Bill Text: IN HB1184 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Sewer rates for multipurpose buildings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-10 - First reading: referred to Committee on Local Government [HB1184 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2013-HB1184-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 36-9-25.
Synopsis: Sewer rates for multipurpose buildings. For purposes of the
statute governing sanitation districts in certain municipalities, provides
that in establishing sewer fees, a district must provide for: (1) the
apportionment or proration of fees assessed with respect to a
multipurpose building in a manner that recognizes the different
purposes to which the multipurpose building is put; or (2) the
application of different fee schedules or classifications of fees to the
individual units or parts of a multipurpose building in a manner that
recognizes the primary purpose of the individual units or parts.
Provides that any schedule of fees that: (1) is adopted by a district
before May 13, 2013; and (2) does not comply with the requirements
with respect to multipurpose buildings; shall, not later than September
30, 2013, be changed or amended to comply with the requirements.
Effective: Upon passage.
January 10, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
(b) The board may change fees from time to time. The fees, together with the taxes levied under this chapter, must at all times be sufficient to produce revenues sufficient to pay operation, maintenance, and administrative expenses, to pay the principal and interest on bonds as
they become due and payable, and to provide money for the revolving
fund authorized by this chapter.
(c) Fees may not be established until a public hearing has been held
at which all the users of the sewage works and owners of property
served or to be served by the works, including interested parties, have
had an opportunity to be heard concerning the proposed fees. After
introduction of the resolution fixing fees, and before they are finally
adopted, notice of the hearing setting forth the proposed schedule of
fees shall be given by publication in accordance with IC 5-3-1. After
the hearing the resolution establishing fees, either as originally
introduced or as amended, shall be passed and put into effect.
However, fees related to property that is subject to full taxation do not
take effect until they have been approved by ordinance of the municipal
legislative body or, in the case of a district described in section 3(b)(2)
of this chapter, under section 11.3 of this chapter.
(d) A copy of the schedule of the fees shall be kept on file in the
office of the board and must be open to inspection by all interested
parties. Subject to section 11.6 of this chapter, the fees established
for any class of users or property served shall be extended to cover any
additional premises thereafter served that fall within the same class,
without the necessity of hearing or notice.
(e) A change of fees may be made in the same manner as fees were
originally established. However, subject to section 11.6 of this
chapter, if a change is made substantially pro rata for all classes of
service, hearing or notice is not required, but approval of the change by
ordinance of the municipal legislative body is required, and, in the case
of a district described in section 3(b)(2) of this chapter, approval under
section 11.3 of this chapter is required.
(f) If a fee established is not paid within thirty (30) days after it is
due, the amount, together with a penalty of ten percent (10%) and a
reasonable attorney's fee, may be recovered by the board from the
delinquent user or owner of the property served in a civil action in the
name of the municipality.
(g) Fees assessed against real property under this section also
constitute a lien against the property assessed. The lien attaches at the
time of the filing of the notice of lien in the county recorder's office.
The lien is superior to all other liens except tax liens, and shall be
enforced and foreclosed in the same manner as is provided for liens
under IC 36-9-23-33 and IC 36-9-23-34.
(h) A fee assessed against real property under this section
constitutes a lien against the property assessed only when the fee is
delinquent for no more than three (3) years from the day after the fee
is due.
(i) In addition to the penalties under subsections (f) and (g) and
section 11.5 of this chapter, a delinquent user may not discharge water
into the public sewers and may have the property disconnected from
the public sewers.
(j) The authority to establish a user fee under this section includes
fees to recover the cost of construction of sewage works from industrial
users as defined and required under federal statute or rule. Any
industrial users' cost recovery fees may become a lien upon the real
property and shall be collected in the manner provided by law. In
addition, the imposition of the fees, the use of the amounts collected,
and the criteria for the fees must be consistent with the regulations of
the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
(k) The authority to establish a user fee under this section includes
fees to recover the costs associated with providing financial assistance
under section 42 of this chapter. A fee that is:
(1) established under this subsection or any other law; and
(2) used to provide financial assistance under section 42 of this
chapter;
is considered just and equitable if the project for which the financial
assistance is provided otherwise complies with the requirements of this
chapter.
(1) is connected with and uses the sewage works of a district; and
(2) is used for more than one (1) purpose or has individual units or parts that are used for different purposes.
(b) As used in this section, "purpose" means the primary use to which a lot, parcel of real property, or building is put and that is the basis for a particular schedule or class of fees established by a district under section 11 of this chapter. The term includes any of the following purposes to which a lot, parcel of real property, or building is put:
(1) Residential purposes.
(2) Industrial purposes.
(3) Commercial purposes.
(4) Agricultural purposes.
(c) In establishing fees under section 11 of this chapter for the treatment and disposal of sewage and other waste discharged into
the district's sewer system, a district must provide for:
(1) the apportionment or proration of fees assessed with
respect to a multipurpose building in a manner that
recognizes the different purposes to which the multipurpose
building is put; or
(2) the application of different fee schedules or classifications
of fees to the individual units or parts of a multipurpose
building in a manner that recognizes the primary purpose of
the individual units or parts.
(d) Any schedule of fees that:
(1) is adopted under this chapter before May 13, 2013; and
(2) does not comply with the requirements of this section with
respect to multipurpose buildings;
shall, not later than September 30, 2013, be changed or amended
in the manner specified in section 11(e) of this chapter to comply
with the requirements of this section.
