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Home My WebLink About1117 Water and Sewer Pass-ThroughsThe City Council of the City of Ukiah hereby ordains as follows: SECTION ONE. 1. Section 3504 of the Ukiah City Code is amended to read as follows: 3504: JOINT USE OF WATER SERVICE: Except as expressly authorized by this Section 3504, not more than one dwelling shall be served from a single meter, except in the case of multiple dwellings, such as mobile home parks, apartment buildings or complexes, hotels, and motels, when specifically authorized by the director of public works based on a determination that service from a single meter will not cause an undue burden or administrative difficulties for the city. Mobile home parks and apartment buildings or apartment complexes, consisting of more than three apartments, shall receive water service through a single master meter and one person or entity (the "Customer"), such as the property owner, shall assume the legal obligation to pay for the service furnished through that master meter. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the Customer may bill its tenants for their proportional share of the City's charges for that service in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of this Code, commencing with Section 3960. 2. Section 3707.1 of the Ukiah City Code is amended to read as follows: 3707.1: RATES: The rates set forth hereafter shall be the rates for all premises connected to public sewers within or under the jurisdiction and control of the city. These rates, including the provisions of any section in this Article 8 of Chapter 2 of Division 4 of this Code, shall be subject to modification and change which may be made by resolution of the City Council. These rates, although stated on a monthly basis, may be billed monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly as determined from time to time by the council. Charges for sewer services to any premises connected with the city water and/or electric systems shall be collected together with, and not separately from, the charges for services to said premises, and shall be billed upon one bill and collected as one item. The customer who applied for and assumed the obligation to pay for water service to the property is the person liable for sewer charges to the property served by that water service. In the case of multiple units served by a master water meter, one person or entity, such as the property owner, shall pay for and assume liability for sewer service to that property. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, the customer may bill its tenants for their proportional share of the City's charges for that service in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of this Code, commencing with Section 3960. This requirement shall not prevent tenants in a multi-unit residential property from exercising their rights under Public Utilities Code section 10009. 1, including their option to become utility customers in accordance with the requirements of that section, to whom the service will then be billed, without being required to pay the amount due on the delinquent account. Each premises or user connected to the public sewage system shall be classified under one of the following user categories and shall be subject to the rates specified for such category. Premises or users which are susceptible to classification under two (2) or more of such user categories shall be specially classified by city and shall be subject to rates established by city which shall allow for a reasonable usage allocation. 4. A new Article 2, entitled: Water and Sewer Pass-Throughs, is added to Chapter 6 of Division 4 of this Code to read as follows. DIVISION 4; UTILITIES CHAPTER 6; UTILITY RATES ARTICLE 2; WATER AND SEWER PASS-THROUGHS SECTION 3960: DEFINITIONS. As used in this Article 2, the following terms shall have the following meanings: "City Charges" means the actual amount billed by the City each month to the Customer for water and sewer service to the master meter serving the Multi-Unit Property. "Customer" means the person or entity which has assumed the legal obligation to pay for water or sewer service, when that service is provided to a Multi-Unit Property. "Monthly Utility Bill" means the bill from the Customer to a Tenant for the Pro-Rata Share of City Charges. "Multi-Unit Property" means a mobile home park as defined in California Civil Code Section 798.4 or an apartment building or complex, consisting of more than three apartments. "Pro-Rata Share" means the amount of City Charges which the Customer may bill to a Tenant each month. City Charges may only be recovered in monthly billings to the Tenants. "Required Records" means the monthly bill to the Customer from the City of Ukiah for water and sewer service to the master meter and the computation of the Pro-Rata Share. "Sewer Service Period" means water meter readings for the month or months used by the City to determine monthly sewer service charges. "Submeter" means a meter installed on a Multi-Unit Property for measuring water use in an individual apartment or mobile home occupying a rented mobile home space. Submeters may be used at a Multi-Unit Property only if they are installed in each apartment or space and all common areas, such as laundry facilities, receiving water or sewer service. "Tenant" means the person or persons who rent a space in a mobile home park or an apartment in an apartment building or complex. "Unit of water" means one hundred cubic feet ("hcf') or 748.1 gallons of water. SECTION 3961: BILLING TENANTS FOR WATER OR SEWER SERVICE. A Customer may submit a Monthly Utility Bill to a Tenant for his or her Pro-Rata Share of City Charges in accordance with this Article. Monthly Utility Bills must be delivered to and payable by a Tenant each month. The bill must contain the Required Records for the month for which the Tenant is being billed. The bill must describe the location within the Multi-Unit Property where Required Records for other months are located and shall state that any Tenant and the City shall have access to these records during regular business hours and the right to examine, audit or copy them. In addition, a Customer may provide Tenants and the City internet access to Required Records. SECTION 3962: COMPUTING THE PRO-RATA SHARE. A. No Submeters. For a Multi-Unit Property that does not use Submeters, the Pro-Rata Share shall be determined by dividing the City Charges by the number of mobile home spaces or apartments within the Multi-Unit Property which receive water or sewer service. The result of that computation shall be the Pro-Rata Share for that month. B. Submeters. For a Multi-Unit Property that uses Submeters, the Pro-Rata Share for water and sewer service shall be determined as follows: 1. Water service: The Pro-Rata share of the City Charges for water service shall be determined by a formula, where: X = City Charges for water service Y = Units of water used by the individual tenant based on the submeter reading for the tenant's space or apartment T = Total units of water included in City charges, P = Per unit charge for water R = The charge to the tenant for water (Pro-Rata Share) The master meter reading and the submeter reading used in calculating the Pro-Rata Share shall be for the time period covered by the City Charges.. The formula used to calculate the Pro-Rata Share is: R =(X/T) x Y The formula computes the Pro-Rata Share by dividing the City Charges for water service by the total units of water included in the City Charges to determine the per unit charge for water. The per unit charge is multiplied by the total units of water used by the tenant based on the reading of the tenant's individual submeter for his or her mobile home park space or apartment. 2. Sewer service: The Pro-Rata share of the City Charges for sewer service shall be determined by a formula, where: A = Number of units used by the individual tenant based on the submeter reading for his or her space or apartment in Sewer Service Period B = City Charges for sewer service C = Total units of water from all of the submeter readings for the Sewer Service Period D = The charge to the tenant for sewer service (Pro-Rata Share) The formula used to calculate the Pro-Rata Share is: A/CxB=D The formula computes the Pro-Rata Share by multiplying the City Charges for sewer service by a fraction or percentage derived by dividing the units of water used by the individual tenant based on the submeter reading for the tenant's mobile home park space or apartment in the Sewer Service Period by the total units of water from all of the submeter readings for the Sewer Service Period. SECTION 3963: PENALTIES AND REMEDIES FOR VIOLATION A. Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Article shall be guilty of an infraction. Every such violation is punishable by (1) a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation; (2) a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) for a second violation within one year; (3) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional violation within one year. B. A violation of any provision of this Article by any person, firm or corporation shall be subject to a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, including the small claims court, by a Tenant, Tenant's Association or the City of Ukiah, by its City Attorney, to recover any damages caused by the violation, including a refund of excess City Charges or Allowed Charges and a civil penalty of $1,000 or 10% of actual damages, whichever is higher. For any willful violation, the Tenant, Tenant's Association or City may recover treble damages. Nothing in this subsection B shall prohibit the filing of an action as authorized herein as a class action. The prevailing party in any action filed pursuant to this subsection shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys' fees to be determined by the court. SECTION THREE 1. COMPLIANCE WITH CEQA. The City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment), 15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. 2. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this Ordinance are not intended to limit or conflict with any provision in Civil Code, Division 2, Part 2, Title 2, Chapter 2.5, commencing with Section 798, and, in particular, Article 4, thereof, commencing with Section 798.30. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance shall be published as required by law in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Ukiah, and shall become effective thirty (30) days after its adoption. Introduced by title only on May 20, 2009, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmember Landis, Thomas, Crane, Rodin, and Mayor Baldwin NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Adopted on June 3, 2009, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmember Landis, Thomas, Crane, Rodin, and Mayor Baldwin NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None NPhilipE.win, Mayor A-ATT~T~--- fiftda-e. Brawn; ity Clerk