§ 28-61. Miscellaneous provisions.

(a)

Bills. Said rates or charges for service shall be payable monthly. The owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the service shall be jointly and severally liable to pay for the service to such premises and the service is furnished to the premised by the village only upon the condition that the owner of the premises, occupant and user of the services are jointly and severally liable therefor to the village. Bills for water service shall be sent out by the village treasurer on the first day of the month or quarter succeeding the period for which the service is billed. All water bills are due and payable 15 days after being sent out. A penalty of ten percent shall be added to all bills not paid by the 15th day after they have been rendered.

(b)

Delinquent bills; lien; foreclosure.

(1)

Whenever a bill for water service remains unpaid for 60 days after it has been rendered, the village treasurer shall file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of lien claim. This statement shall contain the legal description of the premises served, the amount of the unpaid bill, and a notice that the village claims a lien for this amount as well as for all charges subsequent to the period covered by the bill.

(2)

If the user whose bill is unpaid is not the owner of the premises and the village treasurer has notice of this, notice shall be mailed to the owner of the premises if his address is known to the treasurer, whenever such bill remains unpaid for a period 45 days after it has been rendered.

(3)

The failure of the village treasurer to record such lien or to mail such notice or the failure of the owner to receive such notice shall not affect the right to foreclose the lien for unpaid bills as mentioned in the foregoing section.

(4)

Property subject to a lien for unpaid charges shall be sold for nonpayment of the same, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied to pay the charges, after deducting costs, as is the case in the foreclosure of statutory liens. Such foreclosure shall be by bill-in equity in the name of the village. The village attorney is hereby authorized and directed to institute such proceedings in the name of the village in any court having jurisdiction over such matters against any property for which the bill has remained unpaid 60 days after it has been rendered.

(c)

Discontinuance of service; request for hearing; reconnection fee.

(1)

If the charges for water services have not been paid within 30 days after the billing for such services or there exists a violation of any provision of division 1 or 2 of this article, a notice shall be forwarded to the owner of the premises, the occupant thereof and the user of the village water services, which notice shall state that such services shall be discontinued 30 days from the date of the notice. Said notice shall also state that the owner of the premises, the occupant thereof or the user of the village water services can request a hearing before the water and sewer committee of the board of trustees of the village, which request must be in writing and must be received by the village clerk within 30 days from the date of said notice. Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the village clerk shall, within ten days following receipt thereof, set a date for having a hearing before said water and sewer committee and shall give 15 days' written notice of said hearing to the requesting party.

(2)

Following a hearing, if the water and sewer committee determines that the charges for services are correct and not paid or there exists a violation of any provision of division 1 or 2 of this article, it shall declare said charges to be delinquent or such violation to exist and shall direct the discontinuance of such services without further notice.

(3)

If the owner of the premises, the occupant thereof or the user of the village water services fails to file a written request for a hearing within 30 days of the date of said notice, the charges shall be deemed to be delinquent or the violation shall be deemed to exist; and such water services shall thereafter be discontinued without further notice.

(4)

Water service shall not be reinstated until all amounts past due, including the interest and penalties thereon, together with a payment of $25.00 for reinstating such service, have been paid in full and the violation eliminated or corrected.

(d)

Revenues. All revenues and moneys derived from the operation of the water system shall be deposited in the water account of the water fund. All such revenues and moneys shall be held by the village treasurer separate and apart from his private funds and separate and apart from all other funds of the village and all of said sum, without any deductions whatever, shall be delivered to the village treasurer not more than ten days after receipt of the same, or at such more frequent intervals as may from time to time be directed by the president and board of trustees. The village treasurer shall receive all such revenues from the water system and all other funds and moneys incident to the operation of such system as the same may be delivered to him and deposit the same in the account of the fund designated as the water fund of the village. Said treasurer shall administer such fund in every respect in the manner provided by the Illinois Municipal Code.

(e)

Accounts. The village treasurer shall establish a proper system of accounts and shall keep proper books, records and accounts in which complete and correct entries shall be made of all transactions relative to the water system, and at regular annual intervals he shall cause to be made an audit by an independent auditing concern of the books to show the receipts and disbursements of the water system. In addition to the customary operating statements, the annual audit report shall also reflect the revenues and operating expenses of the water facilities, including a replacement cost, to indicate that water service charges under the waste cost recovery system do in fact meet these regulations. In this regard, the financial information to be shown in the audit report shall include the following:

(1)

Flow data showing total gallons received at the water plant for the current fiscal year.

(2)

Billing data to show total number of gallons billed per fiscal year.

(3)

Debt service for the next succeeding fiscal year.

(4)

Number of users connected to the system.

(5)

Number of nonmetered users.

(6)

A list of users discharging nondomestic and industrial wastes and volume of waste discharged.

(f)

Penalty. Any person, firm or corporation violating any provisions of this division shall be fined not less than $100.00 nor more than $750.00 for each offense.

(g)

Access to records. The state environmental protection agency, or its authorized representative, shall have access to any books, documents, papers and records of the village which are applicable to the village system of user charges for the purpose of making audit, examination, excerpts and transcriptions hereof to ensure compliance with the terms of any state grant.

State law reference

Limitation on penalties, 65 ILCS 5/1-2-1.