§ 70-96. Service charge schedule.

(a)

Non-refundable water connection fee.

(1)

Water customers. Each prospective water customer of the City of Minneola shall pay a $50.00 non-refundable connection fee to secure water service to his or her residence or business when such connection occurs during normal business hours excluding city holidays. The non-refundable connection fee shall be charged upon initial service connection and for transfer of service from one location to the other.

(2)

The non-refundable water connection fee shall be charged upon initial service connection, and for transfer of service from one location to the other, when such connection or reconnection occurs during normal business hours, excluding city holidays.

(3)

Each prospective water customer of the City of Minneola shall pay a $100.00 nonrefundable connection fee for an initial service connection and for transfer of service from one location to the other when such connection does not occur during normal business hours or occurs on a city holiday.

(b)

Reconnection fees. A fee of $25.00 shall be charged for a change from temporary shutoff to permanent service reconnection and for reconnection after delinquency shutoff when such reconnection occurs during normal business hours. A reconnection fee of $100.00 shall be charged for a change from temporary shutoff to permanent service reconnection and for reconnection after delinquency shutoff when such reconnection does not occur during normal business hours or occurs on a city holiday.

(c)

Meter rereads and leak inspection. There shall be no charge for meter rereads and leak inspection.

(d)

Delinquency charge. An additional charge of ten percent of all outstanding water and/or wastewater balances, including assessments, fees, charges, and other fees shall be added to the bill five days after the due date as shown on a monthly statement where payment in full has not yet been received at that time, except where the fifth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a national legal holiday, at which point such deadline shall extend to 5:00 p.m. on the next business day.

(e)

General service calls. Where the city is requested to respond to a service call to correct a problem with the water or wastewater system that was not caused by the city, the city may charge the responsible party for all direct labor, direct materials, direct overhead, fringe benefit factor and the city's indirect cost rate pursuant to a formula established by the city.

(1)

City shall charge, and the property owner shall pay, a fee of $50.00 (the "utility call-out service fee"), plus the cost of materials, if city staff responds to a request from property owners for utility support due to, within city's reasonable discretion, a leak, malfunction, or disturbance of a utility, when the problem exists or was created solely on or within the property owner's component (on property) extension or connection to the City of Minneola utility. If the city reasonably determines that the disturbance is caused within the city segment or component of the utility connection or service, the city shall not assess the utility service call-out fee.

(2)

The city manager is authorized to review the fees established within this section annually, and to make adjustments to the fee as necessary only as needed to recover actual costs associated with the services described above.

(3)

The public works department shall provide documentation as prescribed by the finance director to document such service calls which fall under the criteria of (1) above. Charges pursuant to these notifications shall then be charged to the property owners via the city utility bill.

(f)

Meter tests. There shall be no charge for meter tests requested by customers should the results of the test show that the meter is not operating within 95 to 101.5 percent of true. Should the results of the test indicate that the meter is operating within 95 to 101.5 of true, then a charge established by resolution of the city council and on file in the city clerk's office shall be due for the city's direct costs of testing the meter.

(g)

Damage repair. All damage caused by failure of a contractor of customer to properly locate and isolate water or wastewater facilities shall be repaired by the city and charged to the responsible party; or in the alternative, the city 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 the provisions of this section.

(h)

Line location. There shall be no charge for line location services performed by the city.

(i)

Miscellaneous charges. The city may impose other charges as necessary and appropriate to recover the costs of providing utility services.

(Code 1980, § 21-55; Ord. No. 2001-26, § 2(21-55), 9-25-2001; Ord. No. 2009-15, § 2, 8-4-2009; Ord. No. 2010-27, § 2, 2-15-2011; Ord. No. 2014-21, § 1, 11-11-2014 ; Ord. No. 2017-26 , § 1, 12-5-2017)