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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance 8360i~ z ~ ~~ ~~ ORDINANCE NO $ 3 fpQ AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 37-23 OF CHAP- TER 37 OF THE FORT WORTH CITY CODE (1964), AS AMENDED BY PROVIDING THAT THE TIME BY WHICH WATER AND SEWER SERVICE CHARGES SHALL BE PAID AND THE TIME WHEN WATER AND SEWER SERVICE MAY BE TERMINATED BY FAILURE TO PAY SUCH CHARGES SHALL BE PRESCRIBED BY RULES AND REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL REVISING CERTAIN CHARGES DEFINING AND PRO- HIBITING STRAIGHT CONNECTIONS PROVIDING FOR A SPECIAL CHARGE FOR THE REMOVAL OF STRAIGHT CONNECTIONS PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF OTHER ORDINANCES AND PROVISIONS OF THE CITY CODE REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PROVISIONS OF THE FORT WORTH CITY CODE IN CONFLICT HERE- WITH PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH TEXAS SECTION 1 That Section 37-23 of Chapter 37 of the Fort Worth City Code (1964) as amended be and the same is hereby amended and after having been so amended shall hereafter read and be as follows Section 37-23 To be read monthly bills customer charges straight connections pro- hibited (a) Meters shall be read monthly and the customer notified in writing of the amount of water or sewer service charges incurred by him for such month Such notice may be furnished by depositing a bill for water and/or sewer service charges with the United States Postal Service directed to the last known address of the customer Such water and sewer service charges shall be paid pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the City Council and amended from time to time In the event such water and -1- sewer charges are not paid after notice is given pursuant to said rules and regula- tions, field action may be taken by dis- patching a service representative to lock plug or remove the water meter and/or disconnect the sewer line A special charge of nine dollars and forty-five cents ($9 45) will be added to the customer s account for field action for Delinquent Non-Payment and payment of the delinquent account to the field representative while conducting such field action shall not relieve the customer of the field action charge In cases where the water and/or sewer service has been ~ ~ ~ / '~.., terminated such service or services shall not be restored until the total amount due, including all charges prescribed in this section has been paid in full (b) When water service has been termi- nated by a locking device and the water service line or meter installation or lock has been removed or damaged an additional fee of ten dollars ($10 00) Broken Lock Charge shall be assessed the customer s account (c) All customers requesting the acti- vation of water and/or sewer service will be requested to place a deposit in accordance with the provisions of Section 37-30 hereof In the event this deposit is not received. within seven (7) working days from the date of application, such water andfor sewer service if already initiated, may be terminated pursuant to City Council rules and regulations, and a field action -2- charge of nine dollars and forty-five cents ($9 45) for Non-Payment of Service Deposit will be added to the customer s account in addition to any accrued costs for service rendered to the time of termination (d) For all customers requesting a transfer of service a thirteen dollar ($13 00) transfer charge shall be made (e) For all work done in setting a meter or activating/re-activating water and/or sewer service a special charge of six dollars and fifty cents ($6 50) shall be added to the customer s account for such field action (f) For all checks returned from the bank a special charge of five dollars ($5 00) will be added to the customer s account for office handling of the returned check If the customer does not remit pay- ment for the returned check field action to collect payment or to terminate service will be required and a charge of nine dollars and forty-five cents ($9 45) for Field Action For Returned Check will be added to the customer s account (g) A Straight Connection is defined as any type device installed in lieu of a water meter connecting the City s water service pipe to a private service pipe for the purpose of obtaining un-metered water Whenever a straight connection is found in lieu of a water meter the straight connec- tion shall be removed by the City A special charge of nine dollars and forty-five cents -3- ($9 45), will be made for the removal of such straight connection When a straight connection is found where there is no record of a request for service, the nine dollar and forty-five cents ($9 45) special charge for the straight connection removal shall be added to the applicable special charge for subsequent activation and to all estimated water billings and it shall be paid by the party requesting the activation A separate nine dollar and forty-five cents ($9 45) special charge shall be made for each and every straight connection removal and the party requesting the activation shall pay for all straight connection removals charged to the service location in addition to the applicable activation charge and all estimated water billings, before service will be activated SECTION 2 That all rights or remedies of the City of Fort Worth Texas are expressly saved as to any and all violations of Chapter 37 or of any amendments thereto of the Fort Worth City Code (1964) as amended which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and as to such accrued viola- tions the Court shall have all of the powers that existed prior to the effective date of this ordinance SECTION 3 That this ordinance shall be cumulative of all provi- sions of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1964), as amended and all other ordinances of the City of Fort Worth, except in those instances where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such Code or other ordi- nances in which instances said conflicting provisions of such Code or other ordinances are hereby repealed -4- SECTION 4 That it is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the section-s 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 void ineffective or unconstitutional by the valid judgment or final decree of any court of competent jurisdiction such voidness ineffectiveness or unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases clauses sentences, para- graphs and sections of this ordinance since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation here- in of any such void ineffective or unconstitutional phrase clause sentence paragraph or section SECTION 5 That this ordinance and service charges prescribed herein shall become effective and be in full force and effect from and after August 1 1981 and it is so ordained APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY ty Attorney ADOPTED (D ~ ~~~ r-~°" EFFECTIVE -5- i, ~zty of ~o~-t Worth, ~e.~as J~~~®~° ~~~ ~®~~~~~ cC®~,~~c~,a~zt~~~~. DATE REFERENCE SUBJECT PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDING PAGE NUMBER WATER AND SANITARY SEWER SPECIAL 6/16/81 G--5019 SERVICE CHARGES AND PROVIDING FOR 1of 2 SERVICE RULES AND REGULATIONS G The water and sewer rate ordinance of the City provides uniform charges to all customers based on measured volumes of water It also provides for payment of specific charges for special services rendered to a customer These charges are paid only by those customers who receive special services from the Water De- partment Both old and new customers pay a charge for activating a service (setting a meter or turning on a meter) Delinquent customers are charged for turning off meters, locking meters in the off position, turning on meters, breaking locks and returned checks Anew special charge is being proposed to recover the cost of removing straight connections foutd in a water meter box in lieu of a meter The monitoring of water and sewer customers who do not pay their water bills in a responsible manner has become increasingly expensive The work for service activation or reactivation has also increased in cost to the City The last adjustment of service charges for these special services occurred on October 1, 1976, and the current charges no longer reflect the cost of providing service to customers who require special attention The following special charges are proposed Work Present Proposed Field Action for Delinquent Non-Payment $ 4 00 $ 9 45 Straight Connection Removal Charge NA 9 45 Transfer of Service 7 00 13 00 field Action for Activation/Reactivation Turn on Meter 3 50 6 50 (Field Action for Non-Payment of Service Deposit 4 00 9 45 field Action for Returned Check 4 00 9 45 ffice Handling of Returned Check 3 50 5 00 roken Lock Charge 10 00 10 00 (The proposed charges were determined by a detailed cost analysis using 1979-80 historical data for the special services provided (67 000 meters set, removed DATE REFERENCE SUBJECT PPiOPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDING PAGE NUMBER WATER AND SANITARY SEWER SPECIAL ? ? °r 6/16/81 G-5019 SERVICE CHARGES AND PROVIDING FOR _ _ - SERVICE RULES AND REGULATIONS or transferred and 23 000 customers whose service was terminated due to non- payment or returned checks) and using current costs for labor and materials to provide these services The rate ordinance provides also for rules and regulations governing the pay- ment of water and sewer service and special service charges Heretofore, the staff has relied primarily on the ordinance to administer the collection of payments Attached is a draft of the rules and regulations prepared by the Water Department to better inform the water and sewer customers of Water De- partment policies involved in billing for services rendered and for guidance of the staff These rules acd regulations are currently being reviewed by the De- partment of Law and will be forthcoming for the City Council's consideration a~ approval Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending Section 37-23 of Chapter 37 of the Fort Worth City Code pertaining to special service charges for water a~ sewer service, the prohibition of straight con- nections and the adoption of rules and regulations governing the payment of water and sewer service and special service charges Such ordinance and the service charges prescribed therein to become effective on August 1, 1981 H jz Attachments ~R°V~"D Ap Cll. C1~`~ CC~N U~a ~.~ s ,~~_=~' ecx~~ Wotfi+~,~ G~ gist SUBMITTED FOR THE ~ GER'S I A ++°Y DISPOSIT{ON BY COUNCIL. PROCESSED BV ~ fi J ~ FFICE BY O ^ APPROVED ORIGINATING y ~ ~ ^ OTHER (DESCRIBE) DEPARTMENT HEAD J L Robins CITY SECRETARY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION r CONTACT J DATE