HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 8958ORDINANCE NO. ~ S4
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH,
TEXAS (1964), BY CHANGING SECTION 37-23 TO INCREASE SER-
VICE CHARGES FOR CHECKS RETURNED UNPAID TO THE WATER
DEPARTMENT AND BY ADDING SECTION 41-7 TO PROVIDE FOR A
SERVICE CHARGE FOR CHECKS RETURNED UNPAID TO THE CITY;
PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE; PROVID-
ING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR ENGROSSMENT AND
ENROLLMENT; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH,
TEXAS:
SECTION 1.
That Chapter 37, "Water and Sewers," of the Code of the City of
Fort Worth, Texas (1964), as amended, be amended by changing
Section 37-23, Paragraph (f), thereof to read as follows:
"(f) For all checks returned from the bank, a special
charge of ten dollars ($10.00) will be added to the custo-
mer's account for office handling of the returned check,
as provided in Section 41-7. If the customer does not
remit payment for the returned check, field action to
collect pa yment or to terminate service will be required
and a charge of ten dollars and thirty-five cents
($10.35), for field action for returned check, will be
added to the customer's account."
SECTION 2.
That Chapter 41, "Department of Finance," of the Code of the
City of Fort Worth, Texas (1964), as amended, be amended by adding
Section 41-7, such section to read as follows:
"Section 41-7. Returned Check Charge.
"In addition to any other authorized penalty or in-
terest, there is hereby established a service charge of
ten dollars ($10.00) for any checks returned as non-
negotiable/non-cashable to any department, division, or
entity of the City of Fort Worth."
SECTION 3.
This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordi-
nances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1964), 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are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4.
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 5.
The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed
to engross and enroll this ordinance by copying the caption and
effective date in the minutes and by filing the ordinance in the
ordinance records of the City.
SECTION 6.
This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and
effect from and after the date of its passage, and it is so or-
dained.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
City Attorney
Date: td--~-o --~3
ADOPTED: ~~ .,~.~'~~J~
EFFECTIVE: '
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~A~IEION~PUBLIC WO K~ERENCE SUBJECT Establishment of Service Charges PAGE
~1 10/25/83 NUMBER
**G-5803
for Collection of Returned Checks
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ADA~Ii~laBi`pr@O~.ur"a
Each year approximately 6,000 unpaid checks are returned to the City of Fort
Worth due to insufficient funds, closed accounts, improper endorsements, and
other reasons. Such checks constitute a serious problem and require the
Finance Department to spend many hours on collection activities. It is
recommended that the City pass such collection costs on to the responsible
parties liy adopting an ordinance establishing a $10.00 service charge on each
returned check
The Water Department is already authorized by Section 37-23 (f) of the City
Code to collect a $5.00 service charge for unpaid checks and a $10.35 additional
charge when field action is necessary to collect payment or terminate service
Tt is recommended that an ordinance be adopted to increase the $5 00 special
charge for checks returned from the bank to $10 00
Recommendation
Tt is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance to
establish the above-described service charges for collection of unpaid checks
whcfi are returned to the City.
DAI kc
! APPROVED BY
CITY COUNCIL
O
CT 25 1983
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SUBMITTED FOR THE ~~
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CITY MANAGER'S
nFFICE BY
DISPOSITION BY COUNCIL:
PROCESSED BY
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ORIGINATING Wade Adkins r' OTHER (DESCRIBE)
DEPARTMENT HEAD•
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CITY SECRETARY
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMA>J~g~e Adkins 7
CONTACT (~j/~
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