There are certain expenditures of the wastewater utility that are attributed to the annual operation and maintenance of the utility. There is, therefore, now established a sewer service charge for sewer service provided by said city's wastewater utility to meet the funding demands of annual operation and maintenance of the utility.

(Ord. 541)

There is hereby imposed a sewer service charge upon each separate user of the sanitary sewer system of said city.

(a)   Residential

That for the purpose of establishing just and equitable sewer service charges for the provision of sanitary sewer service by the wastewater utility of said City, the Governing Body hereby establishes that, based upon studies of water usage within said City and other data, it is determined that for each residential unit (for the purpose of this section each separate dwelling unit, even within a common structure, be it a duplex, triplex, fourplex, condominium, apartment, or mobile home shall be considered a separate residential unit with a separate sewer user and will be subject to separate and individual charges) that is connected to the sanitary sewer system of said City shall be assessed a sewer service charge of Seventeen Dollars ($17.00) per month and that such determination is based upon an average residential use of water at the rate of 6,000 gallons/month, which charge and usage shall be referred to as “base charge” and “base usage.”

(b)   Non-Residential

Based upon such base charges and base usages aforesaid, the sewer service charge for other classifications and usages in said City is hereby found and established to be as follows:

(1)   For each manufacturing, industrial, commercial, or multi-use, excepting any category or other such usage provided for hereinafter, the sewer service charge rate shall be the base rate Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per month for each 6,000 gallons of water used on the premises as determined by the records of the Water Department of the City of Wichita and in the office of the City Clerk of Andover, Kansas. That as hereinafter provided, the Governing Body may review such rates from time to time and take into consideration other matters such as quantity of industrial waste discharged into the sanitary sewer, water used and evaporated for cooling purposes, and any and all other factors which may tend to raise or lower the rates charged such classification, and direct the City Clerk to adjust or to change the fee for such user in this classification in accordance with the findings of the Governing Body.

(2)   For each “car-washing” stall establishment, the sum of Seventeen Dollars ($17.00) per month for each car-washing stall established in said business whether inside or outside the City, or Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per 6,000 gallons used on the premises as determined from the records of the City of Wichita, whichever is greater. If no water use data is available, the minimum of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per stall per month shall be charged based upon the belief of the City that the same adequately reflects the proper rate of usage in establishing the sewer service charge rate.

(3)   For each school, whether public or private, the monthly sewer service charge shall be the base rate of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per month for each 6,000 gallons of water used at all school properties determined by the records of the Water Department of the City of Wichita and in the office of the City Clerk of Andover, Kansas.

(c)   Metering

All new users falling within a “b” classification as set forth immediately hereinabove shall be required to meter all water to be discharged to said City's sanitary sewer system and shall be forbidden to discharge any unmetered flows to said City, subject to penalty as prescribed by 16-106. Metering costs shall be borne by the owner. The meter must be available for reading by City personnel.

(d)   Meter Data Interpretation

Water use data shall be obtained for any nonresidential user known, or believed to be using in excess of 12,000 gallons per month. The water use data for the months of May, June, July and August shall be disregarded to exclude summer lawn care and water cooling devices from sewer usage calculation, unless other information warrants the use of that data. The usable data shall then be converted to an average monthly usage rate for user fee assessment for the next year or until a new usage rate is obtained, whichever is the latter.

(Ord. 623; Ord. 865; Code 2011)

For each user of City sewer service outside the City limits of Andover, Kansas, either within the limits of any benefit district for sanitary sewer service or outside a sanitary sewer district, there shall be a charge in addition to the charges for operation and maintenance of an amount equal to 50% of the inside City limit user fee to be used for Capital Debt Retirement.

(Code 2011)

Because certain expenses are incurred regardless of usage rate, and certain benefits are derived through the use of said City's wastewater utility regardless of usage rate, the Governing Body hereby establishes a minimum sewer service charge of Seventeen Dollars ($17.00) per month for each user inside the City and Twenty-Five Dollars and Fifty Cents ($25.50) per month for each user outside the corporate limits of said City, to be payable regardless of usage rate. In the event of vacation of premises, 50% of this minimum fee may be assessed in place of an occupied fee if, and only if, the owner of said property renders notice of vacation and requests minimum fee implementation in writing to the City Clerk. It shall then be the sole responsibility of the owner of said property to inform the City Clerk when said property is occupied. Upon failure to provide this notification to the City Clerk of such reoccupation, the owner of said property shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and assessed a penalty of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100).

(Ord. 865; Code 2011)

In the event that a user, previously connected to the said City's sanitary sewer system and assessed a service charge based upon a particular classification, converts the use of said property so as to change the water usage rate, or change the characteristics of the wastewater discharged by the user to an extent that could result in the user being reclassified and assessed a different service charge, the said City may reclassify the user and assess a new charge based upon their classification.

(Code 2011)

In the event that a user is projected to discharge waste that is described in 16-501, the Governing Body may, upon evaluation of available data and information, assess additional service charges above and beyond any other fees as set forth within these regulations.

(Code 2011)

Nothing herein shall be construed as to prohibit the Governing Body of said City from entering into special contractual arrangements with new users for the payment of user fees in such event that the Governing Body so deems it necessary to do so for the joint benefit of the Wastewater Utility and the community at large.

(Code 2011)

The charges hereinabove established shall be effective on July 1, 1996, and such charges shall be paid to the City of Andover, Kansas, for the use of the sewage disposal system of said City by all persons, firms, corporations, the United States, or the State of Kansas and its political subdivisions, whose premises are connected, or may be hereafter connected, to the said sewage disposal system of said City, either within or without said City. The said sewer service charges hereinabove established shall be made on a monthly basis in arrears of such charges and the use of the sanitary sewer system of said City by any person, firm, corporation or organization hereinabove mentioned for any calendar month, or for any portion of a calendar month, shall entitle the City to said sewer service charges for the full month. The said sewer service charges shall be billed by said City to such persons, firms, corporations and organizations responsible for the payment thereof, whether within or without the corporate limits of said City, on a quarterly basis, that is, for the periods of October through December, January through March, April through June, and July through September of each year. Payment shall be the sole responsibility of the owner of the connected property.

(Ord. 865)

The City is not obligated to review or adjust the service charge of a new user, but will do so upon request of the user if the request is made in accordance with proper administrative procedures.

(Code 2011)

Upon a determination of an assessment for the service charge for a new owner, said owner shall be notified through a bill for the amount of the assessment mailed to the address provided by the new owner. The owner of the property shall be solely held responsible for the payment of such sewer charges, and billings will be made to the owner only.

(Code 2011)

(a)   That following the rendition of bills and statements by the City's Clerk to users of the sanitary sewer system of said City setting out each particular user's charge for a monthly or quarterly year period, if such bill remains unpaid for a period of 20 days following the date on which statement was mailed then such bill shall be considered past due or delinquent. Payments shall be rebilled to the user adding thereto a penalty for the increase of collection costs in the amount of 10% of the amount past due for such sanitary sewer service charge, which penalty shall be in addition to the interest charge of 10% per year permitted by statute, when the same is certified upon the tax rolls. That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the City of Andover, Kansas, from rendering its statement or statements for the charges made hereunder in conjunction with statements or statements rendered or the solid waste service charges imposed by said City under the terms of different ordinances.

(b)   Should the City desire to amend this article by raising the base rate as set out in Chapter 16, Section 801, to change the base rate, said notice to be given by publication of the same in the official City newspaper at least seven (7) in advance of its hearing on the advisability of making such change.

(Code 2011)

That should any person, firm, organization, political unit, except the United States and the State of Kansas, or organization living or operating on the premises connected to the City sanitation system of the City of Andover, neglect, fail, or refuse to pay the sanitation charge fixed by this Article or any amendment thereto, such charges shall constitute a lien upon the real estate served by the connection to the sewer, and shall be certified by the City Clerk of said City to the County Clerk of Butler County, Kansas, to be placed on the tax rolls for collection subject to the same penalties and collection in like manner as other taxes are by law collected, and such Governing Body is hereby authorized to refuse the delivery of water through the pipes of said utility supplying said City until such time as such charges are fully paid, subject, of course, to the provisions for administrative hearing as provided hereinafter in this article.

(Code 2011)

That before the City of Andover, Kansas, shall cause the water connection to any customer in said City to be discontinued by reason of the proper person chargeable for it that the charges herein provided, such person or persons shall be provided by said City written notice of its intention to cause such water connection to be disconnected at least ten (10) days in advance of hearing to be held upon the same before the Governing Body of said City. Such notice shall set out the date, time, and place of such hearing and at which hearing such person, firm or corporation shall be allowed to show good cause why such water service should not be disconnected. Nothing herein shall be construed a waiver or estoppel of said City to bring a civil action for the collection of said past due service charges.

(Code 2011)

Should the Governing Body deem it advisable to change, amend, alter, or modify the general nature of sewer charges imposed by the City of Andover, Kansas, all such changes and modifications of the nature of such fees and assessments shall be by subsequent Ordinance.  In the event that the Governing Body deems it advisable to alter the amount of assessment in connection with any such fee or charge already established by Ordinance, the modification of such fee may be by simple Resolution adopted by a majority of the Governing Body which Resolution or Resolutions shall at all times be available for inspection at City Hall. In accordance with the foregoing, any change in the amount of connection fees as established by Section 16-601, inspection fees as established by Section 16-602, surcharges as established by 16-702, tie-on fees as established by Section 16-704 and service charges as established by Sections 16-802 and 16-804 may be made by simple Resolution.

(Ord. 1376, Sec. 1)

For each newly annexed user of City sewer service which has not previously been assessed these sewer service charges and has not previously paid said service charges, there shall be assessed sewer service charges according to 16-802.

(Code 2011)

Funds received by said City from the proceeds of such sewer service charges shall be placed in a fund known as the “Sewer Utility Fund” and shall be used only for the funding of the annual operation and maintenance of the utility, the unreserved balance, depreciation reserves, equipment reserves and the payment of annual debt retirement on revenue bonds issued solely for the benefit of the Wastewater Utility.

(Ord. 541, Sec. 1)