HomeMy Public PortalAbout00138REPEALED - NO. 486 - 12/22/60
O R D I N A N C E NO. 138
AN ORDINANCE requiring connections of property to
sewers, establishing rates and service charges for permits for
sewer use; providing the method of payment for permits for sewer
use; providing the method of enforcement and providing penalties
for violations hereof; and repealing Ordinances Nos. 40, 42, and
87 which relate to the same subject; and containing an emergency
clause.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT:
Section One. All structures now or hereafter erected
upon any real property within the District shall be connected to a
sanitary sewer if such sewer is available, as defined in Ordinance
No. 109, for connection thereto.
Section Two. Effective July 1, 1957, a service charge
for sewer use shall be paid by the person holding a permit for
water service, or who is liable for water service, as the case may
be, on each parcel of real property having a connection, or having
available a connection, either directly or indirectly to any
public sewer within the District. Such charge shall be levied and
collected in accordance with the schedule hereinafter set out, and
in the manner hereinafter provided.
Section Three. For convenience in collecting the rates
and charges hereinafter fixed for sewer service, the Executive
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Director shall divide the District into as many billing
subdistricts as he may deem necessary. The boundaries of
subdistricts may be changed at the discretion of the Executive
Director.
Section Four. Annual rates for the use of sewers to be
calculated upon the basis of water use capacity are hereby
established as follows:
Size of Meter Rate 5/8" $ 8.00 3/4" (Single family residence) 8.00 3/4" (Other than single family residence) 16.00 1" 32.00 1-1/2" 80.00 2" 200.00 3" 360.00 4" 720.00 6" 1,360.00 8" 2,400.00 10" 3,600.00 12" 4,800.00 Minimum Bill Customers 8.00 Flat Rate Customers 8.00
Bills for sewer use permits shall be subject to a prompt
payment discount of 15% of the gross bill if paid on or before
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fifteen days after the date on which much bills are mailed. If
not paid on or before such date, no discount shall be allowed.
Provided, that where water is used for irrigation the
rate to be applied shall not be computed by the size of the meter
but shall be computed on each house connection in the same manner
as it is computed for flat race customers.
Provided further the following types of connections
shall be billed as indicated;
1. Fire Connections. Owners of metered and unmetered
water service connections used exclusively for fire protection
purposes shall pay the minimum charge of $8.00 per year.
2. Dual or Combined Fire and Manufacture Use
Connections. After the first billing, owners of such connections
will be billed on the basis of the actual metered water usage for
the previous billing period, using the equivalent size of meter as
given in the table at the end of this section. Provided, however,
for the first billing, period said bills may be estimated on the
basis of the water consumption during the preceding year.
3. Swimming Pools. Owners of outside pools shall be
billed following the close of the swimming season in accordance
with the metered water consumption for a meter of equivalent size
in accordance with the table at the end of this section. Owners
of inside swimming pools shall be billed at the conclusion of each
billing period in accordance with the metered consumption during
the period, using the equivalent meter size as given in the table
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at the end of this section. In no case shall the owner be billed
for a meter larger than the one in use. Provided, however, during
the first billing period the bills may be estimated on the basis
of water consumption during the preceding year.
4. Sprinkling Connections. Owners of metered and unmetered
water service connections used only for sprinkling, watering of
golf courses, general nursery use for watering plants and shrubs,
shall pay the minimum charge of $8.00 per year per water service
connection.
5. Over-Sized Meters and Stand-by or Emergency
Connections. Owners of connections requiring an oversized meter
or stand-by emergency water service shall secure certifications
from the water agency as to the necessity for these types of
installations. Upon receipt of such certification, the District
shall determine water consumption for each billing period at the
conclusion of such period, and shall bill the owner an amount
based on the equivalent meter side as given in the table at the
end of this section. Provided, however, for the first billing
period the charge may be estimated on the basis of water used
during the preceding year. A minimum annual charge of $8.00 per
year will apply to every connection in service. Equivalent Size Water Consumption in Cubic of Meter Feet for 6 Months Period 3/4" 46,400 1" 74,000 1-1/2" 103,700
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2" 187,400 3" 614,100 4" 881,100 6" 2,405,400
Section Five. Premises may be reinspected for the
correction of bills by the District on its own motion or at the
request of any person holding a sewer use permit on the ground
that such charge is improperly computed. Upon receipt of such
request the Executive Director shall have the premises inspected,
and the size of the water meter, if any, determined. On the basis
of such examination, the permittee shall be informed as to the
accuracy of the original billing, and shall be reassessed if such
bill is found to be inaccurate. When the reassessment shows that
the original bill was too low, the permittee shall pay the
deficiency. When the reassessment shows that an overcharge has
been made, the Executive Director shall notify the Secretary-
Treasurer of the amount of such overcharge, and he shall refund
such sum to the permittee.
Section Six. Bills for sewer use charges shall be made
out by the District, and when paid to the District shall be and
become permits for the use of sewers for the periods of time
therein stated. All permits shall be for periods of six months
each, except where applications are made for the use of sewers on
premises newly built or reconstructed, or where the applications
for the use of sewers are made because of a change of owners,
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tenants or occupants, or because of the occupancy of premises
previously vacant, or for any use of sewers necessitating an
application on any date other than the one fixed for payment of
bills in the subdistrict where the property lies. Short term
permits shall be issued so as to terminate on the same date as
full term permits. All bills issued during the months of January,
February, March, April, May and June shall, upon payment, become
permits for the six months from January to June, inclusive. All
bills issued in July, August, September, October, November and
December shall, upon payment, become permits for the six months
from July to December, inclusive.
Section Seven. The Executive Director shall establish
collection offices at convenient locations throughout the
District, and may change the location of such collection offices
from time to time. He is hereby authorized to enter into
contracts with the owners or operators of business establishments
to provide collection service of sewer service charges at such
locations as are selected by him and may provide in such contracts
for the payment by the District to the collecting agency for
rendering such collection services a fee, in no event to exceed
three cents per bill for each bill collected and remitted to the
District. Such contracts shall provide that the collection agency
shall at intervals in no case longer than one week, remit all
collections to the District.
Section Eight. All bills for sewer service charges
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shall become delinquent if not paid within thirty days after
mailing. Any person who pays his bill within fifteen days after
the date on which the bill is mailed shall be entitled to a
discount of fifteen per cent of the gross amount of his bill. No
discount shall be allowed on any bill paid fifteen or more days
after the date on which the bill was mailed.
Section Nine. All bills for sewer use remaining unpaid
sixty days after the delinquent date may be enforced by
appropriate action in any magistrate's court having jurisdiction
of the debtor.
Section Ten. Any person who allows his bill for sewer
use permit to become delinquent and any person who willfully
refuses to pay his bill for a sewer use permit, may, upon finding
by the Executive Director of such delinquency or refusal, be
required, as a condition precedent to his application for a new
sewer use permit, to deposit and to keep on deposit with the
District a sum equal to his annual sewer service charge for such
sewer use.
Section Eleven. Any person who vacates premises upon
which he has allowed his sewer use permit to become delinquent,
and thereafter applies for a sewer use permit on other premises,
shall be required to pay the delinquent bill and to deposit with
the District a sum equal to his annual sewer service charge on
such other premises.
Section Twelve. Any holder of a sewer use permit, who
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vacates the premises for which such permit was issued, before the
expiration of the period covered, and who complies with the
ordinances, rules or regulations of the municipality or
corporation supplying him with water and becomes entitled to a
refund on his water bill or for the unexpired period of his water
permit, shall be entitled to a refund for the unexpired period of
his sewer permit. Upon certification by the water supplying agency
that the permittee is entitled to such refund, it shall be the
duty of the Secretary-Treasurer to refund the unearned part of the
fee for such permit. No refund shall be made unless claim
therefor is made within six months after the right to such refund
accrued.
Section Thirteen. The owner of each parcel of real
estate having a connection, or having available a connection,
either directly or indirectly to any public sewer within the
District shall be liable for the sewer service rendered to such
real property, regardless of whether the water and sewer permits
are issued in his name or in the name of a tenant or other person.
Whenever a sewer service charge has been delinquent for
more than sixty days the Executive Director may cause a notice of
lien for non-payment thereof to be filed in the Office of the
Recorder of Deeds within and for the City of St. Louis or St.
Louis County, as the case may be. Such notice of lien shall state
the amount of the delinquent sewer service charge, and shall
properly describe the property against which such lien is
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asserted. Upon the filing of such notice, such sewer service
charge shall be and become a lien upon the real property served to
the amount of such delinquent bill, and shall have priority over
all other liens except taxes, deeds of trust then of record, and
prior judgements.
Section Fourteen. Any person violating any of the
provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not
less than $50.00 nor more than $500.00, and each day's violation
shall constitute a separate offense. The imposition of such
penalty shall in no wise restrict or deprive the District of its
right to pursue any other remedy it may have for the collection of
any delinquent bill for sewer service charges.
Section Fifteen. Whenever a notice of lien has been
filed by the District, as provided in Section Thirteen of this
Ordinance, the owner of the property against which such lien is
asserted may secure the release thereof upon payment of the amount
of the delinquent bill, plus interest at the rate of 6% per annum
from the date such bill became delinquent, and plus the fees of
the Recorder for filing the notice of lien and releasing the same.
Section Sixteen. The Board of Trustees hereby declares
that if any section, part, sentence or clause of this Ordinance is
held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remainder of
this Ordinance; the Board of Trustees hereby declaring that it
would have enacted the remainder of this Ordinance without regard
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to that part hereof that may be held invalid.
Section Seventeen. This Ordinance shall not be so
construed as to relieve any person, firm or corporation (municipal
or otherwise) from the payment of any sewer service charge which
is due and payable under the provisions of Ordinance No. 40 as
amended, nor to bar the collection of same by, any and all of the
means provided for in Ordinance No. 40 as amended.
Section Eighteen. This Ordinance shall not be so
construed as to relieve any person, firm or corporation (municipal
or otherwise) from any penalty heretofore incurred by the
violation of Ordinance No. 40 as amended, nor to bar the
prosecution of any such violation in the manner provided therein.
Section Nineteen. This being a revenue
measure and being necessary for the preservation of the public
health, constitutes an emergency within the meaning of the Plan,
and this Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its
adoption.
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The foregoing Ordinance was adopted June 24, 1957