Title
RESOLUTION NO. 2228: NOTICES PRIOR TO SHUTOFF - MULTIPLE DWELLING METER (NONMETERED INDIVIDUAL DWELLINGS AND SPACES)
COUNCIL STRATEGIC INITIATIVE ADDRESSED:
Council Initiative: Continue effective financial management
CITY ATTORNEY REVIEW: REQUIRED
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
City of Longview Resolution No. 2192 (Section 7) currently states, “In accordance with Longview Municipal Code Section 15.56.010(2), if full payment on a utility account has not been received at the Finance Department by the fortieth (40th) day after the bill date, a penalty in the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) shall be assessed should it become necessary for the City to make a personal call upon a delinquent utility account debtor for the purpose of attempting to collect such a delinquent account, regardless of whether or not such an account is collected as a result of such personal demand for payment or otherwise.
With regard to a multiple dwelling meter where there are nonmetered individual dwellings (i.e. apartments) and spaces (i.e. mobile home parks) LMC 15.56.150 Notices prior to shutoff - Multiple dwelling meter (nonmetered individual dwellings and spaces) provides-
The city finance department will not take any action which encourages or permits, whether by regulation, informal policy or oral statement, the termination of water or other utility service to residential tenants occupying multiple-family dwelling units, mobile home spaces, trailer spaces or other occupancies that are not individually metered and which are billed to the owner, manager or agent thereof, because of delinquency in the payment of water or other utility bills unless the following procedures are carried out:
(a) If payment on a water or other utility account has not been received by the fortieth day after the bill date, a duly authorized employee of the city will physically deliver to the service address, to the address of the owner, manager, or agent thereof, and to each dwelling unit or space, a disconnection notice. Such notice shall advise that the account is past due and that service will be terminated not less than 48 hours after such delivery or posting of the notice unless payment is made, or unless other arrangements satisfactory to the finance department have been made with such department. A statement describing “tenant’s rights - nonmetered units” will be printed on or attached with the disconnection notice;
In essence, when a landlord elects not to pay the utility bill, state law requires that the City deliver a disconnection notice to every unit in a multi-family dwelling prior to disconnecting the service. Delivering such a notice to every unit in a multi-family dwelling is quite time consuming and a drain on the department’s labor resources.
While a $25.00 disconnect notice approximates the cost of processing and delivering a disconnect notice to a single family household consisting of one residential unit, the cost of processing and delivering these notices to larger multi-family dwellings far exceed the existing $25.00 fee.
In an effort to recover the City’s cost of processing and delivering disconnect notices to individual dwellings and spaces in multiple-family dwelling complexes, Resolution No. 2228 authorizes the City to levy a $25.00 per unit charge for processing and delivering disconnect notices to multiple-family dwelling complexes. This $25.00 per unit fee is to be levied against the delinquent utility account debtor which consists of an owner, manager, or agent thereof and not the tenant.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Motion to adopt Resolution No. 2228
STAFF CONTACT:
Kurt Sacha, Assistant City Manager/Finance Director