Salinas Municipal Code Div. 5 Sewer Collector System Fees

(a) In addition to any sewer service charge levied and collected by the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency, there is levied and collected upon each premises that discharges sewage which passes through the city's sewage collector system within and without the city, a sewage collector system fee at a rate established by Resolution of the Salinas City Council.

(b) The foregoing rate of sewage collector system fees shall be applicable for each premise for service on and after February 1, 2012. The fees may be collected in advance and may be combined with the billing by the Agency. Except for references specifically made in this division to sewer service charges of the Agency, all references in this division to sewer service charges mean the fees levied and assessed in this division for use of the city's sewage collection system.

(Ord. No. 2206, § 1; Ord. No. 2326 (NCS), § 1.)

(Ord. No. 2528 (NCS), § 1, 12-13-2011)

Any person responsible for payment of the fees imposed by this section, and who personally pays for those services, and who has qualified for and is receiving benefits under the Social Security Administration's Supplemental Security Income Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (Title XVI, Social Security Act, as amended) shall be eligible for an exemption from the fee imposed by this section on service provided to such person's residential living quarters. However, if the aggregate gross income of all persons who share such person's residential living quarters exceeds twelve thousand dollars per annum, the exemption shall not apply. Only one such residential exemption shall be allowed to any person. Procedures and regulations applicable to this exemption are as follows:

(1) Applications for exemptions may be filed with the city at any time on forms approved by the city clerk.

(2) The exemption shall not be effective until seventy-five days following receipt of the application.

(3) Applications shall be verified by declaration under penalty of perjury and shall contain such information as may be required by the city clerk.

(4) The city clerk shall review such application and shall certify eligibility for exemption if the requirements of this subsection (c) are met, except no exemption shall be granted where service is through a master meter, and no exemption shall be granted for a fee which is or has been paid by a public agency or where the applicant received funds from a public agency specifically to pay the fee.

(5) Upon certification of eligibility for exemption, the city clerk shall notify the Agency, stating the name of the exempt person, the address to which the service is supplied, the account number, if any, and such other information as may be necessary for the agency to remove the fee from its billing procedure.

(6) Upon receipt of notice, the Agency shall discontinue billing for the fee imposed by this section; provided, fees billed by the Agency prior to receipt of such notice shall be collected and fees paid prior to receipt of such notice shall not be refunded.

(7) Exemptions certified by the city clerk shall continue so long as the facts supporting the exemption exist; provided, the exemption shall automatically terminate with the change in service address or residence of the exempted person. Such person may apply for a new exemption for each change of address.

(8) Any person who has been exempt under this section shall notify the tax administrator within ten days of any change in fact or circumstance which disqualifies such person from receiving an exemption. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person knowingly to receive the benefits of the exemption when such person has knowledge that the basis for such exemption does not or ceases to exist.

(9) The city clerk shall have the authority to demand evidence of continued eligibility for the exemption. Such evidence may include, but need not be limited to, copies of business records, letters or statements from the Social Security Administration and state, county, city and private pension administrators or unemployment and welfare agencies and such other evidence concerning the exempted person or other members of his or her household as may tend to prove or disapprove such eligibility. Failure to provide such evidence shall be grounds for immediate discontinuance of the exemption. Evidence provided to the city clerk at his or her request may not be used against the exempted person as evidence of violation of this section, but only as grounds for termination of the exemption.

(Ord. No. 2206, § 1.)

The Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency is authorized to collect the fees authorized by this division and shall remit said fees to the city of Salinas no later than the last day of the month following the Agency's collection of the sewer service charge.

(Ord. No. 2206, § 1.)

(a) The finance director shall establish a separate fund for the deposit and disbursement of the fees.

(b) The fees shall be used for the operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the sanitary sewer collector system.

(c) Until October 1, 1995, the fees shall also be used for the professional studies necessary to obtain the NPDES permit and the operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of the storm drainage collector system, as required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(Ord. No. 2206, § 1.)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this division is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such a decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this division. The council of the city of Salinas declares that it would have passed this division and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.

(Ord. No. 2206, § 1.)