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26-77 ORDINANCE NO. 26-77. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING CHAPTER 27 "WATER AND SANITARY SEWERAGE" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH BY A~ENDING THE CAPTION OF SECTION 27-5 TO ADD PROTEST AND APPEAL PROCEDURE; REPEALING SECTION 27-5 (a) AND'~INSERTING A NEW SECTION 27-5(a) RELATIVE TO TERMINATION OF DELINQUENT WATER ACCOUNTS SUBJECT TO FILING A PROTEST AND REQUEST FOR HEARING, PROCEDURE FOR HEARING; REPEALING SECTION 27-29 AND INSERTING A NEW SECTION 27-29 RELATIVE TO TIME AND METHOD OF PAYMENT FOR SEWER SERVICE SO AS TO COMPLY WITH THE PROVISIONS AND PROCEDURE SET FORTH IN SECTION 27-5 RELATING TO A DELINQUENT ACCOUNT; PROVIDING A SAVING CLAUSE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. That the caption of Section 27-5 is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 27-5. Application for service; nonpayment of bill; protest and appeal procedure; suspension of service; reinstallation of service; testing meters. Section 2. That Section 27-5(a) is hereby ~epealed and a new subsection (a) is hereby inserted to read as follows: (a) Upon application for water service and payment of deposit as required by this Chapter, water will be turned on as soon as practical. Bills shall be rendered to each customer (person whose name the account is in) each month, which shall be due and payable 'forthwith. Any bill remaining unpaid for a period of thirty (30) days after rendition shall become delinquent. If a delinquent bill is not paid within eighteen (18) days, the water will be cut off and the service terminated, unless a protest and/or appeal is filed pursuant to the following procedure: (1) After the customer's account is delinquent, the Water Department shall notify the customer~in writing that it intends to terminate water service eighteen (18) days from the date of the delinquency, stating the reasons therefore, the amount of arrearage, if any, and the date after which water service may be terminated. The Water Department must include in this notification that the customer has six (6) business days (from the date of postmark) in which to make a written 'Protest to a designated off,er or managerial employee of the Water Department, ~tating in the notification the last day for filing said Protest. The Protest will be considered timely filed if it is received or postmarked not later than the last day for filing said Protest. Any legible written statement which may be reasonably con- strued as a Protest and filed within the prescribed time shall be accepted. If a Protest hereunder is filed, water service will not be terminated while said Protest is pending. (2) If a Protest is not filed, then after the expiration of said period of eighteen (18) days, and before the water ~ service is terminated, the Water Department shall determine if the customer and water user is one and the same person. If they are one and the same person, the water service will then be terminated. If the user is a different person from the customer, the user (if less than eight (8) per one account) shall be notified in writing of the delinqUent bill, that the Water Department intends to terminate the water service eighteen (18) days from the date of postmark, if the notice to the user is mailed, or from date of delivery, if the notice to the user is personally delivered; the reasons therefore, the amount of arrearage, if any; the date after which water service may be terminated; and that the user has six (6) business days (from the date of delivery of notice, if personally delivered, or from the date of postmark, if said notice is mailed) in which to make a written protest to'a designated officer or managerial employee of the Water Department, stating in the notice the last day for filing said protest. If the customer is the owner or representative of eight (8~ or more users, as in ~he case of, but nos l'imited to, an apartment house, condominium, Cooperative, or multi-family. residence building, the users will be notified by posting a written notice on the premises of the delinquent bill, stating that the Water Department intends to terminate the water service eighteen (18) days from the date of the notice posted, the reasons therefore, the amount of arrearage, if any, the date after which the water service may be terminated, and that the users have six (6) business days (from the date of posting the notice) in which to make a written protest to a designated officer or managerial employee of the Water Department, stating in the notice the last day for filing said Protest. The Protest will be considered timely filed if it is received or postmarked not later than the last day for filing said Protest. Any legible written statement which may be reasonably construed as a Protest and filed within the prescribed time shall be accepted. If a Protest hereunder is filed, water service will not be terminated while said Protest is pending. (3) If a Protest is filed pursuant to the aforementioned procedure, the Water Department officer or managerial employee shall address himself to the customer's or user's communication, make a bona£ide inquiry into the dispute presented by the customer or users and make a direct individual response, explaining in detail the Water Department's position upon the matter. If such response is oral, the Water Department~shall, within a reasonable time thereafter, reduce the same to writing and deliver a copy thereof to the 'customer. The written response shall contain a notice that the customer or users may file an appeal requesting a hearing if the customer or users are not satisfied with the aforementioned finding of the Water Department within six (6) business days (from the date of postmark) stating the last day for filing said Appeal; that said Appeal must be in writing and must be accompanied by a deposit of $25.00 or an amount equal to the Water Department's bill to the customer or residence of user for the month prior to the month said account became delinquent, whichever is lower. If there was nob ill for the month prior to the month said account became delinquent, the deposit shall be $25.00. The deposit shall be made with the City and held in an escrow account until the hearing is concluded and a decision rendered by the person conducting it. Water service will not be terminated pending the outcome of said hea~ing. Any legibl~, written statement which may be reasonsab!y, oon- strued as an Appeal and filed within the prescribed time will be accepted as aIproper request for a Hearing. The Appeal will be con- sidered ti/~ely if received by the Water Department or postmarked not later than the last day for filing said Appeal. (4) Upon receipt of a request for a hearing and applicable deposit, the protest and request for hearing shall be assigned by the Water Department to a person to conduct the hearing. The. hearing may be conducted by an adult person, including an employee of the City of Delray Beach, provided he or she is not an employee of the Water or Finance Departments. The person to whom the protest has been assigned for hearing shall notify the customer or user as to the date, place and time of the hearing. This notice shall be at least five (5) - 2 - Ord. No.26-77. business days prior to the date of the hearing. The hearing shall take place within 30 calendar days from the date the request for hearing is received by the Water Department, and shall be open to the public. (5) The hearing shall be as informal as is compatible with. justice and shall include the following procedures: (i) A~i parties shall have an opportunity to respond, to present evidence and argument on all issues involved, to conduct cross~examination and submit rebuttal evidence; (ii) Irrevelant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded, but all other evidence of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably prudent persons in the cDn~Uct of their affairs shall be admissible, whether~or not such evidence would be admissible in a trial in the courts of Florida; (iii) Any part of the evidence may be received in written form, and all testimony of parties and witnesses shall be made under oath, and (iv) Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose o~ supplemen ~ing or explaining other evidence, but it shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding, unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. (6) The customer or user will be notified of the outcome of the above Hearing and the reasons for the decision. If the decision is in favor of the customer or user and no portion of the bill is found due, the amount of said deposit shall be returned to him immediately. If the decision is adverse to the customer or user, the amount of said deposit shall be applied against the arrearage found due the Water Department. If the deposit is in excess of said arrearage, the excess shall be remitted to the customer or user. If the deposit is less than said arrearage, the notice shall inform the customer or user the amount of the arrearage due after crediting the deposit and that water service will be terminated five (5) days after the notice is postmarked. The notice will specify the date after which service may be terminated. If the customer or user ~tenders the amount of the arrearage due the Water Department prior to the aforementioned termination date, the customer's or user's account will be credited and water service will not be terminated. (7) The Water Department will not terminate water service while any of the aforementioned procedures are pending. Water will be cut off at any time requested by the consumer and guarantee of deposit refunded upon settlement of all back charges incurred by the consumer. The owner of the property being serviced by City water is to be held responsible for all charges against that property for water use. In the event the water use charges against it become delinquent and said services are discontinued by the City, as herein provided, said services shall no~ be restored until-all delinquent cha~ges plus penalties, shut-off and reconnection charges are paid in full; provided, however, the City shall not refuse to accept an application for water service or to open a separate water service account because of an outstanding delinquent bill on the subject property which was not incurred by the applicant. Section 3. That Section 27-29 is hereby repealed and a new Section 27-29 is hereby inserted to read as follows: Section 27-29 Time and method of payment. All statements for sewer service shall be submitted monthly on the same statement as the charges for water service and shall be due ~nd payable'at the.~same time as the statement for water services; provided, however, the charge for sewer service shall be made - 3 - Ord. No. 26-77. a separate item thereon; and further provided that nonpayment of such charges shall render the user subject to the provisions of Section 27-5 provided for nonpayment of water bills as now or hereafter established by the Ordinances of this City. The owner of the property being serviced by City Sewer shall be responsible for all charges against that property for sewer use. Section 4. That should any section or provision of this ordinance or any portion thereof, any paragraph, sentence, or word be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such ~cision shall not affect the validity of the remainder hereof as a whole or part thereof other than the part declared to be invalid. Section 5. That this ordinance shall become effective upon second and final re~ding. PASSED AND ADOPTED i~ regular session on second and final reading on this the 23rd day of M~y , 1977. ATTEST: City Clerk First Reading ~ 9~ 1977 Second Reading. May 23~ 1977 - 4 - ORD NO. 26-77.