1398 Water Service Fees

CITY OF ELGIN, OREGON RESOLUTION 1399 (2016)

A Resolution Setting Water and Sewer Account Deposits

WHEREAS: The City of Elgin does not currently levy deposits on Water and Sewer Accounts and collecting the final bill on inactive accounts has shown to be labor intensive; And requiring a deposit will help protect both the City and property owners from bad debt; And by having a deposit on the account that could either pay the final bill in full or a greater portion of the final balance, this will lessen the City's time and expense needed in collecting on bad debts.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: Deposits will be required for the following:

1. New Customers to the City for water and sewer utilities.

2. Previous Customers who have not maintained a full year of on-time payments.

3. Any previous customer sent to collections.

The deposit for a Water and Sewer account is $126.00. The deposit for a Water only account is $122.00.

The deposit for a Sewer only account is $110.00.

Deposits will be refunded if an owner has timely payments of all water bills (paid before last business day of the month, no late fees or fees associated with delinquency) for a period of one year from the date of application. If the deposit is not refunded within the first year of service, the deposit will be held until service is discontinued. Renter deposits will be applied to their final bill. After service is discontinued, the deposit will be applied to the closing bill and any amount in excess of the closing bill will be refunded to the customer.

1. The customer or applicant may pay the deposit in full or in three installments. Installments shall be one-third the deposit. The first installment is due immediately; the remaining installments are due 30 days and 60 days after the first installment payment.

2. In lieu of paying a deposit, an applicant or customer may provide proof of prior good payment history with another water utility company within the last 18 months and if applicable good payment history with the City of Elgin. The account must have been established for no less than 12 months and be in the customer's name.

3. When an installment payment for a deposit or a deposit is made with a payment for water and sewer utility service, the amount paid shall first be applied toward payment of the amount due for deposit.

4. When a customer enters into an installment agreement for payment of a deposit under section (1) of this rule, written notice explaining the deposit requirements will be provided. The notice will include the due date of the installment payments and stating that water service will be disconnected if payment is not received when due.

5. If the customer fails to abide by the terms of the deposit installment agreement, a door knocker will be issued the following Monday.

6. A new or additional deposit may be required from a customer as a condition of continued service when:

a. The City discovers that the customer gave false information to establish an account.

b. The City discovers that the customer has committed theft of service, has tampered with the meter or other water utility facilities, or was otherwise found to have diverted water utility service.

7. A customer who is required to pay an additional deposit shall pay one-third of the total deposit within five days. The remainder of the deposit is due under the terms of section (1) ofthis rule. lfthe customer has an existing deposit installment agreement, the remaining installment payments will be adjusted to include the additional deposit; however, two installment payments will not be required within the same 30-day period.

8. If a customer is disconnected for theft of service, the customer will be required to pay a deposit in addition to any overdue charges on the customer's account and repair charges as explained in OAR 860-036-0250. This deposit may be paid in one payment or in two equal installments. The deposit or first deposit installment is due upon restoration of service and the second installment is due within 30 days of the restoration of service.

9. If disconnection of water service for nonpayment of monthly billed services occurs, the customer shall pay the full amount of the outstanding deposit, any applicable turn on fee, late-payment fee and past due amount before service is restored. Customer may continue with an existing time-payment agreement by paying all past-due installments.

10. Deposits will be held by the City's Water Fund and will not earn interest.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 13th day of September 2016.