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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-053NO /I AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, AMENDING SECTION 25-4 "SERVICE DEPOSITS" AND SECTION 25-6 "BILL- ING AND COLLECTION FOR SERVICES" OF CHAPTER 25 "UTILITIES"; PRO- VIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION I (1) That Chapter 25 "Utilities", Article I, Section 25-4 is hereby amended to read as follows - "Section 25-4 Service Deposits (a) No service deposit will be required if the customer requesting water and/or electric service can pro- vide or meet one of the following conditions (1) A record of prompt payment for the past twelve months with the City of Denton Utility System or another electric utility system (2) A co-signer who has a good credit rating with the City of Denton Utility System or another electric utility system and will guarantee pay- ment of the utility statement (b) If one of the conditions in (a) cannot be met, then the customer requesting water and/or electric service will be required to deposit an amount equal to 1/6 of of the last 12 months billing at the location where service is requested If no previous history is avail- able for the location, a representative similar type facility will be used to establish the amount of the deposits In the case of commercial or industrial ser- vice, if the credit of a customer for service has not been established satisfactorily to the utility, the applicant may be required to make a deposit or, in the case of new corporate account, a personal guarantee may be accepted in lieu of a deposit Deposits will be refunded after a prompt payment record has been established over the past 12 months Interest on deposits shall be paid at an annual rate at least equal to six percent (6%) If refund of deposit is made within thirty (30) days of receipt of deposit, no interest will be paid If the deposit is retained more than thirty (30) days, payment of in- terest shall be retroactive to the date of deposit The deposit shall cease to draw interest on the date it is returned or credited to the customer's account Payment of the interest to the customer shall be annually, or at the time the deposit is returned or credited to the customer's account (c) After making application for service, the customer service department may have to pursue a credit re- ference check The customer will be given service promptly after application, but if the credit check proves negative, the customer will be required to produce a co-signer or place of deposit. Failure to do so will result in the discontinuance of ser- vice with no less than two days of notification to the prospective customer by the customer service department (d) A connection fee of $10 00 will be charged to new customers requesting water and/or electric service and a transfer fee of $10 00 will be charged exist- ing customers for transferring from one location to another (e) If water and/or electric utility service is discon- nected for non-payment, then the customer will be required to pay a $20 00 reconnect fee and maintain a deposit sum equal to 1/6 of the last 12 months billing at the location where service is requested " (2) That Chapter 25 "Utilities", Article I, Section 25-6 is hereby amended to read as follows. (a) Payment of Statements The due date for the pay- ment of the utility statement will be no less than fifteen (15) days from the date of the utility statement Payment must be received in the City of Denton's Cashier Office by close of business on the due date regardless of the postmarked date in order to avoid assessment of a penalty Payments placed in the mail and showing a postmark on due date will not be considered as being received on the due date (b) Discontinuance of Service for Non -Payment of State- ment Each customer of the City's utility system will be rated "A" or "B" at the time their current utility statement is prepared A customer with no outstanding past due balance will be rated "A", and a customer with an outstanding past due balance will be rated "B" (1) A customer with an "A" rating will not be dis- connected if his account is not paid in full by the due date (2) A customer with a "B" rating may be discon- nected if his account is not paid in full by the due date (c) Notice of Termination for Customers With a "B" Rating A customer with a "B" rating will be notified on his current utility statement that his service will be disconnected the day after the present due date if payment for the past and present statements is not received by the due date The notice will inform the customer that he/she should contact the customer service department of the City of Denton within the fifteen (15) day period and prior to disconnection of utility service to present any evidence or argu- ment concerning the statement or amount of utility service provided by the City If full payment has not been made approximately five (5) days prior to the due date the customer will again be notified by mail of possible termination and his alternatives (d) Alternatives to Termination of Utility Service A customer with a "B" rating may avoid termination of utility service by doing one of the following- -2- (1) Paying the total amount due (2) Arranging with the Customer Service Depart- ment for a deferred payment agreement that would require payment of at least fifty (50%) percent of the outstanding bill and payment of the remaining amount in not more than six (6) equal monthly payments (3) If the customer is unable to meet these con- ditions or if he/she has defaulted on a de- ferred agreement, he/she will be referred to a "Utility Account Review Committee" for fur- ther action This Committee will be composed of the City Manager, City Attorney, Finance Director and Utility Director or their desig- nated representative if they are unable to attend a meeting The Utility Account Review Committee is authorized to develop a deferred payment agreement beyond the six (6) month period but could not extend beyond twelve (12) months. Neither the Customer Service Depart- ment nor the Utility Account Review Committee will have the authority to waive all or any por- tion of the utility statement owing to the City except when an error in billing has occurred Any account that is delinquent will be referred to the City Attorney for collection, and appro- priate reports regarding the account's credit rating will be processed (e) Certain Adjustments Prohibited No adjustment will be made in any monthly bill because of any water or electric leak or loss No allowance shall be made on utility bills by reason of use of less service than the quantity set as the basis for the minimum charge (f) Separate Meters Required Each customer maintaining a separate residence, either house or apartment shall have a separate water meter and electric meter and a separate service connection to the city sewer lines, provided, however, that multiple dwellings containing less than five (5) units may be served by one water and one electric meter and one sewer service connection and will be billed under the residential multiple block rate Multiple dwellings containing five (5) or more units which do not have separate metering and service facilities shall be classified as commercial buildings for utility purposes and shall be billed under the applicable commercial rates (g) Notice on Moving Required Any customer or prospec- tive customer of the City of Denton Utility System moving into or out of a building where electric, water or sewer service is or will be provided shall give a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours notice to the Cus- tomer Service Department prior to the proposed date of connection or disconnection of said utilities. (3) That Chapter 25 "Utilities", Article II, Section 25-21 (5) is hereby amended to read as follows -3- "Section 25-21(5) Payment Billing for service hereunder will be at the net monthly rate, payment of which is due on or before the due date shown on the statement A penalty for non-payment of the bill will be assessed and charged Bills which are not paid by the close of business of the due date will be considered overdue The penalty shall be the net monthly rate multiplied by five (5%) percent, and the statement sent to the utility user will show an amount due on or before the due date, and will show an amount which includes the penalty that will be due after the due date Sections 25-4 and 25-6 of this Chapter will apply to service users hav- ing overdue bills (4) That Chapter 25 "Utilities", Article IV, Section 25-60(a) (3) is hereby amended as follows: "Section 25-60(a)(3) Payment Billing for service hereunder will be at the net monthly rate, payment of which is due on or before the due date shown on the statement A penalty for non-payment of the bill will be assessed and charged Bills which are not paid by the close of business on the due date will be considered overdue The penalty shall be the net monthly rate multiplied by five (5%) percent, and the statement sent to the utility user will show an amount due on or before the due date, and will show an amount which includes the penalty that will be due after the due date Sections 25-4 and 25-6 of this Chapter will apply to service users hav- ing overdue bills SECTION II That if any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any per- son or circumstances is held invalid by any court of competent juris- diction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, hereby declares it would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity SECTION III That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days after the passage hereof except for the provisions dealing with notification of termination of service (Article I, Section 25-6(b) and (c), and penalties (Article II, Section 25-21(5) and Article IV, Section 25-60(a)(3) The notification of termination of service and penalty provisions will become effective with the customer utility statements sent by the City of Denton on or after December 1, 1978 -4- PASSED AND APPROVED this the �?-'d day of Oe'LL,., , 1978 ATTEST OOKS OLT, CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM. ✓ PAULPAUL C-ISH M, CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS -5-