San Fernando Municipal Code Div. 3 Rates and Charges

The following commodity charge and fixed service charge are established and shall be charged and collected by the city for all water sold, supplied, distributed, or transported to or for consumers situated in the city and shall be applicable to all metered water within the city for which no other rate is specified:

(1) Commodity charge. The commodity charge per meter shall be as follows:

(2) Fixed service charge. The commodity charge set forth above shall be added to the fixed service charge set forth below:

Bimonthly Fixed Charge

(Code 1957, § 28.4.1; Ord. No. 1510, § 1, 11-1-1999; Ord. No. 1524, § 2, 8-20-2001; Ord. No. 1550, § 3, 7-19-2004; Ord. No. 1613, § 1, 5-7-2012; Ord. No. 1618, § 1, 7-2-2012)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1613, § 1, adopted May 7, 2012, changed the title of § 94-261 from quantity water charges and service charges by meter size to water service charges.

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1613, § 2, adopted May 7, 2012, deleted § 94-262 which pertained to lifeline rate and derived from the Code of 1957, § 28.26; Ord. No. 1524, § 3, 8-20-2001.

Under this article, the following fees and charges will be collected as required:

(1) Security deposit for a new residential applicant (section 94-146) .....$100.00

and new commercial applicant (section 94-146) .....150.00

(2) Security deposit (minimum) for delinquent accounts (section 94-164) .....150.00

(3) Delivery fee per unit for final disconnection notices (section 94-162) .....10.00

(4) Administrative/reconnection fee (sections 94-163, 94-167) .....40.00

(5) Tampering with meter (section 94-166) .....75.00

(6) Reinstallation fee if meter has been removed (section 94-169) .....75.00

(7) Reinstallation fee for inactive meter (section 94-168) .....75.00

(8) Returned check fee (section 94-167) .....25.00

(Code 1957, § 28.27; Ord. No. 1550, § 8, 7-19-2004; Ord. No. 1607, § 3, 10-3-2011)

(a) Beginning July 1, 2012 and for each fiscal year through June 30, 2017, the commodity charges specified in section 94-261 shall be subject to an overriding unit adjustment to be applied to each 100 cubic feet of water sales to reflect changes in the cost of purchased water as defined in this section.

(b) Determination of the overriding unit adjustment shall be made from city accounting records six times yearly for each of the 12-calendar-month periods ending with January 31, March 31, May 31, July 31, September 30, and November 30 as follows: The annual cost of all water purchased for distribution by the city shall be divided by the division's total water sales (in units of 100 cubic feet HCF) for the same 12-month period. The quotient so obtained shall be expressed to the nearest $0.0001 per HCF of water and shall be multiplied by all units of 100 cubic feet of water sales as shown on customer billings for a period of water use regularly scheduled to end within the second and third billing months following the 12-month period used for the unit adjustment computation. The resultant product in each case shall be expressed to the nearest $0.01 and, unless otherwise provided therein, shall be the total overriding adjustment to be added to each water service billing.

(c) Cost of purchased water shall include the total cost to the city of all water delivered to the division's system from the metropolitan water district or other suppliers. Reimbursements received by the city for purchased water costs which are or have been included in the calculation of the overriding unit adjustment shall be included as a credit in the determination of the cost of purchased water for the month in which such reimbursement is received.

(Code 1957, § 28.28; Ord. No. 1613, § 3, 5-7-2012)

The following installation charges and capital facility charges are hereby established, and shall be charged and collected by the city for making all water connections for consumers situated within the city, and said rates shall be paid before such connections are made. In the case of service connections larger than one inch, the installation charges listed below shall constitute deposits against the actual cost of the labor, materials and equipment plus 35-percent overhead expended by the city in the installation. Upon the completion of such work, said actual cost, including overhead, shall be deducted from the paid deposit, and any excess or the deposit over such cost shall be refunded. In the event the actual cost, including overhead, exceeds such deposit, the applicant for such service connection shall, upon demand, pay the same to the city, and for failure to pay such excess to the city, the city shall have the right to refuse water service through such meter and to turn the water service off and/or disconnect the same.

(1) The installation charges and capital facility charges shall be as follows:

(2) The fire hydrant installation charges are as follows:

a. Change fire hydrant top. Remove single hydrant and install 4-inch by 4-inch or 4-inch by 2 1/2-inch double wet-barrel fire hydrant .....$1,501.00

b. New 6-inch wet-barrel fire hydrant 4-inch by 4-inch or 4-inch by 2 1/2-inch, including 6-inch gate valve, 6-inch lateral and appurtenances, connection to existing main .....$6,946.00

For service connections and installations wherein a deposit is required, the actual cost of labor, equipment and materials plus 35-percent overhead shall be computed after completion of the work. The cost shall be deducted from the deposit, and any excess of the deposit over such cost shall be refunded to the person originally making such deposit. If the aggregate cost including city overhead exceeds such deposit, the applicant for such service connection shall, upon demand, pay the additional amount to the city. For failure to pay such excess to the city, the city shall have the right to refuse water service through such meter and turn the water off and/or disconnect the water.

(Code 1957, § 28.29; Ord. No. 1510, § 2, 11-1-1999; Ord. No. 1550, § 4, 7-19-2004)

(a) The following charges are hereby fixed and established for the use of water from construction meters furnished by the city:

(1) Construction water rate: $1.92 per 100 cubic feet, plus $1.50 per calendar day.

(2) Deposit: $1,000.00 for a three-inch meter and eddy valve, or as determined by the director for larger sizes.

(3) Administration charge: $110.00 with a signed application by an authorized person.

(b) Charges for water usage and the daily fee shall be billed quarterly, or sooner if indicated by usage.

(c) The deposit for the construction meter shall be returned to the person making the deposit less charges for water and daily use, upon return of the device in satisfactory condition to the water superintendent.

(d) Construction water rates will be charged to all contractors or persons who use the city water system for temporary water, including contractors for city construction and maintenance projects.

(Code 1957, § 28.30; Ord. No. 1550, § 5, 7-19-2004)

The following rates shall apply to a customer having a private on-site fire service used exclusively for fire protection, whether the lines are connected to an automatic sprinkler system or to a hose attachment, but do not include on-site fire hydrants:

(Code 1957, § 28.31; Ord. No. 1510, § 3, 11-1-1999; Ord. No. 1550, § 6, 7-19-2004)

(a) Private on-site fire hydrant rates shall be those shown on the following table:

(b) Water consumption recorded by the detector checkvalve bypass meter and used for purposes other than for fire sprinkler system testing or extinguishing purposes shall be discontinued immediately. Continued violation will result in the shutting off the fire service or requiring a new meter to be installed at the customer's expense and changing the applicable water rate schedule to that shown under section 94-261.

(Code 1957, § 28.32; Ord. No. 1510, § 4, 11-1-1999; Ord. No. 1550, § 7, 7-19-2004)

An administrative fee of $5.00 per month per connection shall be charged to all utility accounts that have a backflow prevention device installed on the service connection to cover the cost of the administration of the annual inspection and testing program.

(Code 1957, § 28.33)

(a) On July 1, 1993 and on July 1 of each year thereafter, the then-existing rates imposed under this article, sections 94-265, 94-267 and 94-268, shall automatically increase by the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers for Los Angeles—Anaheim—Riverside (1982-84 equals 100) as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics ("index"), rounded to the nearest cent. The increases shall be cumulative. In determining the percentage increase, the index for the month of May immediately preceding the adjustment date shall be compared with the index for the like month of the previous year. In no event, however, shall the rates imposed be adjusted downward to reflect a percentage decrease in the index.

(b) On July 1, 2016, the then-existing rates imposed under this article, section 94-261, shall automatically increase by the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers for Los Angeles—Anaheim—Riverside (1982-84 equals 100) as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics ("index"), rounded to the nearest cent. The increases shall be cumulative. In determining the percentage increase, the index for the month of May immediately preceding the adjustment date shall be compared with the index for the like month of the previous year. In no event, however, shall the rates imposed be adjusted downward to reflect a percentage decrease in the index.

(Code 1957, § 28.34; Ord. No. 1613, § 4, 5-7-2012)