§ 12-6. Sewer service rates.

(a)

Schedule. A schedule of user charges for sewer services furnished by the city to dischargers of "Normal Domestic Wastewater", as defined in Chapter 12, Section 13, shall be and such is hereby adopted and established as provided for in the Fee Schedule in Appendix 1 of this Code hereafter.

The user charge schedule is based on the assumption that 70 percent of the flow through the customer's water meter is returned to the sewer system as wastewater. If, in the opinion of the city manager, this assumption is inequitable in certain individual cases, or if the customer is discharging other than normal domestic wastewater, he shall direct that the customer in question be billed the appropriate minimum bill and for the appropriate wastewater flow at the unit rate per 1,000 gallons of wastewater set forth in Appendix 1.

(b)

Customer review on pretreatment. In the event a customer places pretreatment equipment in the business process or for any other reason improves the quality of effluent, a review process may be requested by the industrial customer. To obtain this review, all of the following steps must be taken:

(1)

The customer must make a formal written request to the city council through the city secretary for this rate to be examined;

(2)

Formal assurances must be supplied that a change in the effluent due to sewage pretreatment, product manufacturing change, or any other reason must be expected to remain in effect for at least 12 months or until the next scheduled rate review and change;

(3)

The customer must agree that the cost of sampling by city staff (or an independent party at the city's election) to determine the new loading factors plus the cost of two more samples to be taken at the city's own discretion must be prepaid by the customer. In the event the city elects not to take additional samples or if the next samples are part of the regularly scheduled sampling plan, the cost of the prepaid samples will be refunded by the city to the customer. The cost for sampling will be as provided for in the fee schedule found as Appendix 1 to this Code.

The city shall have 45 days from the date the written request is received by the city secretary to take action. This will be in the form of a resolution acted upon by the city council. The effective date of the credit shall be the regular bills to the customer subsequent to the approved resolution by council.

A rate credit may be in order to be approved by the city council. The credit shall remain in effect until the next regular rate schedule has been put into effect by the city council unless the user's effluent increases significantly, in which case the provisions set forth in paragraph (3) above concerning surcharges shall apply. Should the rate be deemed entitled to be reduced, the maximum amount of the reduction to be allowed would be the variable costs associated with the new effluent loadings. This credit will be computed in the same manner as the surcharge, as defined in paragraph (3) above.

The city council may take necessary action toward the customer's rate as it deems equitable; but until such action is taken, the customer's obligation to pay rates previously established shall not be relieved unless the ordinance is amended by proper council action.

(c)

Industrial cost recovery. Those customers classified under EPA guidelines as industrial users shall have included in their rate an amount designated as "industrial cost recovery" consisting of proportioned plant capital costs. That portion of the user charge shall be accounted for under the regulations and guidelines promulgated by the EPA. This shall include the appropriate industrial customers contributing sewage into the Terrell system from an adjoining city or rural area. The accounting period for the industrial costs recovery began October 1, 1979, and shall continue to coincide with the city's fiscal year thereafter.

(d)

Billing. Industrial waste surcharge provided for in this section shall be included as a separate item on the regular bill for water and sewer charges and shall be paid monthly in accordance with the existing practices. Surcharges shall be paid at the same time that the water, sewer and sanitation charges of the person become due and payment of water and sanitation services shall not be accepted without payment also of the sewer service charges and industrial waste surcharges.

(e)

Penalty for failure to pay bills and/or repeated discharge of prohibited waste. Failure to pay monthly bills of water and/or sanitary sewer service when due, or failure to pay the established sewer surcharge for industrial waste when due, or repeated discharge of prohibited waste to the sanitary sewer shall be sufficient cause to disconnect any and all services to the water and/or sanitary sewer mains of the City of Terrell and the same penalties and charges now or hereafter provided for by the ordinances of the City of Terrell for failure to pay the bill for water and sewer service when due shall be applicable in like manner in cases of failure to pay the established surcharge for industrial waste discharged to the sanitary sewer mains as established herein.

(f)

Penalties for violation. Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this section, or who shall fail to comply with any provision hereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine, and each day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense and shall be punished accordingly. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall become liable to the city for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the city by reason of such violation.

(Ord. No. 1273, 6-5-82; Ord. No. 1484, 1-6-87)