§ 65-562. Water and sewer service rates.

(a)

Water service rates.

(1)

The county council finds it necessary and proper to establish water rates to enable an orderly operation of all water systems belonging to the county. Therefore, the following shall be countywide rates applied to all single-family, multifamily, commercial, and industrial users:

a.

A minimum monthly charge of $8.50 plus a volumetric rate of $4.16 per 1,000 gallons used or part thereof.

b.

Wholesale water rates.

Volume Used per month	Volumetric Rate per 1,000 gallons used
0 to 3.0MG	$2.91
3.0MG to 15.0MG	$2.50
15.0MG to 30.0MG	$2.08
Above 30.0MG	$1.67

 

i.

The wholesale water customer must opt into this program upon opening the account or upon changes to the level of impact fees that have been paid.

ii.

The wholesale water account must have an average daily flow equal to or exceeding 100,000GPD.

iii.

The wholesale water customer must have an actual daily average flow equal to or exceeding 90,000GPD.

iv.

The actual hourly flow must be less than the peak hourly flow for the account.

v.

Violation of any of these requirements during a billing period will result in the customer paying the standard rate of $4.16 per 1,000 gallons used for that billing period.

(2)

The executive director of the authority shall review water rates no less often than every odd-numbered year and shall, as part of such review, recommend to the county council any required rate increase as part of the operating budget for that year. In addition, the water rates contained in this section shall be adjusted by the executive director to reflect any increase in the cost of water to the authority from any wholesale provider of water to the authority with such adjustment having the same effective date as the rate increase to the authority and to increase water rates at each level of consumption by the same percentage as the increase in the cost of water to the authority from its wholesale provider.

c.

Refundable Deposit—Rental Property ..... $100.00.

(b)

Sewer service rates.

(1)

The county council finds it necessary and proper to establish sewer rates to enable an orderly operation of all sewer systems belonging to the county. Therefore, the following shall be countywide rates applied to all users:

a.

Single-family residence: Monthly sewer service: $44.00.

b.

Multifamily residence, commercial or industrial, based on water meter reading: $44.00 for the first 7,000 gallons flow of metered water or part thereof and $6.77 for each additional 1,000 gallons flow of metered water or part thereof.

c.

Multifamily residence, commercial or industrial, based on sewer meter reading: $44.00 for the first 6,000 gallons flow of domestic wastewater discharged or part thereof and $8.00 for each additional 1,000 gallons flow of domestic wastewater discharged or part thereof.

d.

Discharge of septage: Per occurrence charges for discharge of septage to the authority's facilities: $7.00 for each 100 gallons of septage or part thereof.

e.

Discharge of grease: Per occurrence charges for discharge of grease to the authority's facilities: $12.50 for each 100 gallons of grease or part thereof.

f.

Wholesale sewer rates.

Volume Used per month	Volumetric Rate per 1,000 gallons used (based on sewer meter reading)
0 to 3.0MG	$5.60
3.0MG to 15.0MG	$4.80
15.0MG to 30.0MG	$4.00
Above 30.0MG	$3.20

 

i.

The wholesale customer must opt into this program upon opening the account or upon changes to the level of impact fees that have been paid.

ii.

The wholesale sewer account must have an average daily flow equal to or exceeding 100,000GPD.

iii.

The wholesale sewer customer must have an actual daily average flow equal to or exceeding 90,000GPD.

iv.

The actual hourly flow must be less than the peak hourly flow for the account.

v.

Violation of any of these requirements during a billing period will result in the customer paying the standard rate of $8.00 per 1,000 gallons used for that billing period.

(2)

The executive director of the authority shall review sewer rates no less often than every odd-numbered year and shall, as part of such review, recommend to the county council any required rate increase as part of the operating budget for that year.

(3)

In those cases where master water meters are provided by another jurisdiction, the charge for monthly service shall be based on the volume of water measured through the master water meter.

(4)

Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this subsection, mobile home parks, apartment complexes, etc., which receive sewer service from the authority and where water service is not available or has not been purchased from the authority based on previous policy shall continue to be billed using the number of occupied units times the monthly residential flat rate.

(5)

Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this subsection, the executive director shall always require separate water meters for all the authority water customers (i.e., apartment complexes less than three stories, mobile home parks, etc.) and invoice sewer customers accordingly wherever possible. Sewer customers who have separate water meters provided by another jurisdiction shall be invoiced by the authority for sewer service individually (i.e., whoever is responsible for the water meter shall be responsible for the payment of sewer user charges).

(c)

Billing and payment of charges. For economical and operational needs the authority must bill and receive monies in an orderly manner. Therefore, the following shall be the countywide billing and penalty schedule for all users:

(1)

Bills shall be sent monthly to all users of the county's water and sewer systems. The most cost-effective schedule of billing will be established by the staff of the authority and then implemented. Users will be allowed 15 days to pay all service charges, after which date a $10.00 service charge shall be added to cover the cost of collection and of carrying an account in arrears. A like penalty shall be added on the 15th day of each subsequent month that the bill remains unpaid. The authority shall also charge a service charge in an amount established by state law for each check tendered by a customer and for each automatic bank draft authorized by a customer which is returned to the authority as uncollectible for any reason.

(2)

The director of the authority may, but is not required to, allow the payment of water and sewer charges by credit card.

(3)

The authority may discontinue water and/or sewer service to any person who has not paid all service charges within the 15 days allowed by subsection (c)(1) of this section. Water service may be discontinued by complete severance of the water connection. Sewer service may be discontinued by complete severance of the sewer connection, or the authority may authorize the City of Goose Creek or the Commissioners of Public Works of the City of Charleston to discontinue water service. Prior to the termination of water and/or sewer service, the following procedures shall be employed:

a.

Not less than ten days prior to the termination of service, the authority shall mail a past due notice to the affected customer. The past due notice shall include, as a minimum, the following information:

1.

Name, address, telephone number, and working hours of the persons to be contacted by the customer for the arrangement of a personal interview with an employee of the authority with the authority to accept full payment or make other payment arrangements.

2.

The total amount owed by the customer for water and/or sewer service rendered, the date and amount of the last payment and the date by which the customer must either pay the amount outstanding in full or make satisfactory arrangements for payment of installments of such amount.

3.

The availability of investigation and review of any unresolved dispute.

b.

Not less than two business days prior to the termination of service, the authority shall make reasonable efforts to contact the customer by telephone, mail or personally, and inform him that he is subject to the termination of service. The authority shall provide for the arrangement of a deferred payment plan to enable a residential customer to make payment by installments where such customer is unable to pay the amount due for service. If a customer fails to conform to the terms and conditions of such deferred payment plan, the authority may terminate service after making reasonable efforts to contact the customer by telephone at least two days prior to termination of service.

c.

Renewed water service and/or sewer reconnection may be permitted only after payment of a $40.00 reconnect fee for water service or for sewer service wherever the disconnection did not require complete severance of the sewer connection and a $100.00 reconnect fee in addition to the payment of all charges and penalties as provided in this section wherever service was discontinued by complete severance of the sewer connection.

(d)

Billing adjustments. If it is found that the authority has directly or indirectly, by any device whatsoever, demanded, charged, collected, or received from any customer a greater or lesser compensation for any service rendered or to be rendered than that prescribed in the approved rate schedules of the authority, or if it is found that any customer has received or accepted any service from the authority for a compensation greater or lesser than that prescribed in such schedules, or if, for any reason, billing error has resulted in a greater or lesser charge than that incurred by the customer for the actual service rendered, then the method of adjustment for such overcharge or undercharge shall be as follows:

(1)

Customer inadvertently overcharged. If the authority has inadvertently overcharged a customer as a result of a misapplied schedule, or any other human or machine error, the authority shall, at the customer's option, credit or refund the excess amount paid by that customer or credit the amount billed in the following manner:

a.

If the interval during which the customer was overcharged can be determined, the authority shall credit or refund the excess amount charged during that entire interval, provided that the applicable statute of limitations shall not be exceeded;

b.

If the interval during which the customer was overcharged cannot be determined, the authority shall credit or refund the excess amount charged during the 12-month period preceding the date when the billing error was discovered; or

c.

If the exact usage and/or demand incurred by the customer during the billing periods subject to adjustment cannot be determined, the refund shall be based on an appropriate usage and/or demand.

(2)

Customer inadvertently undercharged. Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, if the authority has undercharged any customer as a result of a misapplied schedule, or any human or machine error, the authority may recover the deficient amount in the following manner:

a.

If the interval during which a customer was undercharged can be determined, the authority may collect the deficient amount incurred during that interval up to a maximum period of 12 months.

b.

If the interval during which a customer was undercharged cannot be determined, the authority may collect the deficient amount incurred during the 12-month period preceding the date when the billing error was discovered by the authority.

c.

The customer shall be allowed to pay the deficient amount in equal installments over the same number of billing periods which occurred during the interval the customer was subject to pay the deficient amount; however, all current bills will have to be paid by the due date.

d.

If the usage and/or demand incurred by that person during the billing periods subject to adjustment cannot be determined, the adjustment shall be based on estimated usage and/or demand.

(3)

Customer undercharged because of fraud or willful misrepresentation. If the authority has undercharged any customer because of the customer's fraudulent actions, or because the customer has willfully misrepresented a material fact resulting in an undercharge, or it is shown that the customer is aware of fraudulent or illegal action by another person, such as tampering with the facilities owned by the authority, and it is evident that such action benefits the customer, or if it is evident that a customer has knowledge of being undercharged without notifying the authority of such, the authority may recover the deficient amount in the following manner:

a.

If the interval during which the customer was undercharged can be determined, the authority shall collect the deficient amount incurred during that entire interval, provided that the applicable statute of limitations is not exceeded;

b.

If the interval during which the customer was undercharged cannot be determined, the authority shall collect the deficient amount incurred during the 12-month period preceding the date when the billing error was discovered by the authority;

c.

If the usage and/or demand incurred by that customer during the billing periods subject to adjustment cannot be determined, the adjustment shall be based on an appropriate estimated usage and/or demand; or

d.

In addition, if the metering equipment has been removed or damaged, the authority shall collect the estimated cost of repairing and/or replacing such equipment.

(4)

Customer charged excessive amount due to unusual circumstances beyond customer's control. When a customer reports excessive water usage due to events beyond the customer's control such as a broken service line, malfunctioning meter, etc., the authority may conduct an investigation of the event and determine on a case-by-case basis if a credit for the excessive water usage is warranted. The decision of the authority's director in these matters is final.

(5)

Surcharge table for high-strength nondomestic wastewater dischargers.

Parameter	Typical Domestic Conc. (mg/l)	Mass Based to the maximum approved in the pretreatment permit for concnetrations greater than	Surcharge Cost Per Pound
BOD 5	300(D BOD )	300	$0.35(S BOD )
TSS	300(D TSS )	300	$0.35(S TSS )
Ammonia	300(D AMMONIA )	30	$0.40(S AMONIA )

 

Example: A discharge with a flow of 50,000 gallons (0.050 MGD) and a BOD ₅ concnetration of 400 mg/l would be subject to the following surcharge:

Loading = 0.050 mgd X 8.34 lb/gal X (400-300)mg/l = 41.7 pounds BOD ₅

Surcharge = 41.7 pounds BOD ₅ X $0.35 = $14.60

Total surcharge will be the sum of the calculated surcharge for BOD ₅ , Ammonia, and TSS.

Total Surcharge = ((BOD ₅ -D _BOD ) X S _BOD ) + ((TSS-D _TSS X S _TSS ) + ((Ammonia-D _AMMONIA ) x S _AMMONIA )

Note: Permit limits for other parameters will be established at concentrations calculated to equitably distribute available plant capacity as determined by the headworks analysis. Discharge concentrations in excess of these levels would then be considered a violation of the permit limits.

(Ord. No. 03-06-28, § 2(9.2), 6-16-2003; Ord. No. 07-06-34, § 20, 6-25-2007; Ord. No. 08-04-19, § 5, 4-28-2008; Ord. No. 09-01-01, § 5, 1-26-2009; Ord. No. 09-07-34, § 12, 7-27-2009; Ord. No. 10-05-10, § 5, 5-24-2010; Ord. No. 13-01-06, 1-28-2013; Ord. No. 13-11-37, 11-25-2013; Ord. No. 17-06-16, §§ 3—7(attch.), 6-26-2017)