are collected. All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of ad valorem taxes, including penalties and interest thereon and cancellation or refund thereof, shall be applicable to such assessment.

The county public works department, as a lienholder of record, as defined in Section 4675 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, may file a claim for excess proceeds to the extent delinquent charges, as set forth in the report and also accruing thereafter, are not fully paid through the recorded assessment lien levied as provided in this Section.

B.

Repayment Agreements.

Repayment agreements can be entered into if the property owner has a delinquent amount of two hundred dollars or more. Repayment agreements are subject to a one time ten percent fee on the delinquent amount at the time the agreement is entered into. The term of the repayment agreement shall be six months unless the delinquent amount is over one thousand dollars then the term of the repayment agreement shall be one year. If a payment is missed while in repayment the agreement is nullified and the delinquent amount and ten percent fee will be added back to the account and subject to late fees.

Establishment of repayment agreements must be done by application with the public works department. After review by county staff the agreement will be drafted and signed by the property owner. If a tenant is requesting a repayment agreement the agreement must be signed by the property owner as well as the tenant. If the tenant fails to pay while within the repayment plan the property owner is responsible for the outstanding balance.

If the property is sold while in a repayment agreement, it is the owner's responsibility to pay off the outstanding balance or instruct their escrow officer to receive an account payoff from the public works department.

C.

Action by County Counsel. In the event the fee or tax exceeds the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court, the public works department may refer the matter to county counsel for enforcement.

D.

Other Enforcement Methods. At its option, the board may, by minute order, authorize the public works department to utilize any other collection procedure authorized by law. In any such action, the delinquent balances may also be processed through a collection agency. All costs of collection shall be charged against the delinquent customer account, in addition to any other late fees, penalties and interest.

(Ord. No. 675A, § 1, 3-17-20; Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

A.

If a meter fails to register during any billing period, the customer shall be charged on the basis of the average monthly consumption for a period of one year as shown by the meter when in use and registering accurately or, in the event the customer has not received water for a period of one full year, then over such lesser period based on the average monthly consumption.

B.

In case of a disputed meter reading, the customer may make a written complaint to the public works director or designee, together with a twenty-five dollar deposit. To qualify for a meter flow test, the meter must not have been flow tested within the prior twelve months. In any case where the meter shall be tested and found to register flows demonstrating more than three percent over or under the amount of water which actually passes through the meter, the deposit will then be credited towards the next utility bill and the utility bill equitably adjusted for a period of not to exceed the prior twelve months. If it is determined that no error occurred, the county shall retain the deposit to recover the cost of testing of the disputed meter reading. If it is determined that an error occurred resulting in an inappropriate overcharge, the county shall return the deposit to the customer so that he recovers his cost for the testing of the disputed meter reading. In the event a clerical error or other circumstance occurs which creates an inaccurate billing for service charges, an adjustment shall be made in the customer's bill for a period not to exceed the preceding thirty-six months, either in the customer's favor or the county's favor as appropriate.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

Utility accounts remaining unpaid after the due date shall be subject to disconnection from water utility services in the manner prescribed in the county code and consistent with applicable sections of the California Public Utilities Code.

A.

If utility service is interrupted due to delinquency or vacancy, a service reinstatement fee of fifty dollars shall be due the day that services need to be restored.

Vacancy is referred to as any length of time that there are no inhabitants at the property. If utility service is shut off due to vacancy the property owner is still responsible for the charges for utility service during the time of vacancy.

B.

In addition to the service interruption, if utility services are interrupted due to delinquency and a utility shutoff valve or water meter has not been installed on the water service, a utility shutoff valve and/or meter shall be installed and the cost shall be added to the account.

C.

All past due monies must be paid in cash, cashier check, money order, or debit/credit card before services are restored. If the account does not have a deposit, a deposit will be required. If paying by debit/credit card the customer must present proof of payment transaction.

D.

Any unauthorized use of utility services by failing to apply for service, or by tapping, opening, or connecting to another source for water or sewer service which has been interrupted due to non-payment shall pay the service charges and an additional charge as determined by resolution of the board of supervisors. If it is determined that a neighboring address is supplying utility service to an address which has had service terminated due to non-payment, the account holder supplying such service will have an additional charge to that account in addition to the user who is not authorized to receive such service.

E.

The penalty for unauthorized use of utility services shall include a monthly one hundred fifty dollar charge for each instance of unauthorized use of utilities for a residential user, and ten percent of the monthly charges of a commercial, industrial, or other non-residential user. This monthly penalty shall be in addition to the monthly utility charges, and any other charges approved by this chapter.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).

A.

Delinquent Accounts.

At least fourteen calendar days prior to termination of service, a termination notice shall be forwarded to the account holder by first class mail. The fourteen-day notice is only applicable to those accounts that are not already under a repayment agreement. Once the notice is mailed, the fourteen day period will begin five days after the date of mailing the notice.

At least seven calendar days prior to termination of service, contact with the property owner by county staff will take place by telephone or if a phone call is unable to be completed then a seven-day notice will be posted at the service address.

Service will be shut off if the account is not paid in full, or a repayment agreement is not entered into, by the end of the fourteen-day period.

Termination of services will not take place on Fridays or any other day of the week where the proceeding day is a holiday.

(Ord. No. 675, § 2, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 667, § 2, 10-8-13).