§ 25-52. Rendering and payment of bills.

(a)

The finance director shall have the right to read meters and render bills on either a monthly or bimonthly basis. A service bill may include any of the following:

(1)

Water charges at the applicable rate;

(2)

Sewer charges at the applicable rate;

(3)

Any applicable state or local taxes;

(4)

Trash service charges on a pro-rata basis at the applicable rate for the duration of time that the city is responsible for such billing.

(5)

Clean-up fee assessed as necessary at the applicable rate.

(6)

Any other cost, charge, or deposit provided for in this article.

(b)

Bills and notices to any customer shall be deemed to have been delivered when deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the last known address of the customer as shown on records of the finance director.

(c)

Payments shall be made at the Finance Department, City Hall, 201 South Franklin, Kirksville, Missouri 63501, or any authorized agency or location. All bills will be due and payable on or before the twentieth of the following month after the billing date. If the 20th falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the bill will be due on Monday by the close of normal business hours. If the 20th falls on a City of Kirksville Holiday, the bill will be due the next business day of that month. If any bill is not paid on or before the aforementioned schedule, the bill shall become delinquent and a ten (10) percent penalty will be assessed on the outstanding balance. All customers will be subject to this ten (10) percent penalty.

(d)

The occupant and user of the premises receiving water service and the owner of the premises shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the services rendered to the premises. A minimum charge shall be paid whether the quantity of water is used or not. Credit shall not be allowed for any cause unless discontinuance of service has been requested by the customer in writing and service has not been shut off by the city. Further, where the landlord or property owner fails to pay the utility charges, the city shall refuse to provide any water service to the premises with the delinquent charge even if applied for in the name of a subsequent tenant or new owner of the property, unless the subsequent tenant or new owner of the property pays a service connection fee to the city in an amount equal to the delinquent charge. If a landlord or new tenant pays the service connection fee in an amount equal to the delinquent charge owed on behalf of the previous tenant or previous owner of the property then the amount paid plus anticipated collection fees, if any, will be sent to a collection agency. Any amount recovered from the collection agency will be returned to the person who paid the account balance.

Landlords responsible for utility bills.

(1)

Landlords responsible for utility bills. Every property owner shall be responsible for any utility charges or fees left unpaid by any tenant of the premises served by the water or sewer utility.

(2)

Delinquent accounts. When a tenant is delinquent in payment for thirty (30) days, the city shall make a good faith effort to notify the owner of the premises receiving such service of the delinquency and the amount thereof. Any notice of termination of service shall be sent to both the occupant and owner of the premises receiving such service.

(3)

Penalty; severability; effective date. This section shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval, except that landlords will not be liable for unpaid delinquent utility bills incurred before the effective date of this section, unless the utility customer remains a tenant of the landlord for ninety (90) days past the effective date of this section. The provisions of this section are severable, as provided in Section 1.140 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. Those provisions of this section which establish an offense, are subject to the general penalty provisions provided by law, that is a penalty of zero dollar ($0.00) to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or zero (0) to ninety (90) days in jail or both a fine and a jail sentence.

(e)

The city shall not be bound by bills rendered under mistake of fact as to the quantity and nature of service rendered.

(f)

A notice of delinquency will be mailed notifying the customer that:

(1)

The customer's account with the city is delinquent. The amount payable includes a ten (10) percent penalty.

(2)

If payment of outstanding bill, penalty, and any applicable charges is not received within ten (10) days, service will be terminated without further notice.

(3)

If the customer believes the amount due is not correct, the customer may meet with the finance director during regular business hours, and the finance director is authorized to adjust customer bills in case of error.

(g)

If payment of outstanding bill, penalty, and any applicable charges is not received within ten (10) days, service will be terminated and be subject to the following charges to be eligible for reconnection..

(1)

Past due bill is paid in full, including penalties and any applicable charges.

(2)

Payment of any deposit which may have been reinstated or increased pursuant to section 25-51.

(3)

Payment of reconnection charges:

a.

A fifty dollar ($50.00) nonrefundable delinquent turn on fee will be assessed when reconnection is made between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on normal business days, Monday through Friday.

b.

A one hundred dollar ($100.00) nonrefundable delinquent turn on fee will be assessed when reconnection is made at any time other than as specified in the preceding subsection.

(h)

Submetering or resale of water by the customer is prohibited unless approved in writing by the Department of Natural Resources, State of Missouri and the city manager. A separate bill shall be rendered for each meter. Water furnished to the same customer through separate meters shall not be added or cumulated for billing purposes. In the event a customer fails to pay a bill incurred at one address to the extent that service is terminated, then the finance director shall add the amount of the delinquent bill to the bill for service at any other address at which he is a customer. If the bill thereafter shall become delinquent and remain unpaid fourteen (14) days from and after the date of a notice of delinquency concerning the bill, then service shall be terminated at that address under the procedures provided for herein.

(i)

The finance director is hereby authorized to meet with any customer upon request, during regular business hours, to review any bill alleged by the customer to be in error, and if it is determined that the bill is in error, then the finance director shall be empowered to adjust the bill accordingly.

(j)

No service shall be furnished or rendered free of charge to any customer, except for the legitimate purpose of the extinguishment of fire.

(k)

A minimum charge, or applicable tariff, shall be paid whether such quantity of water is used or not. Credit shall not be allowed for any use under the minimum charge.

(l)

Payments will be applied to an outstanding bill in the following order: trash service, clean-up fee, sewer service and then "water" service, inclusive of applicable taxes. Partial payment of an outstanding bill will subject the customer to the above provisions in sections 25-52(c) through 25-52(g).

(m)

Mobile home parks that are master metered will also be subject to the above section 25-52 provisions. A seventy-two-hour notice before service is terminated will be given by the city through either a notice posted in a common area at the site, a public notice placed in the newspaper or by door hangers placed at individual tenant sites. This will be deemed sufficient notice to the tenants of a service termination.

(n)

Customers may request a waiver of the ten (10) percent late payment penalty on a city utility bill paid late if:

(1)

The customer has a current active account with the city in his/her name;

(2)

The request for waiver is made within fifteen (15) days of the due date missed; and

(3)

The customer signs up for the city's direct debit service which remains in effect for a minimum for twenty-four (24) months. If a customer is or becomes disqualified from using the direct debit service or voluntarily terminates the service within that twenty-four-month period, the late payment penalty that was previously waived will then be added back to the account.

(o)

As a courtesy, the city may send out door hangers prior to disconnection. The issuance of a door hanger will result in an additional fee payable immediately to avoid disconnection of service.

(p)

A returned check fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) will be assessed to the maker for every check or direct debit that has been returned to the city without being honored by a banking institution. Unpaid returned checks or direct debits may be put back on a customer account and may subject the customer to termination of service if left unpaid.

(q)

If a bill has been rendered using an estimated consumption due to the city's inability to correct the meter, or obtain an actual reading and the actual reading results in a bill to be four (4) times more than a six-month average using the most recent six (6) months billing, the finance director is authorized to accept payment in equal installments up to six (6) months of no less than two (2) times the average bill based on the same six (6) months. A payment plan will not be offered to customers who failed to provide the city access to the meter within ninety (90) days from the first notification date made by the city.

(r)

If a final invoice has not been paid by the due date, then the balance owed, plus anticipated collection fees, will be sent to a collection agency.

(Ord. No. 10911, § 2, 4-2-90; Ord. No. 11378, § 7, 3-15-99; Ord. No. 11642, §§ 11, 12, 11-17-2003; Ord. No. 11717, § 2, 6-27-2005; Ord. No. 11848, § 1, 11-17-2008; Ord. No. 11849, §§ 1—3, 11-17-2008; Ord. No. 11851, § 1, 12-1-2008; Ord. No. 12036, § 1, 12-17-2012; Ord. No. 12095, § 1, 1-6-2014; Ord. No. 12227, § 5, 1-9-2017)