§ 110-6. Establishing accounts.

(a)

Minors. No account may be held in the name of a person who is under the age of 18 years unless the minor requesting services provides adequate evidence that the minor has been emancipated through marriage or other legal means.

(b)

Proof of identity. No account may be opened without adequate proof of the identity of the individual requesting services.

(c)

Residential accounts. No residential account may be established in the name of any individual not showing proof of a right to tenancy or possession of the residential property to be connected. New homeowners or property owners may demonstrate through a contract to purchase or rent the property a right to possession or tenancy. Only one water, sewer and electrical connection may exist for a single-family residential lot.

(d)

Commercial accounts.

(1)

Unincorporated companies seeking to establish a new account must establish the account in the name of an individual person.

(2)

Political subdivision of the state. The city may, at the election of the city manager, waive the deposit requirements for entities established as political subdivisions of the state. Those not receiving waiver shall be required to make deposit as established in subsection (3) below.

(3)

Incorporated companies seeking to establish a new account in the name of a duly incorporated entity may establish the new account in the name of a corporation provided a corporate officer produces current valid articles of incorporation and complies with all of the requirements of this article.

(e)

Adjusted deposit. Customers having poor payment histories may, at the election of the city manager, be required to deposit an amount determined by the city manager to be sufficient to provide adequate assurance of payment for the property to be connected. The city manager shall use the consumption history of the property to be connected, to scale the deposit. Customers with poor payment histories may be required to deposit an amount greater than the standard deposit but not greater than twice the highest monthly bill during the last 12 months of service for the property to be connected. Properties not having a consumption history may be scaled by selecting a substantially similar property and looking to the established usage history to determine the deposit.

(f)

Delinquent accounts. Any residence or property were utility services are requested to be provided where a deficient account is still outstanding from a previous customer shall not be reconnected in a different name than the account was previously connected under, without paying the deficiencies on the account, unless the person requesting utility services reasonably demonstrates that the person whose name the account was previously billed to is no longer a resident of the property and is not otherwise in control of the property.

New owners of property or new residents of a leasehold shall not be responsible for the delinquent utility accounts of a prior tenant or lessee who has vacated the premises. No customer may establish a new utility account in his or her name who has an outstanding deficiency from any previous utility account held by the city and such account has been delinquent for less than five years, without paying all deficiencies in addition to the deposit for the new utility account. The city manager may also require scaled deposit as provided in subsection (e) above.

Customers having had utilities disconnected more than two times in any 12-month period shall be required to deposit twice the standard deposit prior to reconnection after the third involuntary disconnection or an amount equal to the scaled deposit as provided in subsection (e) above, whichever is greater.

Current customers experiencing difficulties paying the current utility bill may make written request for accommodations from the utility department prior to disconnection to permit 20 additional days to pay the current utility account provided the customer has not made such a request in the past 12 months, enters an agreement to pay the full sum within not more than 20 days, and demonstrate one of the following:

(1)

The customer has a medically needy individual in the residential household and the customer needs additional time to secure the financial resources; or

(2)

The utility bill was more than 25 percent greater than the highest bill in the last 12 months and the customer needs additional time to secure the financial resources. Only the city manager may approve the agreement.

Where customers have multiple accounts, delinquency of one account shall cause all accounts to become delinquent and therefore subject to the provisions of this section.

(g)

Sharing of services. Separate connections may not share, splice or otherwise distribute water to any other property, lot or portion of the lot save and except through approved utility lines and connections.

(Ord. No. 2002-04, § 2, 5-28-02; Ord. No. 2008-07, § 2, 4-8-08; Ord. No. 2012-30, § 1(exh. A), 9-25-12)