§ 201.08. Rates and charges.

A.

Billing charge. A charge will be applied to each bill issued by the department for billing services.

B.

Service availability charges where lines are available. The service availability charges shall apply to every connected ERU and to each ERU reserved for future use in a development. The service availability charges will apply until the facility is permanently disconnected from the system. For developments that have entered into an agreement with the county for reserving capacity, the service availability charges shall commence upon certification by the department that county transmission, collection, and distribution lines are ready for use.

C.

Service availability charges where capacity is reserved but lines are not available. The county may charge less than the standard service availability charge until lines are ready for use, as set forth in the rate resolution.

D.

Volume charge. A charge will be imposed that is directly related to the volume of water consumed or sewage treated. The volume charge shall be increased twenty (20) percent after public hearing within fifteen (15) days in the event that the water management district declares a water use emergency in Indian River County. Any such rate increase shall be rescinded upon termination of the water use emergency without further action of the county.

E.

Excess volume surcharge. A charge will be made for providing service to any customer in excess of the level of capacity purchased by the customer as represented by the number of ERUs assigned to the customer and for which the customer purchased capacity through impact fees. Such excess volume use may be prohibited by the department if additional necessary capacity is not available.

F.

Excess sewage strength charge. All sewage discharged into the sanitary sewer system which has an average concentration of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of two hundred fifty (250) milligrams per liter (mg/l) or greater or an average concentration of suspended solids of two hundred fifty (250) mg/l or greater shall be subject to an excessive strength charge. The amount of the excessive strength charge shall be equal to the customer's standard base facilities and volume charges multiplied by the greater of either of two (2) factors: the amount of the customer's average concentration of BOD5 in mg/l divided by two hundred fifty (250), minus one (1); or the amount of the customer's average concentration of suspended solids in mg/l divided by two hundred fifty (250), minus one (1). Any customer may sample its sewage and have it analyzed by an analytical laboratory approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The county may sample and conduct analysis of the sewage produced by any customer to determine sewage strength. Where such analysis demonstrates that the customer's sewage strength exceeds the standards given above, the customer will be subject to the excess sewage strength charge and shall reimburse the county for the cost of such analysis.

G.

Excess capital cost charge. The county may impose a charge on customers of a system where the water and/or sewer system is acquired by the county at a cost in excess of that for which impact fees have been paid.

H.

Deposits required upon opening, transferring, reconnecting; refund policy.

(1)

The county shall require a deposit for each water and sewer account opened, transferred to another name, or reconnected to the system based on the number of ERUs. The deposit will be retained in a non-interest bearing account. Upon discontinuance of service and rendering of final bill, the deposit shall be refunded, less any amount remaining unpaid. In the event any customer's service is shut off for nonpayment, prior to reconnection the customer will pay the accrued balance plus, if at the discretion of the department it is necessary to insure payment, a deposit equal to twice the customer's average monthly bill in lieu of following the schedule set forth hereafter. Customers who are owners of the property for which the account is opened and who have not been assessed late payment fees or been shut off for nonpayment for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive months shall be eligible to receive a refund of their deposit. Customers who are tenants of the property for which the account is opened and who have not been assessed late payment fees or been shut off for nonpayment for a period of sixty (60) consecutive months shall be eligible to receive a refund of their deposit; provided, however, that if the customer is a tenant in a mobile home community which was previously connected to either water or sewer service and then connected to the other service (thereby requiring a deposit for the new service), the customer shall be eligible for the new service deposit refund after twenty-four (24) consecutive months of satisfactory payment, provided the customer has previously or simultaneously met the sixty (60) consecutive month requirement for refund of the earlier service deposit. Customers eligible for refunds under this section will be required to request the refund before it is made. All deposit refunds will be applied to the active account or credited to the final bill; separate refund checks will not be processed.

I.

Specific service charges to be established by resolution after public hearing.

(1)

Water service connection. A water service connection charge will be imposed when county constructs a water lateral from customer's property to watermain in adjacent street.

(2)

Sewer service connection. A sewer service connection charge will be imposed when county constructs a sewer lateral from customers property to main in street.

(3)

Sewer service disconnection. A charge will be imposed when the county disconnects sewer service for non-payment. The county will charge the customer for all direct labor, direct materials, direct overhead, fringe benefit factor, and for the county's indirect costs pursuant to a formula established by the department.

(4)

Meter installations only. A charge, not including the cost of the meter vault, will be imposed where an existing available usable service lateral is presently installed.

J.

Miscellaneous service charges.

(1)

Reconnection during normal working hours (8:30 a.m. — 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays). This charge is made upon initial service connection, change from temporary to permanent service, reconnection after delinquency shut-off, or for transfer of service from one location to another, where there was an existing account.

(2)

Reconnection during off-duty hours. A charge shall be made for service reconnection during other than normal working hours specified in subsection J.(1).

(3)

Meter re-reads and leak inspection. This charge is for special inspection at request of customers. If the re-read is a result of an error of the initial meter reading, this charge will not be assessed to the customer. The leak inspection charge will be assessed except where leak occurred in county-owned facilities.

(4)

Delinquency charge. County shall charge an additional two dollars ($2.00) plus one and one-half (1½) percent interest monthly (collectively "delinquency charges") on all outstanding balances including assessments, fees, charges, and other fees due (collectively "underlying charges") if payment is not made in full by each payment deadline date; provided, however, that the utilities director may waive some or all delinquency charges in connection with the reactivation of service of an existing account, where (i) payment in full of all underlying charges and delinquency charges would work a hardship to the customer, and such waiver is determined to be in the best interests of the county, and (ii) such waiver results in the immediate payment in full of all underlying charges and any delinquency charges which are not waived.

With respect to service availability charges which (i) are based on the ownership of one or more ERUs which are reserved for future use but for which there has been no past or present use or consumption of services, and (ii) are unpaid as of December 18, 2018, such delinquency charges shall be waived if the unpaid service availability charges are paid in full at any time between December 18, 2018 and March 18, 2019. Such waiver shall not be eligible for those property owners who have received prior waivers under this section.

(5)

General service calls. In all instances where county is requested to respond to a service call to correct a problem that was not caused by the county, the county may charge the responsible party for all direct labor, direct materials, direct overhead, fringe benefit factor and the county's indirect cost rate pursuant to a formula established by the department.

(6)

Meter test. Upon request of a customer, the department shall test a water meter to determine if the meter is operating within established standards, (ninety-five (95) to one hundred one and one-half (101.5) percent of true). If the meter has been tested within the last five (5) years, there shall be a non-refundable service charge if the meter is found to be operating accurately. If the meter is in error, i.e., outside the range of ninety-five (95) to one hundred one and one-half (101.5) percent of true, then a billing adjustment will be made for a period not to exceed the past six (6) months of actual service. There shall be no charge for testing in the event the water meter has not been tested within the last five (5) years. The service charge may be applied against monies due in the event a meter, after testing, is found to be inaccurate with respect to the range established above.

(7)

Damage repair. All damage caused by the failure of a contractor or customer to properly locate and isolate water and sewer facilities shall be repaired by the county and charged to the responsible party under the provisions of paragraph "F" of this section; or in the alternative, county may hire a contractor to perform the repair work and charge the responsible party for the repairs. In addition, the responsible party shall be fined for each such instance in accordance with provisions of this chapter.

(8)

Line location. Same as general service calls.

(9)

Engineering services. These fees will be assessed to defray the cost of processing a developer's application for subdivision construction, site plan, reviewing the plans and inspecting the water and sewer facilities as constructed.

(10)

Inspection fee. County shall charge on the basis of a flat fee established by the county or time, materials and overhead, whichever is greater.

(11)

Other miscellaneous charges. The county may impose other charges as necessary and appropriate to recover the costs of providing utility services.

K.

Additional costs for complex connections. The specific service charges adopted by the county are based on the average historical costs of such services. If in the event a particular service required by a customer is determined by the department to have a cost which greatly exceeds the average, then such cost of service shall be negotiated between the department and the customer and reduced to a written instrument approved by the customer and the department.

L.

Annual review of user charges and notice of rates.

(1)

Procedure. There shall be an annual review of user charges to ensure that adequate revenues are generated to cover operation, maintenance and replacement costs and that these costs are distributed among users in proportion to the service provided.

(2)

Notice. If the water or sewer rates are changed, the county shall provide notice of such rate change to each user by inclusion of a notice on or with the regular bill.

M.

Pretreatment fees.

(1)

Industrial users who are required to obtain an industrial discharge permit pursuant to Part III of this chapter shall pay an initial application fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) and an annual fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00).

(2)

Industrial users who are required to submit monitoring reports pursuant to Part III of this chapter shall be assessed a late fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each incidence of failure to submit a monitoring report within sixty (60) days of the designated monitoring date.

N.

Release of service availability charges for ERUs reserved for future use in a development and delinquency charges. Until July 8, 2019, the utilities director may release service availability charges for ERUs reserved for future use and associated delinquency charges if the customer pays ten (10) percent of the amount owed, including all charges, penalties and interest, and executes the agreement for release of ERUs in substantially the same form as approved by the board.

(Ord. No. 91-9, 3-12-91; Ord. No. 92-35, § 1, 9-1-92; Ord. No. 94-23, § 1, 7-26-94; Ord. No. 99-16, §§ 1, 2, 11, 6-22-99; Ord. No. 2008-004, § 1, 2-12-08; Ord. No. 2009-012, pt. I, §§ 2, 6, 8-18-09; Ord. No. 2012-001, § 3, 2-14-12; Ord. No. 2012-042, § 2, 12-18-12; Ord. No. 2013-002, § 3, 4-2-13; Ord. No. 2015-009, § 3, 7-24-15; Ord. No. 2018-026, § 3, 12-18-18; Ord. No. 2019-002, § 2, 1-8-19)