§ 70-35. Determination of rates and charges

For the use of and the service rendered by the sewage works, rates and charges shall be collected from the owners of each and every lot, parcel of real estate or building that is connected with the town's sanitary sewer system or otherwise discharges sanitary sewage, industrial wastes, water or other liquids, either directly or indirectly, into the sanitary sewer system of the town. Such rates and charges include user charges, debt service costs, excessive strength surcharges and other service charges, which rates and charges shall be payable as hereinafter provided and shall be in an amount determinable as follows:

(1) The sewage rates and charges shall be based on the quantity of water used on or in the property or premises subject to such rates and charges as the same is measured by the water meter there in use, plus a base charge based on the size of water meter installed except as herein otherwise provided. For the purpose of billing and collecting the charges for sewage service, the water meters shall be read monthly and the users shall be billed each month (or period equaling a month). The water usage schedule on which the amount of said rates and charges shall be determined is as follows:

All Class I Users

a. Treatment rate per 1,000 cubic feet of usage per month:

User Charge

$9.25

 

plus

b. Base rate per month:

	User charge (in dollars)
5/8;inch;—1;inch; water meter	21.03
1¼;inch;—1½;inch; water meter	103.03
2;inch; water meter	175.03
3;inch; water meter	397.17
4;inch; water meter	705.11
6;inch; water meter	1,577.47
8;inch; water meter	2,808.93

 

(2) For users of the sewage works that are unmetered water users or if accurate meter readings are not available, the monthly charge shall be determined by equivalent single-family dwelling units, except as herein provided. Sewage service bills shall be rendered once each month, or for a period equaling a month. The schedule on which the rates and charges shall be determined is as follows:

	Monthly Rate
User Classification	User Charge (in dollars)
Residential:
>Single-family residence/unit	67.28
Apartments, condominiums and townhouses/unit	50.46
Mobile home court/space available for rent	50.46
Duplexes/building	117.74
Commercial:
Retail establishments:
First four employees	67.28
Each additional employee over four	16.82
Gasoline service stations:
First four employees	67.28
Each additional employee over four	16.82
Each car wash bay	134.56
Laundromats and washeterias/washer	67.28
Motels, roominghouses and similar establishments, per room available	33.64
Restaurants, drive-ins, bars and organizations with eating and/or drinking facilities:
Per seat available or	6.73
Per employee	50.46
(Billings to be computed using both methods and the user shall be billed the higher amount)
Institutions:
Schools per pupil enrolled (five-day school week)	6.73
Churches and other religious organizations without eating and/or drinking facilities, for each 200 members, or fraction thereof	67.28
Governmental offices:
First four employees	67.28
Each additional employee over four	16.82
Industrial:
Manufacturing, unmetered:
First four employees	67.28
Each additional employee over four	10.09

 

An industry with industrial process effluent discharge into the sanitary sewage system shall install, operate and maintain, at the user's expense, a measuring device satisfactory to the town for the measurement of the volume of flow discharged for sanitary sewers and shall be charged for the quantity of flow under subsection (1)[b] of this section.

(3) For the service rendered to the town, said town shall be subject to the same rates and charges established in harmony therewith.

(4) In order to recover the cost of monitoring industrial wastes, the town shall charge the user a flat fee per sampling event, plus the actual cost for collecting and analyzing the sample, as determined by the town or by an independent laboratory. This charge will be reviewed on the same basis as all other rates and charges in this article.

(5) A system development charge will be collected from all new customers of the sewage system in addition to existing rates and charges under adopted Ordinance Nos. 2004-20 and 2005-06, in accordance with the following schedule:

SUMMARY OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGE BY METER SIZE
Meter Size and Equivalent Unit Factor
5/8"	¾"	1"	1¼"	1½"	2"	3"	4"	6"	8"
1.0	1.4	2.5	4.0	5.8	10.0	23.0	40.0	91.0	162.1
System Development Charge (In Dollars)
1,500	2,100	3,750	6,000	8,700	15,000	34,500	60,000	136,500	243,150

 

(6) If new sewage service customer will not have water service provided by Indiana-American Water Company, the town's engineer shall reasonably estimate the monthly wastewater usage and establish an equivalent residential unit factor based on the average residential monthly usage and multiply times the $1,500.00 base charge to calculate the system development fees for unmetered customers. If a new sewage service customer disputes the equivalent number of units (developed by the town's engineer), they may at their cost install a water meter on the well to determine the monthly water usage and calculate the fee based on a three-month actual average usage.

(7) The system development charge in subsection (5) of this section may be modified by the town council when investments in sewer infrastructure made by developers or private property owners result in significant enhancement of the capabilities of the town to serve existing or future customers.

(Code 1991, § 9-8; Ord. No. 694, § 1, 3-29-1983; Ord. No. 750, § 3, 6-14-1988; Ord. No. 96-14, § 1, 12-17-1996; Ord. No. 2004-20, § 1, 1-11-2005; Ord. No. 2005-06, § 1, 7-26-2005; Ord. No. 2006-17, §§ 1—3, 10-24-2006; Ord. No. 2008-15, § 1, 8-26-2008; Ord. No. 2010-08, § 1, 8-24-2010; Ord. No. 2013-16, § 1, 11-12-2013)