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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 9937:i ~, ~~' ORDINANCE N0. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 35-61 OF CHAPTER 35 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, AND BY FURTHER AMENDING CHAPTER 35, "WATER AND SEWER", OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS (1986), AS AMENDED, BY ADDING SECTIONS 35-64 AND 35-65, PROVIDING FOR THE MAKING OF SECURITY DEPOSITS, EXEMPTIONS FROM THE REQUIRE- MENT OF MAKING SECURITY DEPOSITS, PROVIDING FOR USE OF SECURITY DEPOSITS, AND PROVIDING FOR SECURITY DEPOSIT REFUNDS; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDI- NANCES; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PROVISIONS OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PRO- VIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR ENGROSSMENT AND ENROLLMENT; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS SECTION 1. That Section 35-61 of Chapter 35 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth ( 1 986) , as amended, be and is hereby amended and , after having been so amended, shall hereafter read and be as follows: "Section 35-61. Deposit Required. a) Form of Security. Unless exempted herein, all customers shall be required to make a deposit, in advance, in one of the following forms: 1. Cash; 2. Guarantee bond in a form and from a surety company acceptable to the Director of the TnTater Department; 3. Letter of Credit drawn on a state or federally chartered lending institution located in Tarrant County, Texas ; o r 4. Assignment to the City of Fort Worth of Certifi- cate of Deposit in a state or federally char- tered lending institution located in Tarrant County, Texas. b) Amount. The Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative shall establish the amount of a security deposit which will be sufficient to insure the City against loss due to nonpayment of final bill. c) Failure to Provide Security. The Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative may refuse or discontinue service to any person, firm or cor- poration who fails to make a required security deposit with his application or fails to increase the amount of the*security deposit after having been notified that an increase is required. d) Hardship Cases. In cases of extreme hardship the Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative may allow single-family residential service customers to make cash deposits in installments. e) Exemptions from Security Deposit Requirement. A person is not required to post a security deposit, pro- vided he or she has a satisfactory credit history with the Water Department as determined by the Director or his duly authorized representative. f) Withdrawal of Exemption. If a customer estab- lishes an account without a security deposit, but subse- quently loses his satisfactory credit history with the Department, a security deposit may be required as a condi- tion for continued service. g) Exceptions to Section. This section does not apply to governmental entities or to wholesale service contracts." SECTION 2. That Chapter 35, "Water and Sewers", of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, be amended by adding Section 35-64, such section to read as follows: "Section 35-64. Use of Security Deposits. keep: a) Accounting Requirements. The Director shall -2- r ~~ 1. Accurate records of all security deposits, in- cluding, but not limited to, the depositor's name, amounts deposited, and deposits refunded; and 2. Separate accounts of all security deposits. b) Administration of Deposits. The Director shall administer cash security deposits in accordance with the following rules: 1. A deposit will be applied toward payment of the final bill amount due the City when a service account is closed or becomes inactive due to delinquency, transfer of ownership or other reasons. 2. A deposit made to secure service to premises may be transferred or applied toward payment of a final bill. 3. A deposit, less amounts due for service, will be returned to the customer when service is discon- tinued, unless the deposit is transferred to another address." SECTION 3. That Chapter 35, "Water and Sewers", of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, be amended by adding Section 35-65, said section to read as follows: "Section 35-65. Security Deposit Ref unds. a) Definition. As used in this section only, the term "Customer" means a single-family residence or duplex and shall include a yard meter serving such residence or d upl ex . b) Refund Requirements. The Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative may refund a security deposit to the customer when the customer meets all of the following conditions: 1. The customer has been receiving service for 12 continuous months; -3- ~ .F * ~ 2. The customer has acquired a satisfactory credit history with the Water Department; 3. The customer has not made payment during the past 12 months with a check returned due to in- s of f is ient funds ; and 4. The customer has no delinquent bills outstand- ing. c) Refusal to Refund. Notwithstanding subsectio n (a), the Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative may refuse to refund a security deposit where due to the circumstances of a customer's account there is a substantial risk of financial loss to the Department. d) Review for Eligibility. The Director of the Water Department or his duly authorized representative shall review all customer payment histories at least once each year to determine eligibility f or refund. Refunds will be made in the following manner: 1. A refund will normally be credited to a custo- mer's bill. 2. If a refund is greater than the outstanding bill, the remaining portion of the refund will be applied to the subsequent bills . 3. If a customer no longer has an account for ser- vice or, in special circumstances approved by the Director of the Water Department, such re- fund may be made by a check made payable to the customer." SECTION 4. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas ( 1986) , as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. -4- k ~ ~ tl ~ ` ` r 7"+ SECTION 5. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitu- tional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the. same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 6. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed to engross and enroll this ordinance by copying the caption and Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7 in the minutes of the City Council and by i filing the ordinance in the ordinance records of the City. SECTION 7. This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect from and after its passage, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: ~.,~ City -" " Date: ADOPT EFFEC -5- -' - Y~ ~~ 'ter-.~t~e~ ~)e~i~ pity of -~o~°t ~®~°th, ~"exa~ .1~11ay®~ a~ ~®~~~~~ ~®~,~~~,~~a~~®~, SRAN;'^t'(~RTAT{~'r`F~PU64.)C .V~'OfdIC°.Ps~ 11krERgpMI ItPpA~IcE)~~l'~ REFERENCE SUBJECT CHANGES TO DEPOSIT POLICY FOR PAGE NUMBER 8-25-87 G-7207 WATER AND SEWER SERVICE lof 2 Recommendations: It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance, effective October°~1, 1987, amending Section 35-61 of Chapter 35 of the Fort Worth City Code, providing in part for the refund of water and sanitation deposits and further.-providing for the exemption of the requirement of making a deposit in certain ._situations. Discussion Section 35-61 of the Fort Worth City Code was adopted on September 9, 1957, and has never been amended. Staff has reviewed the deposit policies of other utilities. Based upon such review, staff proposes that a new deposit policy for the City be adopted. The proposed ordinance offers alternatives for the types of deposits permitted and allows for refunding of deposits. The proposed changes are discussed below 1) Residential, commercial and industrial accounts will have options with respect to the form of the deposit, which may be cash, letter of credit, surety bond, or assignment of certificate of deposit 2) Residential customers who have had service and paid all bills promptly for 12 months may establish service at a new address with no deposit required. Further, residential customers who rnaintain a perfect payment record 1 asti ng for a min imam of 12 months wi 11 be entitled to a refund of their deposit in the form of a credit(s) to their current bill(s) 3) The Water Department will begin billing for a deposit. Collection of deposits has been accomplished previously by telephone notification. Now, upon request for service, customers will be billed for the deposit. This should eliminate confusion that occurs from time to time concerning payment of a deposit. Additionally, the needs of low-income families are recognized by allowing for payment of the deposits in two installments, rather than all in one payment. Financing No Water Department budgeted funds will be necessary to accomplish the proposed ordinance. .~ ~~ DATE NUMBER CE SUBJECT CHANGES TO DEPOSIT POLICY FOR PAGE 8-25-87 G-7207 WATER AND SEWER SERVICE , _~__at__-2 In a prel iminary review of accounts in June, 1987, there were 60,341 accounts eligible for refunds in the amount of $870,866. Inasmuch as these deposits are not considered revenue, but rather are held in separate "restricted asset" accounts, a loss of an nual interest revenue totalling approximately $70,000 will be experienced. Further, there are 18,253 commercial and industrial accounts with total deposits of $1,656,698. If any of these accounts convert their cash deposits to other forms, interest income from these deposits may also be reduced. RAM.w APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL auG ~~ ~~~~ City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texcxel SUBMITTED FORT CITY MANAGER'S ~ DISPOSITION BY COUNCIL: PROCESSED BY OFFICE BY ^ APPROVED ORIGINATING ^ OTHER (DESCRIBE) DEPARTMENT HEAD• Ri,Chard Sable CITY SECRETARY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:R. Bol er 8260 /~ n AdOpt~.d ~Ca(f13f1C6 NO ~e ATE