Water bills shall be due and payable by the due date, established in a period of no
less than fifteen (15) days after the billing date. If any such bill, except those
to governmental agencies, is not paid within said period, a ten (10) percent service
charge for late payment shall be assessed and added to the amount due. If the bill
due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday observed by the City of Effingham,
the bill due date shall fall on the next regularly scheduled business day. The customer
shall also be advised by notice that, if there is a discrepancy with the bill, a hearing
may be requested upon the merits of the water usage charged, or water service will
be disconnected and the bill considered delinquent ten (10) days following said notice,
if payment in full is not received. In such cases when water service is disconnected
due to non-payment of bills, a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) charge shall be added for
the cost of the disconnection. A one hundred twenty-five dollar ($125.00) after hours
turn on payment fee, per section 24-52, will be required, when applicable.
The city clerk is designated as hearing officer and shall conduct a hearing when requested
by customer with authority to rectify billing errors. The customer shall be notified
of the time and place of the hearing. After the hearing, the facts shall be reduced
to writing, and the city clerk shall make a determination on the basis of these facts.
A copy of the decision shall be sent to the customer. If the decision is adverse to
the customer, ten (10) days shall be given to pay the bill prior to disconnecting
service and bills considered delinquent. Notice of the hearing and the decision shall
be sent out either by registered or certified mail or documented personal service.
All notices shall be considered as given when deposited in the mail or personally
served.
The same hearing procedure outlined above shall be followed if a customer is not delinquent
but makes a complaint or inquiry concerning his or her bill that cannot be resolved
to the customer's satisfaction by the customer service representative.
(Ord. No. 52-2001, § II, 5-1-2001; Ord. No. 54-2008, § II, 8-5-2008; Ord. No. 61-2011,
§ II, 12-6-2011; Ord. No. 23-2012, § XIV, 5-15-2012; Ord. No. 31-2016, § II, 4-5-2016)
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