§ 86.198. Miscellaneous service fees.

(a)

Water/wastewater utility.

(1)

A new service fee established by the city council must be paid when a permanent utility service is installed for the first time to a new structure or a new point of delivery. Additional charges may apply if connection is requested after normal installation hours. In addition to the new service fee, a new account fee must be paid, but shall be waived for new homes constructed by Habitat For Humanity.

(2)

A new account fee established by the city council must be paid for the costs associated with establishing a new customer account on the books and records of the city and connect services at an existing location. Additional fees may apply if connection is requested after normal connection hours.

(3)

A nonpayment reconnect fee established by the city council must be paid to restore services to a customer whose service was terminated for nonpayment of a bill. An additional fee must be paid for a request to reconnect services outside of normal connection hours.

(4)

A temporary meter rental fee established by the city council must be paid for the use of any temporary meter which may include a meter deposit, installation charge, and monthly rental fee, in addition to the new account connection fee.

(5)

A tampering fee established by the city council must be paid each time a customer causes or permits any tampering with city metering equipment or causes or permits any attempt to divert utility service around metering equipment. This fee will be in addition to the reconnect charge, cost of repairs and replacement of equipment and estimated charges for any diverted services.

(6)

A meter test fee established by the city council must be paid when a customer requests a test of city metering equipment. The request must be in writing, and the current standards of the American Water Works Association will apply to the test. If the test result is outside the standards, the meter test fee will be refunded, the city will pay all testing costs and the test results will be used to make an adjustment in the customer's account. The adjustment will be for a period of either, the six months preceding the request, or the period of time the account has been in the customer's name, whichever is shorter.

(7)

A customer-side service call fee established by the city council must be paid by a customer if the city dispatches a crew to a request for service or disconnection of service from the customer and/or the crew determines that the problem is on the customer's property.

(8)

A repeat-line locate fee in the amount of the city's actual cost plus ten percent must be paid for second or subsequent water or electric utility line locates at the same service location within 90 days of a previous line locate.

(b)

Electric utility.

(1)

A new service fee established by the city council must be paid when a permanent utility service is installed for the first time to a new structure or a new point of delivery. Additional charges may apply if connection is requested after normal installation hours. In addition to the new service fee, a new account fee must be paid, but shall be waived for new homes constructed by Habitat For Humanity.

(2)

A new account fee established by the city council must be paid for the costs associated with establishing a new customer account on the books and records of the city and connect services at an existing location. Additional fees may apply if connection is requested after normal connection hours.

(3)

A nonpayment reconnect fee established by the city council must be paid to restore services to a customer whose service was terminated for nonpayment of a bill. An additional fee must be paid for a request to reconnect services outside of normal connection hours.

(4)

A temporary service connection fee established by the city council must be paid for temporary overhead service. This cost of this service is the estimated cost of installing and removing the necessary overhead facilities in addition to the new account fee. Additional fees may apply if connection is requested after normal connection hours.

(5)

A tampering fee established by the city council must be paid each time a customer causes or permits any tampering with city metering equipment or causes or permits any attempt to divert utility service around metering equipment. This fee will be in addition to the reconnect charge, cost of repairs and replacement of equipment and estimated charges for any diverted services.

(6)

A meter test fee established by the city council must be paid when a customer requests a test of city metering equipment. The request must be in writing, and the current standards of the American National Standards Institute will apply to the test. If the test result is outside the standards, the meter test fee will be refunded, the city will pay all testing costs and the test results will be used to make an adjustment in the customer's account. The adjustment will be for a period of either the six months preceding the request or the period of time the account has been in the customer's name, whichever is shorter.

(7)

A customer requested outage fee established by the city council must be paid by a customer if they request that the city dispatches a crew to disconnect their electrical service.

(8)

A repeat-line locate fee in the amount of the city's actual cost plus ten percent must be paid for second or subsequent electric utility line locates at the same service location within 90 days of a previous line locate.

(9)

A street banner installation/removal fee established by the city council may be charged for the installation and removal of street banners.

(10)

The city provides residential electric utility customers an option to have a Manual Read Electric Meter. If the property owner wishes to place the AMI meters in a location where they do not properly communicate the owner shall either work with SMEU to correct the problem, or pay a manual read fee. If approved, the utility account holder agrees to:

a.

Pay a meter exchange fee of $100.00 to replace an AMI meter with a manual read meter, and

b.

Pay a monthly meter reading fee of $25.00, in addition to the existing electric utility charges.

(Code 1970, § 30-21; Ord. No. 1995-22, § 4 (30-21), 2-27-95; Ord. No. 2003-5, § 2, 1-27-03; Ord. No. 2008-33, § 1, 9-16-08; Ord. No. 2011-04, § 1, 1-18-11; Ord. No. 2011-58, § 1, 11-15-11; Ord. No. 2014-34, § 1, 6-17-14 ; Ord. No. 2018-04 , § 34, 4-17-18)