1978-053AN 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 "Utlllt~es", Article I, Section 25-4 ~s
hereby amended to read as follows-
"Section 25-4 Service Deposits
(a) No servloe deposlt wlll be requlred if the customer
requesting water and/or electric service can pro-
v~de or meet one of the following conditions
(1) A record of prompt payment for the past twelve
months w~th the C~ty of Denton Ut~llty System
or another electric utility system
(2) A co-s~gner who has a good credlt ratlng wlth
the C~ty of Denton Utility System or another
electric utility system and w~ll guarantee pay-
ment of the utility statement
(b) If one of the condltlons in (a) cannot be met, then
the customer requestlng water and/or electrlc service
w~ll be required to deposit an amount equal to 1/6 of
of the last 12 months b~ll~ng at the location where
service ~s requested If no previous history is avail-
able for the looatlon, a representative s~m~lar type
fac~llty will be used to establlsh the amount of the
deposits In the case of commercial or ~ndustr~al ser-
vice, · f the credit of a customer for servlce has not
been established satisfactorily to the utillty, the
applicant may be required to make a deposit or, ~n the
case of new corporate account, a personal guarantee
may be accepted ~n l~eu of a deposit Deposits w~lt
be refunded after a prompt payment record has been
established over the past 12 months
Interest on deposits shall be pa~d at an annual rate
at least equal to slx percent (6%) If refund of
deposit ~s made w~th~n thirty (30) days of receipt of
deposit, no ~nterest wlll be paid If the deposit is
retained more than thirty (30) days, payment of ~n-
terest shall be retroactive to the date of deposit
The deposlt shall cease to draw interest on the date
~t ~s returned or credited to the customer's account
Payment of the ~nterest to the customer shall be
annually, or at the t~me the deposit ~s 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 g~ven service
promptly after application, but ~f the credlt check
proves negative, the customer wall be required to
produce a co-signer or place of deposit. Failure
to do so will result in the discontinuance of ser-
vzce with no less than two days of notlflcatlon 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-
lng customers for transferring from one locatzon to
another
(e) If water and/or electric utility service ~s discon-
nected for non-payment, then the customer wzll be
required to pay a $20 00 reconnect fee and ma~ntazn
a deposit sum equal to 1/6 of the last 12 months
bllllng at the location where service is requested"
(2) That Chapter 25 "Utilities", Article I, Section 25-6 ~s
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
fzfteen (15) days from the date of the utzl~ty
statement Payment must be received ~n the City
of Denton's Cashier Off~ce 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 ~all 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
w~ll be rated "A" or "B" at the t~me their current
utlllty statement is prepared A customer with no
outstanding past due balance w~ll 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 ~s not paid in full
by the due date
(2) A customer with a "B" rating may be discon-
nected ~f his account is not paid ~n full by
the due date
(c) Notlce of Termination for Customers with a "B" Rating
A customer with a "B" ratzng will be notzfled on hzs
current utlllty statement that hzs service w~ll be
disconnected the day after the present due date if
payment for the past and present statements ~s not
received by the due date The not~ce w~ll ~nform
the customer that he/she should contact the customer
service department of the City of Denton wlthln the
fifteen (15) day period and prior to disconnection
of utlllty 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 notzfzed by
mall of possible termination and his alternatives
(d) Alternatives to Termination of Utility Service A
customer with a "B" ratlng may avoid termlnatzon of
utility service by doing one of the following-
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(1) Payang the total amount due
(2) Arranging wlth the Customer Servace Depart-
ment for a deferred payment agreement that
would requare payment of at least fafty (50%)
percent of the outstanding ball and payment
of the remaan~ng amount an not more than sax
(6) equal monthly payments
(3) If the customer as unable to meet these con-
dataons or af he/she has defaulted on a de-
ferred agreement, he/she wall be referred to
a "Utalaty Account Revaew Committee" for fur-
ther actaon Thas Commattee wall be composed
of the C~ty Manager, City Attorney, Fanance
Darector and Utalaty Darector or thear desag-
nated representatave af they are unable to
attend a meetang The Utalaty Account Revaew
Commlttee ~s authorazed to develop a deferred
payment agreement beyond the sax (6) month
period but could not extend beyond twelve (12)
months. Nelther the Customer Servace Depart-
ment nor the Ut~laty Account Review Commattee
wall have the authoraty to waave all or any por-
taon of the utalaty statement owang to the Caty
except when an error in balllng has occurred
Any account that as dellnquent wall be referred
to the Caty Attorney for collectaon, and appro-
praate reports regarding the account's credat
ratang wall be processed
(e) Certaln Adjustments Prohabated No adjustment wall
be made an any monthly ball because of any water or
electrac leak or loss
No allowance shall be made on utalaty balls by reason
of use of less servace than the quantity set as the
basas for the manamum charge
(f) Separate Meters Requlred Each customer maantaanlng
a separate resadence, eather house or apartment shall
have a separate water meter and electrac meter and a
separate servace connectaon to the caty sewer lanes,
provaded, however, that multaple dwellangs contaanang
less than fave (5) unats may be served by one water
and one electrac meter and one sewer servace connectaon
and wall be balled under the resadentaal multaple block
rate Multiple dwellings contalnang fave (5) or more
un~ts whach do not have separate meterang and servace
facalataes shall be classafled as commercaal bualdangs
for utalaty purposes and shall be balled under the
applacable commercaal rates
(g) Notace on Movang Requared Any customer or prospec-
tave customer of the Caty of Denton Utllaty System
movang anto or out of a bulldang where electrac, water
or sewer servace as or wall be provided shall gave a
mlnamum of twenty-four (24) hours notace to the Cus-
tomer Servace Department prior to the proposed date
of connectaon or dasconnectlon of saad ut~lltaes.
(3) That Chapter 25 "Utalataes", Artacle II, Section 25-21 (5)
hereby amended to read as follows
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"Sectaon 25-21(5) Payment
Ballang for servace hereunder wall be at the net
monthly rate, payment of whach as due on or before
the due date shown on the statement A penalty for
non-payment of the ball wall be assessed and charged
Balls whach are not paid by the close of busaness of
the due date will be considered overdue The penalty
shall be the net monthly rate multlplaed by fave (5%)
percent, and the statement sent to the utalaty user
wall show an amount due on or before the due date, and
wall show an amount which includes the penalty that
wall be due after the due date Sections 25-4 and
25-6 of thas Chapter wall apply to servace users hav-
ing overdue balls
(4) That Chapter 25 "Utalataes", Article IV, Sectaon 25-60(a)
(3) is hereby amended as follows:
"Section 25-60(a) (3) Payment
Billang for service hereunder will be at the net
monthly rate, payment of whach as due on or before
the due date shown on the statement A penalty for
non-payment of the ball wall be assessed and charged
Bills whach are not paad by the close of busaness on
the due date wall be considered overdue The penalty
shall be the net monthly rate multaplaed by five (5%)
percent, and the statement sent to the utllaty user
wall 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 Sectaons 25-4 and
25-6 of this Chapter wall apply to servace users hav-
ing overdue b~lls
SECTION II
That af any sectaon, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause,
phrase or word an this ordanance, or application thereof to any per-
son or caroumstances Ks held anvalld by any court of competent ]uras-
dactlon, such holdang shall not affect the valadlty of the remalnang
portions of th~s ordinance, and the Caty Council of the City of Denton,
Texas, hereby declares it would have enacted such remaanang portaons
despate any such ~nvaladaty
SECTION III
That th~s ordinance shall become effectave fourteen (14) days
after the passage hereof except for the provaslons dealing wath
notafacataon of termanataon of service (Artacle I, Section 25-6(b)
and (c), and penalties (Article II, Section 25-21(5) and Article
IV, Sectaon 25-60(a) (3) The notlflcatlon of termination of servace
and penalty provisions will become effective with the customer
utllaty statements sent by the Caty of Denton on or after December 1,
1978
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1978
JOE~a/~TCHELL, MAYOR
CI~f OF DENTON, TEXAS
ATTEST
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM o
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
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