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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5. Village Code Amendment - Water and Solid Waste CollectionVillage of Mount Prospect Mount Prospect, Illinois INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: MICHAEL E. JANONIS, VILLAGE MANAGER FROM: FINANCE DIRECTOR DATE: SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 SUBJECT: AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 9 AND 19, AND APPENDIX OF THE VILLAGE CODE FOR WATER AND SOLID WASTE COLLECTION PURPOSE: To present for the Board's consideration an ordinance amending Chapters 9 and 19, and Appendix A of the Village Code. BACKGROUND: The Village Code for water and solid waste collection was last amended in November 2007. At that time revisions were made to chapters 9 and 19 to account for the implementation of single family refuse billing and the use of toters in solid waste collection of residences. Revisions were also made to the charge related to managing delinquent accounts. New utility billing software will allow changes to billing frequency and other aspects of utility billing to gain operational efficiencies. Due to these operational changes, modifications are needed in the Village Code. DISCUSSION: The Village is scheduled to go live with its new utility billing software in October 2012. Utility billing is the final major module of the village -wide ERP system to be implemented. Proposed changes include modifications to billing frequency, delinquency process, late fees and payments processing. Detail of these proposed changes is provided below. Billing frequency - the new utility billing software will allow Finance staff to more fully automate the billing process and eliminate some of the manual labor intensive processes. The Village currently bills all customers on a bi- monthly basis. Approximately one - quarter of customers are billed on the 15 and 30 of every month. The new billing system will allow all customers to be billed on the 15 of each month. This change improves efficiencies by eliminating one billing process per month. Cash flow will also improve with more frequent billing. Village Code Amendment — Chapters 9 and 19, Appendix A September 19, 2012 Page 2 Delinquency process - the period of time an account is allowed to remain delinquent before commencing shut -off procedures will be reduced from ninety (90) to sixty (60) days. The shorter period takes into account the change from bi- monthly to monthly billing periods. The change will allow one or more of the notices currently being sent by the Village to delinquent accounts to be eliminated. The proposed changes will work to streamline the overall delinquency and related "Red Tag" process. Late fees — late fees on solid waste collection are not consistent between single family and multi - family units. Currently, single family units are assessed a 10% late fee for delinquent payments while multi - family units are assessed at a rate of 20 %. The proposed change reduces the multi - family rate to 10 %. Payment processing — there is an early payment discount of 1% for multi - family refuse accounts. This discount is not offered to single or multi - family water accounts or single family refuse accounts. It is our recommendation to eliminate the early payment discount to remove the disparity between the account holders. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended the Village Board approve the attached ordinance amending Chapters 9 and 19 and Appendix A of the Village Code. David O. Erb Finance Director I: \Water & Sewer \Chapter 9 and 19 Code Amendments Memo.docx ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTERS 9 AND 19, AND APPENDIX A OF THE VILLAGE CODE OF MOUNT PROSPECT BE IT ORDAINED BY THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS ACTING IN THE EXERCISE OF THEIR HOME RULE POWERS: SECTION ONE Subsection A(2) of Section 9.409, "Water Meters ", of Article IV, "Water Supply System ", of Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be deleted in its entirety and a new Subsection A(2) inserted, to be and read as follows: 2. Water bills shall include a notice that a monthly water meter reading is required. In the event that a water meter reading is not received by the village's finance department at least five (5) days prior to the mailing date of a water bill, the director of finance shall establish an estimated meter reading to be used for billing purposes based upon a like period during the preceding year or in such manner as the director may determine. In the event that a meter reading is estimated for six (6) consecutive billing periods, the consumer shall be given at least ten (10) days written notice of intent to shut off the water service, the reason for the shutoff, and an opportunity to request and obtain a hearing within the ten (10) day period with respect to such meter reading before the village manager or finance director. If the village manager or finance director confirms the shutoff, the consumer shall be allowed a reasonable period of time, not less than five (5) days, to pay the delinquent charges prior to the shut off of service. Prior to shutting off the service, a red tag notice shall be posted at the premises of the delinquent consumer warning that the service will be shutoff. An administrative fee, as set forth in Appendix A, Division II, will be assessed upon posting of the red tag notice to compensate the Village for its collection expenses, whether or not the service is actually shut off. Water service, which has been shut off, shall not be resumed until all bills have been paid, including the administrative fee. SECTION TWO Subsection B of Section 9.412, "Delinquent and Unpaid Accounts ", of Article IV, entitled "Water Supply System ", of Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be deleted in its entirety and a new Subsection 9.412(B) inserted, to be and read as follows: B. Water Service Shutoff: Whenever charges for water service have remained unpaid for more than sixty (60) days after the date of the statement for such services, the water service may be shut off to the 293620_2 premises of such delinquent consumer. The consumer shall be given at least ten (10) days written notice of intent to shut off such service, the reason for the shutoff, and an opportunity to request and obtain a hearing with respect to such unpaid charges before the village manager or finance director. If the village manager or finance director confirms the shutoff, the consumer shall be allowed a reasonable period of time, not less than five (5) days, to pay the delinquent charges prior to the shut off of services. Prior to shutting off the service, a red tag notice shall be posted at the premises warning that the service will be shutoff. An administrative fee, as set forth in Appendix A, Division II, will be assessed upon posting of the red tag notice to compensate the Village for its collection expenses, whether or not the service is actually shut off. Water service, which has been shut off, shall not be resumed until all bills, late charges and penalties have been paid, including the administrative fee. It shall be the duty of the director of finance to enforce the provisions of this section whenever delinquency shall occur. SECTION THREE Section 9.411, "Billing ", of Article IV, entitled "Water Supply System ", of Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be amended by deleting the term "bimonthly" in the first sentence of the first paragraph and replacing it with the term "monthly ", that sentence to be and read as follows (and the rest of the Section to remain): Billings for water provided under this Article shall be compiled and processed monthly or as the director of finance shall determine. SECTION FOUR: Section 19.202, "Regulations With Respect to Customers of a Solid Waste Collection Service ", of Article II, entitled "Solid Waste Collection" of Chapter 19 of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, is amended as follows: 1. The words "customer" or "customers" in the title and throughout Section 19.202 shall be replaced with the words "consumer" or "consumers ", as applicable. 2. Subsection A.12.b(2), describing a discount for multi - family customers, is deleted in its entirety and the remaining subsections renumbered numerically. 3. Subsection A.12.d(1) is deleted in its entirety and a new Subsection A.12.d(1) inserted in its place, to be and read as follows: (1) Whenever charges for solid waste collection services have remained unpaid for more than sixty (60) days after the date of the statement for such services, the solid waste collection service may be cancelled for the premises of such delinquent consumer. The consumer shall be given at least ten (10) days' written notice of intent to cancel such service, the 293620_2 2 reason for the cancellation, and an opportunity to request and obtain a hearing within the ten (10) day period with respect to such unpaid charges, before the village manager or finance director. If the village manager or finance director confirms the cancellation order, the consumer shall be allowed an additional five (5) days, to pay the delinquent charges prior to the cancellation of service. Prior to cancelling the service, a red tag notice shall be posted at the premises warning that the service will be cancelled. An administrative fee, as set forth in Appendix A, Division II, will be assessed upon posting of the red tag notice to compensate the Village for its collection expenses, whether or not the service is actually cancelled. Solid waste collection service, which has been cancelled, shall not be resumed until all bills, late charges and penalties have been paid, including the administrative fee. It shall be the duty of the director of finance to enforce the provisions of this section whenever delinquency shall occur. SECTION FIVE Section 9.409, "Water Meters ", of Chapter 9, "Public Utilities, Pavement and Tree Regulations ", of Appendix A, Division II, "Fees, Rates and Taxes ", of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be amended by deleting subsection A.2 and inserting a new subsection A.2, to be and read as follows: A.2. Administrative fee: $100.00. SECTION SIX Section 9.412, "Delinquent and Unpaid Accounts ", of Chapter 9, "Public Utilities, Pavement and Tree Regulations ", of Appendix A, Division II, "Fees, Rates and Taxes ", of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be amended by deleting Subsection B in its entirety and inserting a new Subsection B, to be and read as follows: B. Administrative fee: $100.00 SECTION SEVEN Section 19.202, "Regulations with Respect to Customers of Solid Waste Collection Services ", of Chapter 19, "Health Regulations ", Appendix A, Division II, "Fees, Rates and Taxes ", of the Code of Ordinances of the Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois, as amended, shall be amended, as follows: 1. The term "Customers" in the title to Section 19.202 shall be replaced with the term "Consumers ". 2. Section 12.b.(3) shall be deleted in its entirety and a new Section 12.b.(2) inserted, to be and read as follows: 12.b.(2) Late fee of 10% of bill if not paid by due date. 293620_2 3 3. Section A.12.01) shall be deleted in its entirety and a new Subsection A.12.d inserted to be and read as follows: 12.d. (1) Administrative Fee: $100.00; SECTION EIGHT This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication in pamphlet form in the manner provided by law. AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: PASSED and APPROVED this day of , 2012. Irvana K. Wilks Village President ATTEST: M. Lisa Angell Village Clerk 293620_2 4