San Clemente Municipal Code Art. III Rates and Charges

A. Water Rates Adopted by Resolution. .....The City Council shall adopt water rates by resolution. Water rates may include both fixed and variable consumption components in order to allow the City to recover its costs for the provision of service. Each property owner (or the property owner's tenant) to whom the City has issued a water meter shall pay the water rates in accordance with such resolution adopting rates and this Chapter 13.04.

B. Demand Management Rate. .....The water rates adopted by the City Council by resolution may include a demand management rate. At any time that the City Council adopts a resolution declaring a water shortage emergency in accordance with the City's Urban Water Management Plan, customers shall pay the supplemental demand management rate corresponding to the level of emergency declared by City Council for as long as the water shortage emergency remains in effect.

(Prior code § 32-24; Ord. 1122 § 1, 1993; Ord. 1135 § 4, 1994; Ord. 1148 § 2, 1995; Ord. 1179 § 6, 1996; Ord. 1219 §§ 2—4, 1999; Ord. 1261 §§ 1—4, 2002; Ord. 1282 §§ 4—6 (part), 2003; Ord. 1315 §§ 1—4, 2006; Ord. 1333 § 1, 2007; Ord. 1460 § 1, 2008; Ord. No. 1490, § 1, 7-21-2009; Ord. No. 1511, § 1, 7-20-2010; Ord. No. 1537, § 1, 6-21-2011; Ord. No. 1552, §§ 1, 2, 6-19-2012; Ord. No. 1557, § 1, 9-4-2012; Ord. No. 1567, § 1, 6-18-2013; Ord. No. 1583, § 1, 7-1-2014; Ord. No. 1596, § 1, 6-16-2015; Ord. No. 1626, § 1, 6-13-2016; Ord. No. 1647, §§ 1, 2, 11-21-2017; Ord. No. 1799, § 2, 3-3-2026)

In case a dwelling unit is or becomes vacant, the fixed rate shall be charged and collected from the owner thereof, whether water is used or not, and regardless of whether the water service has been discontinued.

(Ord. 1135 § 5, 1994: prior code § 32-25)

If a meter fails to register during any period or is known to register inaccurately, the customer shall be charged with an average daily consumption as shown by the meter, according to the season, while in use and registering accurately during any previous year and at a similar time of year and under similar use demands.

(Prior code § 32-26)

Any person seeking temporary water service shall make application, upon forms to be provided by the Utilities Manager, to the Water Division for any temporary water service desired by contractors, builders or other applicants. Such temporary service shall be supplied from a fire hydrant meter and the application shall be accompanied by an eight hundred twenty-five dollars ($825.00) deposit for each such meter. The connection shall not be made unless the application is first approved by the Utilities Manager, and in case service is to be furnished from a fire hydrant, approval of the Fire Marshal shall also be required. Such service where the water is metered shall be charged at the established commercial rate for other customers. If in the determination of the Utilities Manager, the setting of a meter is impracticable or uneconomical for the supply of construction water, the estimated quantity to be used of such unmetered water shall be determined by the Utilities Manager and charged at the established commercial rate for other customers. In addition to the charges for water used, there shall be a minimum charge of three dollars ($3.00) per calendar day for each fire hydrant meter and a one hundred twenty-five dollar ($125.00) charge for installation of each such meter. A One hundred twenty-five dollar ($125.00) fee will be charged for the relocation of a fire hydrant meter. Upon termination of temporary water service any required charges, final water billing or costs necessary to repair damage to meters or fire hydrants, caused by the permittee, shall be computed and billed to the permittee, and the original eight hundred twenty-five dollar ($825.00) deposit shall be applied against the final total charges and any remaining balance shall be the responsibility of the permittee. No further permits shall be issued for any project on which there is an unpaid balance. In the event the final total charges are less than the original eight hundred twenty-five dollar ($825.00) deposit, the balance thereof shall be refunded to the permittee.

(Ord. 1282 § 7 (part), 2003: Ord. 1244 § 1 (part), 2000: prior code § 32-27)

(Ord. No. 1513, § 8, 7-20-2010)

Any person requesting an adjustment to the fees, charges and/or penalties imposed under either this article or Chapter 13.24 of this code shall do so by paying under protest all contested fees, charges and/or penalties in full to the City along with a written request for such adjustment.

The written request shall explain why such adjustment is warranted and shall have as an attachment all documentation necessary to support the adjustment. The Utilities Manager shall adjust fees, charges and/or penalties when evidence reveals that the fee, charge and/or penalty is incorrect or, for the purposes of residential sewerage commodity billing, when evidence reveals the fee, charge and/or penalty is not reflective of actual sewage generated. When the Utilities Manager deems appropriate, he or she may forward any contested billing to the City Council for disposition. When forwarded, the Utilities Manager shall provide written notice to the owner setting forth the date, time and location of the City Council meeting at which the matter will be discussed. The filing of a request for adjustment will not prevent the accrual of penalty charges or the suspension of water service for nonpayment.

(Ord. 1148 § 3, 1995: Ord. 1135 § 6, 1994: prior code § 32-28)

A. Billing. .....Customers shall be billed on a monthly basis. Customers with less than seven (7) days service shall be omitted from the billing cycle with consumption added to the following bill. In the event, however, that a residential customer who is not charged pursuant to the preceding sentence is a tenant, rather than the owner, of the premises, and the service covered by the following bill is for a subsequent tenant or the owner, the outstanding bill for the prior period's service shall continue to be billed to and be an obligation of the prior customer who incurred that service. For the purposes of this section, the term "subsequent tenant" shall not include any adult person who lived at the premises when the previously unbilled charges accrued.

B. Delinquency—Penalty. .....Twenty-five (25) days following the billing date, those accounts remaining unpaid shall be deemed delinquent. Delinquent accounts shall be charged a ten (10) percent penalty on the entire delinquent amount and shall be served with a delinquency/shut-off notice in the manner provided in subsection C of this section. The penalty shall be added to the delinquent account.

C. Termination of Service.

1. Upon determining that an account has remained delinquent for a period of at least two (2) weeks, the City shall cause notice of delinquency and impending termination to be mailed, postage prepaid, to the customer at least ten (10) days prior to the proposed termination. The notice shall not be mailed earlier than nineteen (19) days from the date of mailing the original bill for services and the ten (10) day notice period shall not commence until five (5) days after mailing the notice. The notice shall include all of the following information: (1) the name and address of the customer whose account is delinquent; (2) the amount of the delinquency; (3) the date by which payment or arrangements for payment is required in order to avoid termination; (4) the procedure by which the customer may request amortization of the unpaid charges; (5) the telephone number of the City's Utility Billing Division who can provide additional information or institute arrangements for payment; and (6) a statement indicating that the customer has seven (7) days from the date the notice was issued to request a hearing before the City Utilities Manager to contest the termination. If such a hearing is requested, the Utilities Manager, or his or her designee, shall provide written notice to the customer stating the date, time and place at which the Utilities Manager will entertain the customer's objection to termination. If no hearing is requested or, if after the hearing the Utilities Manager determines that termination is appropriate, the Utilities Managershall order the water service terminated in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. In addition to the notice required in the preceding paragraph, at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to any termination of residential service, the City shall make a reasonable attempt to contact an adult person residing at premises by telephone or personal contact. Whenever telephone or personal contact cannot be accomplished, the public utility shall give, by mail, in person, or by posting in a conspicuous location at the premises, a notice of termination of service, at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to termination. Every notice provided pursuant to this subsection, whether oral or written, shall include the items of information listed as items (1), (2), (3) and (5) in subsection (C)(1) of this section.

3. a.

Delinquency/Termination Noticing. A twenty-five dollar ($25.00) fee is imposed for noticing any customer of an account delinquency/termination.

b. Termination of Service Charges. A fifty-five dollar ($55.00) fee is hereby imposed on any customer whose service is terminated due to an outstanding account delinquency. A eighty dollar ($80.00) fee is imposed for all customers who have been twice so terminated, and a one hundred-ten dollar ($110.00) fee is imposed for all customers that have been so terminated three or more times.

c. Deposit Fee. For all customers who have received three (3) or more delinquency/termination notices, a one hundred twenty dollar ($120.00) deposit for residential customers and two hundred dollar ($200.00) deposit for commercial customers shall be required prior to reinstitution of water service.

D. Collection of Delinquent Accounts. .....In addition to the procedures provided in subsection C of this section, the City may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction for any amount due and payable together with appropriate penalties, costs of such suit and further relief as the court may deem appropriate. The City may use any and all means available for collection including, where applicable, placing a lien against the property.

E. Timing. .....Where the delinquent date, penalty date, or shut-off date falls on a holiday or a weekend, the delinquent, penalty or shut-off date shall be the next working day following such holiday or weekend.

F. Extensions. .....Provisions in this and other sections will not prevent the City from granting reasonable extensions in unusual instances of extreme financial difficulty. However, such extensions may not include a waiver of the penalties.

G. Returned Checks. .....Upon notification from a financial institution that a customer check has been rejected by the financial institution as a "Non-Sufficient Funds" (NSF) item, the City shall post a Three-Day Notice of receipt of the NSF check at the customer's service location. Such notice shall require the repayment of the NSF item with cash or a cashier's check and payment of the City's Non-Sufficient Funds fee. If payment is not received within the prescribed three-day period, water service shall be terminated immediately. The customer account is subject to the progressive Termination of Service Charges described in Section (3.b) above. The Termination of Service charge may be waived if the NSF check was not written to avoid shut-off and was the only NSF check presented by the customer during the preceding twelve-month period. The City Council shall, by resolution, establish the Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) fee. Such fee may be amended from time to time, by resolution.

(Ord. 1303 §§ 1, 2, 2005; Ord. 1282 § 8 (part), 2003; Ord. 1219 § 5, 1999; Ord. 1179 § 7, 1996; Ord. 1148 § 4, 1995; Ord. 1135 § 7, 1994: prior code § 32-29)

(Ord. No. 1513, §§ 9, 10, 7-20-2010)

When water service is disconnected for nonpayment of the bill, payment of delinquent charges and turn-on charges must be made at the Water Billing Division of the Finance Division of the City between the hours of seven-thirty (7:30) a.m. and five-thirty (5:30) p.m., Monday through Thursday and between eight (8:00) a.m. and five (5:00) p.m. on Fridays, holidays and dark days excepted. Turn-on will not be made at other than these normal hours of operation.

In the case of residential service, if the customer the delinquency of whose account resulted in termination of water service was a tenant, rather than the owner, of the premises receiving water service and a subsequent tenant or the owner of the premises is the customer seeking reconnection of water service, water service shall be reconnected in the same manner and for the same cost as any new water service and such new tenant or owner shall bear no penalty or responsibility for the outstanding balance on the prior customer's account or for the disconnection of service. For the purposes of this paragraph the term "subsequent tenant" shall not include any adult person who lived at the premises during the period that the charges or penalties accrued.

(Ord. 1282 § 9 (part), 2003: Ord. 1179 § 8, 1996: Ord. 1148 § 5, 1995; Ord. 1135 § 8, 1994; prior code § 32-30)