The sewer user charges are hereby established as follows:

(A) Sewer user service charges established. The City Council shall establish the charges by resolution. The charges, except as hereinafter set forth, are established for all dwelling units and motel units at a uniform rate and all property other than the above-described dwelling units and motel units shall be based upon the quantity of water reaching the premises from the city water system, private water system or from private sources of supply, including water from the ground of the premises or elsewhere.

(B) Dwelling units. The rate of sewer user service charge against each and every dwelling unit (any housing unit with sanitary and kitchen facilities designed to accommodate one or more residents, multiple housing units, mobile homes and trailer spaces, but excluding commercial (transient) housing units such as hotel and motel units, and retirement homes with ten or more units under one roof, containing therein a dining room facility regularly open a minimum of six days per week, primarily for the use of the residents and their guests), shall be established by resolution. Independent laundry facilities serving multifamily, mobile homes and trailer units shall be considered a dwelling unit for billing purposes.

(C) Motel units. The rate of sewer user service charge against each and every motel unit (and motel unit used for transient housing) shall be established by resolution.

(D) Commercial independent discharge. As defined in §51.001, users of this class must operate and maintain independent wastewater disposal facilities which are currently licensed by the state for the disposal of wastewater. During all times when approved and licensed wastewater facilities are operable, the rate for discharge to the public treatment works will be based on the actual metered flow of discharge, or will be based on the calculated discharge of each employee per shift per day, in accordance with the resolution of the City Council.

(1) Metered users of this class will provide access to city personnel to read the meter in each billing period.

(2) Metered users of this class will provide an annual calibration and certification of the metering device from an individual certified for verification.

(3) Non-metered users of this class shall provide a verified employee count and total hours worked during the billing period. The city will establish the date for the submittal with each user. Employee information must be expressed in total employees per shift per day.

(4) In the event that independent discharge facilities are not operating, or for any other reason the total discharge of a user in this class is provided to the public treatment works, user rates will be calculated in accord with the commercial account category, or in the event that the discharge exceeds 25,000 gallons per day, an industrial cost recovery rate will be applied in accord with this chapter.

(5) Should users of this class not provide access to the waste meter, verification of meter accuracy, or employment information as required, the user shall be billed at the commercial rate.

(E) Commercial users. All users and user groups not specifically defined herein shall be considered commercial for purposes of this user rate. The rate of sewer user service charge shall be on the basis of water consumption through both public and private water supplies. The base charge shall apply on the basis of each water supply meter and each un-metered water supply line.

(1) Average billing method.

(a) Any user of this group may qualify upon written request for a winter average billing method if, water consumption from public or private water supply is 50% higher in the months of May, June, July, and August than the winter time average in the months of November, December, January and February, and all additional consumption is not returned to the public treatment works.

(b) If the user qualifies for a winter average billing method, the average consumption will be used to bill the months of March through October and actual consumption in November through February. The winter average will be annually updated to the most recent continuous use in the winter months, and this updated average used to bill the ensuing eight month period.

(2) Special billing method. Any commercial user which utilizes delivered water as an integral part of a produced product, shall be billed based upon a waste meter, or in the same manner as provided for commercial independent discharge accounts.

(3) Multiple commercial accounts. When more than one independent business is within a single structure, the commercial rate and number of commercial minimum charges applicable to the account shall be based upon the number of independent sanitary facilities provided in the structure. The charge shall be equal to the sum of commercial unit charges times the commercial unit minimum rate, plus a charge on water consumption which exceeds the allowance per commercial unit.

(F) Combined dwelling units and others. Where both dwelling units and motel units are combined on the same water supply, the charges shall be at the dwelling unit rate plus the motel unit rate. Where both dwelling units and commercial occupancies are combined on the same water supply, the charges shall be at the dwelling unit rate required with an additional charge based on water consumption. Consumption charges will be calculated allowing a reduction in total consumption equal to the gallons allowed in the base rate of consumption per dwelling unit. The charge shall be equal to the sum of the dwelling units increased by one unit, all charged at the dwelling rate, plus a charge on that water consumption which exceeds the allowance per dwelling unit. The lowest charge shall be equal to the number of dwelling units increased by one unit and charged at the dwelling unit rate.

(Ord. 1737, passed 6-24-91)