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Town of Normal, Illinois. Committed to Service Excellence.

Chapter 7 - Water and Sewer
Division 7 - Water Rates, Billing, Payments

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SEC. 7.7-1 RATES. Rates and charges for the availability of use of, and service provided by, the Town's water system are hereby established as follows, with the number of gallons being the amount of water metered or used, whichever is greater:

  1. Bi-monthly system maintenance fee of $5.00 plus (Added 2/6/06 by Ord. 5051, Eff. 4/1/06)
     
  2. $3.60 per 1,000 gallons (Amended 2/15/82, Eff. 4/1/83)(Amended 2/20/84, Eff. 4/1/84)(Amended 3/5/90, Eff. 4/1/90)(Amended 3/16/92, Eff. 2/1/93)(Amended 9/18/95, Eff. 2/1/96)(Amended 5/4/98, Eff. 2/1/99)(Amended 1/22/02, Eff. 2/1/02)(Amended 2/3/03, Eff. 4/1/03)(Amended 2/7/05, Eff. 4/1/05)(Amended 2/6/06, Eff. 4/1/06)

All billings for water service shall be issued on a bi-monthly basis. The adequacy of the water service charge shall be reviewed not less often than annually by a certified public accountant for the Town in an annual audit report.  The water service shall be revised periodically to reflect a change in local capital costs, operation, maintenance and replacement costs. (Amended 12/16/02 by Ord. No. 4842)(Amended 2/6/06 by Ord. 5051, Eff. 4/1/06)

SEC. 7.7-2 RATE BASIS. The basis for computing bills for water service will be as indicated by the customer’s water meter. The quantity registered by the meter will be accepted conclusively by user and utility as the amount of water passing through the meter except when the meter is found to be registering inaccurately or has ceased to register. If a customer disputes a bill or requests a meter test, such test and charges related thereto shall be conducted as specified in SEC. 7.6-7 of this Code.

SEC. 7.7-3 ACCESS. If for any reason the Town's meter reader cannot gain access to the customers meter, the meter reader will leave a postcard at the customer's premises with instructions enabling the customer to read and record the reading on the card. Meter readings thus obtained shall be mailed to the Billing Department or phoned in during regular business hours. If the customer fails to provide the meter reading, an estimated bill (so designated) will be rendered. The estimated bill will be based on similar prior billing periods. Because of the possibility of undetected leakage only one billing in succession will be made on an estimated basis. If a meter reading is not obtained on the next billing date by the Town's meter reader or by the customer, the Water Department will discontinue service upon due notice of its intention to do so.

SEC. 7.7-4 DELINQUENCY, NOTIFICATION, PRE-TERMINATION HEARING AND TERMINATION OF SERVICES.

  1. In the event the charges for services are not paid within thirty (30) days after rendition of a bill for such service, such charges shall be deemed and are hereby declared to be delinquent.
     
  2. In the event the charges for such service become delinquent, the Finance Director is hereby authorized and directed to cause notice to be given in writing to the customer of the premises where such delinquency exists, that any customer believing such bill to be erroneous may request and appear at an administrative hearing before the Finance Director prior to termination and that absent such request or after the conclusion thereof, if the bill is found not to be erroneous, that such services shall be discontinued without further notice, by mailing a copy of such notice, addressed to the customer at the billing address of the property served.
     
  3. That the Finance Director be and he is hereby authorized and directed to adjust bills he finds to be "erroneous" based on Town records.
     
  4. Upon the discontinuation of any water service the following charges shall be collected for re-commencing service, provided, that the current account plus any delinquent charges shall also be paid before service is restored:
     
    1. $40.00 when performed during regular business hours.
       
    2. $100.00 when performed at a time other than regular business hours.
       
    3. Business hours are from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. daily, Monday through Friday, exclusive of any legal holidays regularly observed by the Town.
    (Subsection D Amended 2/19/91 by Ord. 3957)(Subsection D Amended 11/3/97 by Ord. No. 4480)(Subsection D Amended 3/19/07 by Ord. No. 5125)
     
  5. When a customer's service is disconnected for non-payment twice in a twelve (12) month period, a deposit in the amount of twice the estimated bi-monthly billing for that account will be required before service is restored. Deposits shall be retained until the customer has established a favorable credit rating with the Town of Normal for one year or until final billing, whichever comes first.
     
  6. When a customer's water service is discontinued for non-payment of bills or for repairs or for any other reason as specified in SEC. 7.8-2 of this Code, and water service piping and/or metering is not in accordance with current code standards, compliance with these standards or an agreement to comply within thirty days from a request to do so, shall be required before service is restored. The owner of the premises shall be responsible for and incur all expenses in performance of Code compliance, including new water meters wherever necessary. (Added 5/3/82)
     
  7. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as limiting or denying the Town of its statutory or other right of lien or other judicial proceeding against the owner or user of the property for any charges or expenses incurred. (Numbering amended 5/3/82)

SEC. 7.7-5 BILL FOR SERVICE. It is hereby made the duty of the Finance Director, or his designee, of the Town of Normal to render bills for service and all other charges in connection therewith and to collect all monies due thereon.

SEC. 7.7-6 REVENUES. All revenue and monies derived from the operation of the water system shall be recorded by the Finance Director, or his designee, separate and apart from all other funds of the Town, and all of said sum, without any deductions whatsoever, shall be delivered to one or more of the institutions listed in SEC. 2.3-45 of this Code, not later than one (1) business day after receipt of same.

SEC. 7.7-7 LIABILITY FOR PAYMENT. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the services on such premises and the service is furnished to the premises by the Town of Normal only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant, and user of the service are jointly and severally liable therefore to the Town of Normal. All bills for service shall be rendered for the preceding sixty (60) day period for which the service is billed, commencing with May 1, 1962, and running henceforth until further changed by said Town Council, and shall be payable not later than the close of business on the fifteenth (15th) day following the date of the bill as rendered. A penalty of ten (10) percent shall be added to all bills not paid within fifteen (15) days of the date of billing. When the fifteenth (15th) day of any month shall be Sunday or a legal holiday, then such bills for service shall be payable on the next succeeding secular day without any additional penalty. (SEC. 7.7-7 Amended 3/18/85)

SEC. 7.7-8 WATER FUND. The Finance Director shall receive all such revenue from the water system and all other funds and monies incident to the operation of such system as the same may be delivered to him and he shall deposit the same in a separate fund designated as the "Water Fund of the Town of Normal".

SEC. 7.7-9 ACCESS TO RECORDS. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or their authorized representative, shall have access to any books, documents, papers and records of the Town of Normal which are applicable to the Town of Normal system of user charges for the purpose of making audit examinations, excerpts and transcriptions thereof to insure compliance with the terms of any grant or loan received by the Town of Normal from said agencies. (Added 12/16/02 by Ord. No. 4842)

SEC. 7.7-10 APPEALS. The method of computation of rates and service charges established for user charges in this division shall be made available to a user within ten (10) days of receipt of a written request for such computation. Any disagreement over the method used or in the computations thereof shall be remedied by the City Manager, or his designee, within ten (10) days after notification of a formal written appeal outlining the discrepancy. (Added 12/16/02 by Ord. No. 4842)

(ENTIRE DIVISION 7 AMENDED 9/21/81)