Ch. 18 Part 3

Part 3
Sewer Rates

§18-301 Quarterly Charge for Service.

The quarterly charges for sewer service provided directly or indirectly by the sewer system, whether the premises thereby are within or without the corporate limits of the Borough, shall be based on the following schedule of rates, which shall become effective from and after January 1, 2016:

A. The rates are based on the volume of water used on the premises. The volume of water to be used for billing sewer rentals or charges to users of properties connected to the sewer system shall include any and all water purchased from the Borough or from the Selinsgrove Municipal Authority and all water obtained from any other source, including wells, streams and such, as determined: by meters installed and maintained by the Authority; by meters installed and maintained by the Borough; by meters installed and maintained by the users of the sewered property, as approved by the Borough; or from estimates or measurements made by the Borough.

B. The Borough may require the owner or owners or user of a nonresidential property, or the owner or user of a nonresidential property may elect, to install, pay for and maintain a meter approved by the Borough for measuring quarterly wastewater volumes discharged to the sewer system, in which case sewer rentals shall be based upon the actual volume of water so measured at the rates set forth under subsection .C below.

C. The rate schedule is as follows:

Number of Gallons	Rate	Rate Includes User Charge	Rate Includes Other Charges
First 3,000	$30.00	$7.20	$22.80
Each 1,000 or part thereof thereafter	$10.00	$2.40	$7.60

The term “user charge” is a Pennsylvania Environmental Protection (“DEP”) term meaning operating costs of the Selinsgrove Municipal Authority and the Borough. Each rate category includes not less than the user charges as defined by the DEP.

D. Metered service contemplates the supply of water through an individual service line and meter to each and every premises supplied. Where the premises supplied is not adapted for such separate meter installation in the judgment of the Borough, one common service line will be permitted and one meter installation will be made accordingly; however, the charge for service will be made on the same basis as if an individual meter was installed for each and every premises.

(Ord. 182, 8/5/1946, §6; as amended by Ord. 274, 5/15/1961; by Ord. 282, 12/10/1962; by Ord. 390, 11/6/1972; by Ord. 481, 1/21/1980, §1; by Ord. 490, 7/7/1980, §1; by Ord. 595, 8/7/1989, §IV; by Ord. 713, 9/8/2003, §3(b); by Ord. 728, 9/13/2004, §3(a); by Ord. 743, 12/28/2005, §3(a); by Ord. 792, 5/2/2011, §3(a); and by Ord. 822, 12/7/2015, §3)

§18-302 Quarterly Billing.

All bills for sewer service are due and payable on the 20th day of February, May, August and November of each year for service furnished during the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

(Ord. 182, 8/5/1946, §7; as amended by Ord. 481, 1/21/1980, §1; by Ord. 489, 6/16/1980, §1; and by Ord. 633, 12/6/1993, §3(a))

§18-303 Penalty for Late Payments.

1. A sewer bill that is unpaid after its due date shall be delinquent and shall be subject to a one-time only penalty of 25 percent of the amount due. In order for the customer to cure the delinquency, the customer must pay the delinquent bill together with the penalty. Water and sewage services may be terminated from the delinquent premises as provided by law and shall not be restored until all delinquent bills against the same and the service termination and restoration fees have been paid. Failure to pay delinquent bills for two quarters may result in a lien being imposed against the delinquent premises in the amount of the delinquent bills and penalties, together with interest, attorneys’ fees and court costs provided for in the Pennsylvania Municipal Claim Law, 53 P.S. §7101 et seq. With regard to the imposition of attorney fees, the following schedule of fees is adopted and shall be imposed upon and paid by the record owner of the delinquent premises:

Attorney’s Service	Fee
Preparation and filing of municipal lien	$35
Revival of municipal lien	$10
Preparation and filing writ of scire facias	$75
Judgment for want of affidavit of defense	$25
Trial upon affidavit of defense	Fee based upon hourly rate of the solicitor for time expended in preparation for and attendance at trial
Collection of municipal claim in assumpsit for time expended in preparation for and attendance at trial	Fee based upon hourly rate of the Solicitor
Execution on judgment and sheriffs sale of real property for time expended in preparation of and filing execution documents and attendance at sheriff’s sale	Fee based upon hourly rate of the Solicitor

2. At least 30 days prior to assessing or imposing attorney fees as part of its municipal lien against the delinquent premises, a written notice shall be sent, postage prepaid, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known post office address of the record owner of the delinquent premises informing such owner of the Borough’s intention to impose or assess the attorney fees set forth above and of the manner in which the imposition or assessment of the attorney fees can be avoided by payment of the delinquent account. In the event, the notice sent by certified mail is not delivered or received by the record owner of the delinquent premises, then at least 10 days prior to the imposition or assessment of the attorney fees as set forth above, a written notice shall be sent, postage prepaid by regular mail to the last known post office address of the record owner of the delinquent premises informing such owner of the Borough’s intention to impose or assess the attorney fees set forth above and of the manner in which the imposition or assessment of the attorney fees can be avoided by payment of the delinquent account.

(Ord. 182, 8/5/1946, §8; as amended by Ord. 481, 1/21/1980, §1; by Ord. 489, 6/16/1980, §1; by Ord. 490, 7/7/1980, §1; by Ord. 514, 4/5/1982; by Ord. 633, 12/6/1993, §3(b); and by Ord. 655, 5/20/1996, §6(a))

§18-304 Use of Funds.

The funds received by the Borough or the collection of charges authorized herein shall be used for the purpose of defraying the expense of the Borough in the operation, maintenance and repair of the sewer system, as well as all other payments required to be made by the Borough to the Selinsgrove Municipal Authority.

(Ord. 182, 8/5/1946, §9; as amended by Ord. 481, 1/21/1980, §1)

§18-305 Charge as Lien.

The annual rental or charge imposed under ordinance shall be a lien against the property served, and such lien may be filed in the office of the Prothonotary and collected in the manner provided for the filing and collection of municipal claims, all as now is or may in the future be provided by law.