[Adopted 10-22-1952 by Ord. No. 366, approved 10-22-1952]
From and after January 1, 1953, there is hereby imposed an annual
rental or charge upon the owners of properties served or to be served,
for the use of the sewers and sewerage system of the Borough of Darby
and for the use of certain sewage treatment works which are being
constructed partially at the public expense of the Borough of Darby.
The annual sewer rental or charge shall be such sum as shall
be sufficient to meet the following classes of expenses:
A. The amount expended annually by the Borough in the operation, maintenance,
repair, alterations, inspection, depreciation or other expenses in
relation to such sewers, sewerage system or sewage treatment works.
B. Such annual amount as may be necessary to provide for the amortization
of the indebtedness incurred by the Borough in the construction or
acquisition of such sewers, sewerage system or sewage treatment works
and for the interest thereon in order that said improvement may become
self-liquidating, or as may be sufficient to pay the amount agreed
to be paid annually under the terms of any contract with any authority
furnishing sewage treatment services to the Borough.
C. An amount sufficient to establish a margin of safety of 10%.
The Borough Council of the Borough of Darby finds as a fact
that all of the properties of the Borough which are connected to the
public sewers obtain water from the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company,
hereafter for convenience called "water company," and further that
the water company has water meters installed in all of said properties,
and the Borough further finds that all properties which are thus served
by the water company are connected to public sewers. The Borough Council
therefore declares that the fairest manner in which to equitably apportion
the total sewer rental or charge to be made is to base the charge
for each property on the consumption of water used by each property
connected to the sewers, in proportion to all water consumed by consumers
of said water company in the Borough. It is also determined that the
sewer rental or charge for any property for any year should be based,
so far as practicable, on water actually consumed by said property
during a period of 12 consecutive months.
The Borough Council shall secure from the water company in the
month of January 1953 and in subsequent years in the month of January,
statements of the total number of gallons of water furnished to and
used by its water consumers in the Borough and the total number of
gallons of water used by each individual consumer within the Borough
for a period of 12 consecutive months ending December 31 last past.
If said water company shall neglect or refuse to furnish said information,
then the Sewer Committee of the Borough Council of the Borough of
Darby is hereby authorized and directed to issue its subpoena, signed
by the Chairman of said Committee, for the attendance of any witnesses
and for the production of books, papers or other evidence at any meeting
of said Sewer Committee, and the Committee shall have authority to
cause the same to be served, and if any witness shall refuse to testify
or to produce any books or papers, it shall be the duty of the Borough
Secretary, represented by the Borough Solicitor, to report the facts
relating to such refusal to the Court of Common Pleas and to request
said court to issue its order to said witness to testify or produce
the evidence required, as the case may be, and all witnesses shall
be paid their witness fees and mileage as provided by the Borough
Code. Any fair and reasonable fee or charge by the water company for such data shall be included as part of the total amount of annual sewer rental as per §
117-43 hereof.
During the month of January 1953 and in subsequent years in
January, it shall be the duty of the Sewer Committee to determine
the number of gallons of water which were used by properties which
discharged waste into the public sewers during the preceding 12 calendar
months ending on December 31 last past or any fraction of said period.
In cases where the water company records do not disclose the total
number of gallons of water consumed for the entire twelve-month period,
the Sewer Committee shall estimate the water consumed by said properties
for the period when the water company did not supply water to said
properties. The Sewer Committee is authorized to compute the total
water consumption for the period that the properties discharged waste
into the public sewers, based on a monthly average of the water company
records for the partial period. In cases where properties secure water
from wells or from sources other than the water company, the Sewer
Committee is authorized to estimate the quantity of water consumed
by said properties, and in making such estimates the Sewer Committee
is authorized, in the case of residence properties, to determine the
number of gallons of water used on the basis of the average consumption
of water per family, and in the case of manufacturing, business or
commercial properties, to base such determination on experience with
similarly situated properties from such information as shall be available.
After securing the information from the water company as hereinbefore set forth, the Borough Council shall, in January 1953 and in January in subsequent years, adopt an ordinance which shall compute the total number of gallons of water used by consumers within the Borough for the preceding period of 12 months ending on December 31 last past. Said number of gallons shall be the aggregate of the number of gallons shown by the water company records plus the estimates of gallons consumed as determined in accordance with §
117-46. Said ordinance shall fix the total amount of annual sewer rental or charge for the fiscal year ending on the first Monday of January next ensuing. Said ordinance shall also determine the amount of money to be charged to each property for each 1,000 gallons of water used by each property for the preceding period of 12 months ending on December 31, as hereinbefore provided. The amount to be charged for each 1,000 gallons of water so used shall be determined by dividing the total number of gallons of water furnished to consumers within the Borough, as shown by the water company records, plus estimated consumption where meter readings are not available, or a suitable percentage of the aggregate thereof, into the total amount to be charged as provided in §
117-43 hereof, so as to give a quotient expressed in dollars, cents and mills per 1,000 gallons of water consumed or estimated to be consumed, as the case may be. In computing the number of thousands of gallons per property, 100 gallons or fractions thereof in excess of 50 gallons shall be considered 0.1 of 1,000 gallons. Said ordinance shall also designate the person, to be known as the "Sewer Rental Collector," to collect the sewer rental or charge for the fiscal year ending the first Monday of January next ensuing, and such ordinance shall fix the amount of surety bond for such Collector.
The Sewer Committee is authorized, in cases where water consumers
do not discharge all of the wastewater into the public sewer, to reduce
the total number of gallons of water charged to any property, after
appeal by the property owners and hearing thereon. Said appeal shall
be filed with the Chairman of the Sewer Committee within one month
after the mailing of sewer rental bills. From the decision of the
Sewer Committee, the property owner may appeal to the Borough Council,
whose decision shall be final.
In January of each year, final sewer rental bills for the fiscal
year ending the next ensuing first Monday of January shall be computed
by the Sewer Rental Collector. The bills for said fiscal year shall
be determined by multiplying the number of thousands of gallons of
water used by each property for the preceding period of 12 months
ending on December 31 of said fiscal year, or by multiplying the number
of gallons of water estimated to have been used for said period of
12 months or fraction thereof, as the case may be, times the amount
of charge per 1,000 gallons of water, as hereinbefore provided. It
shall be the duty of the Borough Secretary, as soon as possible, to
certify a copy of the ordinance fixing the annual sewer rental or
charge for the fiscal year to the Sewer Rental Collector. The Borough
Secretary shall also furnish said Collector, as soon as possible,
with a list of all properties which are connected to the sewers, together
with the names and addresses of the owners of said properties and
together with a statement of the number of gallons of water used by
each property for the preceding period of 12 months ending December
31 or as estimated as having been used, as hereinbefore provided.
The Sewer Rental Collector shall make said final bills on forms to
be furnished by the Borough Council.
[Amended 11-9-1954 by Ord. No. 380, approved 11-9-1954]
A. Sewer bills shall be payable as follows:
(1) If said sewer bills shall be paid within 60 days from the time that
the same are mailed by the Sewer Rental Collector, a discount of 2%
may be deducted therefrom.
(2) If said bills are paid after the expiration of 60 days from the date
on which they are mailed and before 120 days thereafter, the face
amount of said bill shall be paid.
(3) If said sewer bills are paid after 120 days from the time said bills
are mailed, a penalty of 5% shall be added, together with interest
at the rate of 6% from the date that the bills are mailed.
B. Sewer bills shall be considered to be mailed on the date that the
same are placed for mailing with the United States Post Office located
at Darby, Pennsylvania. It shall be the duty of the Sewer Rental Collector
to keep a record of the date or dates of mailing each sewer bill,
and the Collector shall certify said date to the Borough Secretary
and to the Borough Solicitor.
C. It shall be the duty of the Sewer Rental Collector, on or after six
months following the mailing of sewer bills, to certify any unpaid
bills to the Borough Solicitor, who shall file a lien or liens for
the same in the office of the Prothonotary of the Court of Common
Pleas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and such liens, together with
interest and penalty, shall be filed and collected in accordance with
law.
D. The Sewer Committee of Darby Borough Council shall institute, on
behalf of the Borough, an action and/or actions before the District
Justice for any sewer rent bill that is six months' delinquent. The
Committee may institute such actions not only for current delinquencies
but also for delinquencies that have existed for several years.
[Added 8-4-1976 by Ord.
No. 567, approved 8-4-1976]
[Amended 11-9-1954 by Ord. No. 380, approved 11-9-1954]
The Sewer Rental Collector shall receive as compensation the
following commission, depending on the time in which collection is
made: a commission of 5% on all amounts collected by him.
It shall be the duty of the Sewer Rental Collector to keep full,
accurate and complete records of all sewer rentals or charges, bills,
receipts, payments and transmittals of money to the Borough. It shall
be the duty of the Sewer Rental Collector to transmit all money so
collected to the Borough at the same time and according to the same
procedure as tax moneys are payable by the Tax Collector to the Borough.
The Borough Auditors shall examine and audit said accounts.
If for any reason a sewer bill was not sent to any owner of property connected to the public sewers, then it shall be the duty of the Sewer Rental Collector, as soon as the oversight or omission is known, to forthwith mail a sewer bill or sewer bills for the fiscal year or fiscal years for which bills should have been mailed, and said sewer bills shall be payable at the same times and subject to the same discounts, penalties and interest charges, based on the time of mailing, as set forth in §
117-50 hereof, and if said bill shall not be paid within six months after said bill is mailed, a municipal lien shall be filed as provided in §
117-50 hereof.
The foregoing directions
as to the time in which to procure information from the water company
and the time in which to adopt annual ordinances and the times in
which to mail out the bills shall be considered directory and not
mandatory, and the failure to do one or some or all of said acts on
time shall not invalidate any ordinance passed, shall not invalidate
any bill rendered and shall not invalidate or forego the collection
of any sewer rental or charge.
This article is intended to provide for the imposition and collection
of an annual sewer rental or charge for the year 1953 and for subsequent
years. Ordinance No. 326 is repealed only insofar as it applies to
a sewer rental charge for the year 1953 and for subsequent years.
It is not intended by this article to waive or forego the collection
of any sewer rental for the year 1952 or years prior thereto.