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REGULATION NO. 9 - BILLING
9-1 GENERAL - All customer's
installations, except fire lines, shall be metered by the District. When separate points of delivery exist for
supplying water to a single customer, or separate meters are maintained for
measurement of service to a single customer, each point of delivery or metering
shall be separately billed under the applicable rate schedules or
contracts. However, when a compound
meter is required in a single metering facility, the billing will be
accomplished by a separate billing for the gallons used through the high flow
meter portion and separate billing for the gallons used through the low flow
meter portion.
In no case shall customer extend water
service facilities across or under a street, alley, lane, court, avenue, or
other public or private space under different ownership in order to obtain a
rate advantage by taking service for two or more premises through one meter.
9-2 METER READING PRACTICE - The
District shall normally read meters for all its customers on a monthly
basis. The day of the month for reading
any meter, as determined by the District, shall as closely as practicable be
the same for each reading. The customer
will provide access to the District’s employees for reading meters at all
times.
In months where the meter reader is
unable to gain access to the premises to read the meter on their regular meter
reading trip, or in months where meters are not read, the District may provide
an estimated water bill.
(a) If dogs, animals, or other adverse
conditions prevent the meter reader access to the remote reader, the District
may require, at the owners expense, relocation of the remote reader to a
location selected by the District.
9-3 BILLING PERIODS - The District shall
normally render bills regularly at monthly intervals.
9-4 INFORMATION ON BILLS - A bill shall,
as a minimum, show the customer’s name, mailing address, account number,
service address, reading date, the registration on the meter for the end of the
billing period, the amount of water used in hundreds of gallons, and the total
billing amount.
9-5
RATES, CHARGES AND FEES – All rates, charges and fees
for water services shall be adopted by the Board of Directors of the Lockwood
Water and Sewer District as provided in MCA 7-13-2275. The procedures set forth in MCA 7-13-2275
shall be followed upon adoption, amendment or modification of rates, charges
and fees.
9-6
BILLS DUE – A person or entity may not use any
facility without paying the rate established for the facility (MCA
7-13-2301). All bills for water service
shall be due and payable when rendered.
If a bill is not paid within twenty (20) days of the billing date, a
late payment penalty of one and one-half (1 1/2) percent per month will be
assessed. The late payment interest
charge will be applied on the full past due amount, including any special fees
or charges. Bills will become delinquent
thirty (30) days from the date the bill is mailed. If the bill is not paid within sixty (60) days, the entire
account shall become delinquent and due in full, and a ten (10) day notice will
be delivered. If after the ten (10) day
notice the bill remains unpaid, a twenty-four (24) hour notice will be
delivered and the water service to the premises involved shall be
discontinued. Additional fees for
twenty-four (24) hour notices and turn-off/turn-on services may be charged as
set by the Board for delinquent accounts.
Once shut off, water service will only be restored after payment of all
delinquent charges are paid in full along with the cost to turn service back
on. If any such delinquent customer
wishes to have service restored during non-business hours or on weekends or
holidays, they must pay the required outside normal work hours rate in advance.
Once a service is shut off for
delinquent charges and/or charges for a service remain unpaid at the end of the
District’s fiscal year, the District will refer to MCA 7-13-2301 and may/ will
give notice to the owner(s) of the property concerned that the charges are
still outstanding and must be paid or they will be levied as a tax against the
property through the County. If the
charges remain unpaid, the District may/will proceed with collections through
the County Assessor. In addition to
collecting delinquent charges in the same manner as a tax, the District may
bring suit in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect amounts due as
debt owed to the District.
9-7
LANDLORD RESPONSIBILITY – The real property owner shall
be primarily responsible for the payment in full of all utility bills generated
by the real property so billed for water use.
Failure of the real property owner to pay the bill as and when rendered
will subject the property to termination of water service, as per Regulation
9-5 of these regulations.
9-8
DISTRICT’S RIGHT TO
REFUSE SERVICE - The District may refuse service to any delinquent
customer owing the District for service at a present or previous location in
the District, until such past balance has been paid or satisfactory
arrangements have been made by the delinquent customer with the District for
paying same. These same provisions
shall apply, and the District may refuse service, to any other member of the
same household or firm when application by said prospective customer, in the
opinion of the District, may be a means of evading paying of the District
service bill.
9-9 ADJUSTMENT OF RATE FOR INTERRUPTIONS -
Interruptions of service covered by Regulation 4-5, Interruptions of Water
Supply, or frozen facilities of customer, shall not render the District liable
for any adjustment of the bill.
9-10 CHARGES FOR MISCELLANEOUS DISTRICT SERVICES - The
District may require service agreements to be executed by a prospective
customer prior to performing any work and/or service for said customer. All charges for work performed by the
District for a customer shall be adequate to cover all of the District’s
expenses, including, but not limited to, application, construction and permit
fees, legal fees, engineering fees, inspection fees, installation and service
fees. The District may revise said
charges from time to time to reflect current costs and the District may, at its
discretion, estimate such charges and require the prospective customer to
deposit an amount equal to such estimated charges with the District prior to
performing any such work, the District will refund to customer any overpayment
upon completion of said work by the District.
In addition, customer shall pay to the District an amount equal to the
difference between the estimated cost of the work performed by the District and
the final amount incurred by the District.
Said payment shall be due and payable to the District upon completion of
the work to be performed and prior to beginning water service to said customer.
9-11
MINIMUM MONTHLY CHARGES - Minimum monthly charges will
be assessed whenever a customer's installation is active. An active customer's installation shall be a
service where the property is occupied and/or not abandoned by the owner,
whether the service is on or off at the curb-stop, unless specified otherwise
by the Board of Directors or Management.
Minimum monthly charges shall be the charges set forth by the Board of
Directors according to the By-Laws of the District and any Rule and Regulation
Governing Water Service thereof.
9-12 TEMPORARY METER REMOVAL - When a customer makes a verbal
or written request to have the meter pulled for a temporary period, a service
charge will be assessed as set by the Board as provided for in Regulations 8-6
and 9-10. Said service charge must be
paid before restoration of service.
Minimum Monthly charges will apply and must be paid in full along with
the temporary meter removal fee before restoring service. Temporary meter removal will not be provided
for any customer in order to avoid monthly charges as per Regulation 9-10. The temporary meter removal fee schedule is
included on Exhibit B attached to these regulations.
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