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06-048 - O TOWN OF PROSPER,TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 06-48 AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWN OF PROSPER, TEXAS, CREATING PROCEDURES FOR UTILITY BILLS, ADJUSTMENTS IN UTILITY BILLS AND THE TERMINATION/DISCONNECTION OF SERVICES FOR THE TOWN OF PROSPER; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION OF THIS ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR REPEALING, SAVINGS AND SEVERABILITY CLAUSES; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ORDINANCE; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE CAPTION HEREOF. WHEREAS, the Town of Prosper, Texas (the "Town") recognizes that the utilities provided by the Town are a valuable resource to the Town and the Town needs to recoup its costs for providing utilities and have procedures for utility billing and disconnections; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Chapter 54 of the Local Government Code and other applicable authority, the Town is authorized to adopt such policies; and WHEREAS, the Town seeks to adopt an ordinance complying with the due process procedures necessary to terminate utility service for non-payment or otherwise; and WHEREAS, the Town Council of the Town ("Town Council") has further investigated and determined that it will be advantageous and beneficial to the citizens of Prosper and will promote the public health, safety and welfare to regulate utility billing and utility service termination. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF PROSPER, TEXAS: Section 1. Findings Incorporated. The findings set forth above are incorporated into the body of this Ordinance as if fully set forth herein. Section 2. Utility Bill Procedures; Adiustments In Utility Billing; Termination/Disconnection of Services. The Town hereby adopts the following procedures: 1. Utility Bill Procedures. a. Utility bill payments. Utility bill payments may be made by cash, check, money order, or via a credit or debit card when such a credit/debit card system is implemented by the Town. No two-party checks will be accepted. No payroll checks will be cashed through the utility department. All returned checks will be assessed a returned check fee as established by Comprehensive Fee Ordinance Nos. 02-33, 03-07, and 03-42, as they exist or are amended, for administrative costs. This returned check fee will also be charged to customers requesting the Town to re-present a check for deposit. The Town will re-present a check only one time. Only cash, a cashier's check, money order, or credit or debit card will be accepted for payment Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 1 448079-1 after three (3) returned checks have been received by the Town over a two (2) year period, using the date of the last returned check. b. Request for new service. A request for new service must be accompanied by a completed service application and the required service initiation fee. Reasonable efforts will be made to connect utility service by the end of the same business day for applications received by 12:00 p.m. Otherwise, all reasonable efforts will be made to connect service by the end of the following business day. Except as otherwise provided herein, service initiation fees are non-refundable. c. Meter Re-reads. A customer may request a re-read of their water meter. A water meter reading charge as established by Comprehensive Fee Ordinance Nos. 02-33, 03-07, and 03-42, as they exist or are amended, shall be charged on the next month's water bill if the reading is determined to be correct. No water meter reading charge will be assessed if the Town determines that the original reading was incorrect. d. Transfer of service from one service address to another. A customer moving from one service address to another within the Town may have their service transferred from their current service address to another service address with the payment of a transfer fee as established by Comprehensive Fee Ordinance Nos. 02-33, 03-07, and 03-42, as they exist or are amended. The transfer fee will be charged on the next month's water bill. An additional service initiation fee will not be assessed. e. Transfer of service to person at same dwelling. A customer, having no balance owed on their Town utility account, may transfer their account to another person, living at the same dwelling, by sending a letter, dated and signed by the original applicant who initiated the account, requesting said transfer. Upon completion of the required forms and payment of a transfer fee as established by Comprehensive Fee Ordinance Nos. 02-33, 03-07, and 03-42„ the transferee may have the service at the subject address transferred into their name. f. Prosecution for tampering or by-passing. The Town will prosecute persons who tamper with or by-pass a water meter that has been turned off and/or locked. Tampering with or bypassing a meter shall be prosecuted in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure and/or the Penal Code, as they exist or may be amended. 2. Adjustments in Utility Billing. a. Scaling or reduction of bill generally. Any scaling of a water bill as shown by a meter or other reduction in a utility bill is unlawful and is prohibited, unless such reduction is made in accordance with specific provisions of this Ordinance. Any officer or employee of the Town scaling or reducing any bill, except in accordance with this Ordinance, shall be personally responsible for the reduction in Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 2 448079-1 the bill, and shall be disciplined in accordance with Town policy, up to and including termination of employment with the Town. b. Adjustment of bill as result of defect in customer's line. (1) Any residential, commercial, multifamily or outdoor customer of the Town may request a correction of any water bill from the Town for water usage because of a loss of water through an excusable defect (hereinafter defined) in the customer's water line for a period not to exceed two (2) consecutive months, by filing a sworn written application with the utility official, as designated by the Town Administrator, and mailing or delivering the same to the department within thirty (30) days of the repair of the excusable defect. Such application shall contain the following matters and such other information as the utility official may require: (a) The name of the applicant, the address or description of the property or premises furnished water, the bill which is sought to be corrected, the date of the bill and the period of water usage covered thereby. (b) A statement of the date on which the excusable defect in the applicant's water line was discovered, and the date on which it was repaired; and a statement that water was lost after it passed through the Town water meter serving such property and that such water was not used in any manner by anyone. (c) A written acknowledgment that the applicant makes the statements shown on the application and swears to their veracity for the purpose of inducing the Town to grant a reduction in the amount of the water bill for which a correction is requested. (d) The application shall show whether or not there have been any additional water appliances or fixtures, swimming pools, or hot tubs placed in use on the applicant's premises during the period covered by such bill. (e) Documentation shall be submitted detailing the exact nature and date of repairs to the applicant's water line. (f) A statement that the applicant is personally familiar with all of the matters of facts stated in the application and sworn to therein, that they are made on his personal knowledge and that they are each true and correct. (g) The customer shall execute a statement setting forth an understanding that the application is a government record subject to Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 3 448079-1 criminal prosecution for false statements under Chapter 37 of the Texas Penal Code and shall state that the applicant certifies that the application contains no false statements. As used in this Ordinance the term "excusable defect" shall mean a rupture or leakage of the customer's water lines as may be caused by freezing weather, settlement, corrosion, wear or accident. The term does not apply to defective or out-of-repair faucets. (2) Applications under this section shall be made on forms prescribed by the Town Administrator. (3) Upon receipt of a properly completed application, the utility official shall review such application, and if he/she approves the same as being in compliance with this Ordinance, the applicant's bill shall be corrected by applying to the amount of water consumption shown thereon in excess of the applicant's average water usage, a rate of charge equal to one-half of the normal rate of such water usage by a customer in the applicant's classification, which reduction in rate shall be accomplished in the following manner: (a) The applicant's average water usage will be based on the previous nine(9)months. If the applicant has not been a customer for a sufficient length of time to make such determination, then the average water usage for a like period of time for Town water customers living within the applicant's vicinity, as solely determined by the utility official, will be used. This average water usage so determined will hereafter be referred to as "average usage." (b) From the total water consumption shown on the bill submitted for correction, the average usage will be deducted. The resulting figure will hereafter be referred to as "excess usage." (c) The excess usage will be considered consumption beyond the average usage, and one-half of the regular rate for consumption beyond the average usage (for customers in the applicants' rate classification) will be applied to the excess usage and this will determine the amount the applicant must pay for the excess usage. (d) The regular rate for customers in the applicant's rate classification will be applied to the average usage and this amount will be added to the amount due for the excess usage, and the total of those two amounts will be the sum that the applicant must pay for water usage during the period covered by the corrected bill. Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 4 448079-1 (e) A determination by the utility official of the amount of a correction to be made in an applicant's water bill in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance shall be final. c. Adjustment of unusually large bill. (1) Any single-family residential customer who receives a water bill for any given month that is computed on the basis of a gross quantity greater than 200 percent of the average monthly gross quantity (hereinafter defined) applicable to such customer, may request an adjustment of the bill in the manner provided in this Ordinance; provided, that for any given customer, only one such monthly bill out of any series of 12 consecutive monthly bills may be adjusted under this Ordinance. The `average monthly gross quantity' applicable to a customer means the average gross quantity for water service to the same premises during the 12 months immediately preceding the month for which the adjustment is sought. In order to request such an adjustment, the customer shall file an application for the adjustment on a form furnished by the utility official. The application form shall contain a statement setting forth an understanding that the application is a government record subject to criminal prosecution for false statements under Chapter 37 of the Texas Penal Code, and the customer shall state that the application contains no false statements. The application shall identify the bill and briefly state: (a) The reasons for the request for the adjustment; (b) A description of the additional water appliances or fixtures, swimming pools, or hot tubs, if any that have been placed in use by the customer during the current month or the preceding 12 months; (c) That there have been no plumbing repairs or necessity therefore during the month for which an adjustment is sought or that the nature of any plumbing defects would not explain the additional usage; and (d) Such other information as the application may require. (2) Upon receiving such application, the utility official shall make an investigation to determine if an error was made, which investigation shall include, among other things, an inspection of the customer's water meter and review of the customer's billing record. If the initial investigation reveals a billing or meter error, the utility official shall make an adjustment to correct the error. If the investigation does not reveal an error, the utility official may make such further investigation, as the utility official deems advisable, and shall give full consideration to the statements contained in the customer's Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 5 448079-1 application. The utility official will consider new landscaping, irrigation systems, winter rye grass, abnormally lush landscaping, holiday visitors, new swimming pools or hot tubs, and other new water appliances or fixtures as indications of and contributors to high water use. If the utility official concludes that, in all reasonable probability, the customer was charged for more water than the customer consumed during the month in question, but is unable to actually account for such unusual quantity, the utility official shall recompute the bill using as the gross quantity 200 percent of the average monthly gross quantity applicable to the customer. A determination by the utility official made in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance shall be final. 3. Termination/Disconnection of Services. a. Water service will not be turned off or solid waste collection services discontinued for non-payment of a utility bill if reasonable efforts to pay one-half of the utility bill and/or arrangements have been made with the utility official to pay the remaining amount. A late fee as established by Comprehensive Fee Ordinance Nos. 02-33, 03-07, and 03-42, as they exist or are amended, will be assessed to accounts for bills not paid by 5:00 p.m. on the 10th day from the date of the bill except when the 10th day falls on Saturday, Sunday or other day on which Town offices are closed under which condition the bill is due by 5:00 p.m. on the next working day. b. Prior to discontinuing water service for a customer's failure to pay their utility services in accordance with this Ordinance, the Town will send a certified letter to the customer at the customer's billing address stating: (i) the date the Town intends to disconnect water utilities and/or discontinue solid waste collection services for failure to pay for the services; and(ii) who the customer can contact at the Town to schedule a hearing if they wish to dispute the amount of the charges or the decision to disconnect. The Town will also place a notice on the front door of the customer's service address requesting that the customer contact the Town's Utility Department. The customer must request a hearing in writing within seven (7) business days of the date of the letter. If the customer requests a hearing, the hearing will be scheduled before the intended disconnection date set forth in the Town's letter. The hearing will be held before the Town Administrator or the utility official, both who have the authority to resolve the dispute and rescind the disconnection order if the hearing results in a finding that the disconnection order was issued in error. If the customer fails to request a hearing, or a hearing is held and it is determined that the order to disconnect is valid, then the Town may disconnect the services on the date set forth in the letter. The Town will not terminate water service for non-payment on Fridays. Section 3. Savings/Repealing. All provisions of any ordinance in conflict with this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent they are in conflict; but such repeal shall not abate any pending prosecution for violation of the repealed ordinance, nor shall the repeal prevent a prosecution from being commenced for any violation if occurring prior to the repeal Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 6 448079-1 of the ordinance. Any remaining portions of said ordinances shall remain in full force and effect. Section 4. Penalty Provision. Any person, firm, corporation or business entity violating this, as it exists or may be amended, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to a fine not to exceed the sum of FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00), unless the violation relates to fire safety or public health and sanitation, in which the fine shall not exceed the sum of TWO THOUSAND AND NO/100 DOLLARS ($2,000.00). Each continuing day's violation under this Ordinance shall constitute a separate offense. The penal provisions imposed under this Ordinance shall not preclude the Town from filing suit to enjoin the violation. The Town retains all legal rights and remedies available to it pursuant to local, state and federal law. Section 5. Severability. Should any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance be declared unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, it is expressly provided that any and all remaining portions of this Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect. Prosper hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof regardless of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses and phrases be declared unconstitutional or invalid. Section 6. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective from and after its adoption and publication as required by law. DULY PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF PROSPER, TEXAS, on this 23`d day of May, 2006. CHARLES SWANGE , ayor ATTESTED : 40,./A10-414 own Secretary Date(s)of Publication: , The Dallas Morning News—Collin County Edition Ordinance Creating Procedures for Utility Bills Page 7 448079-I