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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 327 ORDINANCE NO. 327 AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT NO. 3 OF ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 326 RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS, REBATES AND REFUNDS OF SANITARY SEWER SERVICE CHARGES The Board of Directors of County Sanitation District No. 3 of Orange County, California, does hereby ORDAIN as follows: Section 1: Section 5 of Ordinance No. 326 is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 5: A. Exemptions. It is the intent of the District that the legal owner(s) of parcels of real property, otherwise subject to the levy and payment of the sewer use charges as prescribed herein, be relieved, in whole or in part, from the payment of said charges, in certain circumstances and under conditions proscribed herein, and be entitled to either a rebate or a refund with respect to charges paid, as more specifically set forth in Subparagraphs B and C below, provided an inequity is established or a billing error is proven, as specified in Subparagraph B or C. B. Application for Rebate. Any property owner may apply to the District for a rebate of sewer use charges paid to the District by establishing that an unfair valuation of the property has been made by the District. An applicant for a rebate must 1 establish, by proof satisfactory to the General Manager of the District, or his designee, that an inequity exists between the amount of the charge paid and the amount of wastewater discharged to the District's system, resulting in an unfair valuation. Satisfactory proof shall establish that either: (1) The principal water use is agricultural or horticultural; or (2) The property is devoted to any other use wherein the amount of wastewater discharged to the District's system is significantly less on a regular basis than the amount that would normally be expected to be discharged by the class of property in question. Satisfactory proof shall include, but not be limited to, documentation showing actual water usage for each billing cycle during the entire period for which the rebate is sought. The amount of any rebate shall not reduce the charge payable by any property owner, whose property is connected to District's system, to less than the single family residential charge shown on Table A. An application for a rebate shall be deemed a claim and be governed by the provisions of California Government Code Sections 935 et seq., and shall be presented to the District, 2 as provided in the Government Tort Claims Act, Government Code Sections 915 at seq., not later than one (1) year after the mailing of the property tax bill by the County Tax Collector, and the claim for rebate may only be made with respect to amounts paid or payable under such property tax bill. A claim for rebate under this Subparagraph is not deemed a claim for refund, and California Revenue &Taxation Code Sections 5096 and 5097 are not applicable. C. Application for Refund. Any property owner may apply to the District for a refund of sewer use charges paid to the District by establishing that the amount paid was pursuant to an error in the amount billed or the amount paid. The applicant for a refund must submit proof satisfactory to the General Manager of the District, or his designee, that a billing error has been made by the District, or the County Tax Collector. Such proof shall include, but not be limited to, proof that: (1) The owner's parcel of property is not connected to the District's system; or (2) The property has not been classified in the proper land use category; or (3) A clerical error has been made. Applications for refunds are governed by the provisions of 3 California Revenue &Taxation Code Sections 5096 and 5097, allowing for refunds for a period of four (4) years from the date of payment of the second installment of the bill claimed to be incorrect. D. Determination. All applications for rebates or refunds of the sewer use charge will be determined by the General Manager of the District, or his designee, who, based on the submitted proof, may grant a full or partial rebate or refund. E. Administrative Fee. At the time of filing the application for rebate or refund, the property owner shall pay District an administrative fee for the processing of such application. The amount of the fee shall be an amount established by District's Director of Finance from time to time, which amount shall not be less than $15.00." Section 2: Section 7 of Ordinance No. 326 is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 7. Method of Collection. A. Pursuant to the authority granted by California Health & Safely Code Section 5473, and except as otherwise provided in Subparagraph B below, all charges established herein shall be collected on the County Tax Roll in the same manner, by the same persons, and at the same time as, together with, and not 4 separately from, its general taxes. The County Tax Collector is authorized and hereby ordered to make said collections in accordance with the terms and conditions of agreements between the County of Orange and the District. B. In the event District determines that, due to billing or payment error, or to inequity in the amount billed, a property owner has underpaid annual sanitary sewer service charges payable to District, District, within four(4) years after the date of mailing of the lax bill, in the case of billing or payment error, or within one (1) year after the date of mailing of the tax bill, in the case of billing inequity, may: (1) collect the amount of any deficiency directly on the County Tax Roll; (2) off-set the amount of any deficiency against any amounts that District determines is owing, by District, to the property owner, as a rebate or refund under this Ordinance; or (3) submit, directly to the property owner, a bill for the amount of any deficiency, which shall be due and payable within thirty (30) days of the invoice date and which, if not paid, shall become a lien on said property." 5 Section Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by order of court, the remainder of the Ordinance or the application of such provision to other persons or other circumstances shall not be affected. Section Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective on January 16, 1998. Section 5: Certification. The Secretary of the Board shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause a summary of the same to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the District, as required by law. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of County Sanitation District No. 3 of Orange County, California, at a regular meeting held December 17, 1997. Chairman oft a Board of Directors County Sanitation District No. 3 of Orange County, California ATTfE T: Secretary o e E4ard of Directors County San' do istrict No. 3 of Orange County, California 6 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) )SS. COUNTY OF ORANGE ) I, PENNY KYLE, Secretary of the Board of Directors of County Sanitation District No. 3 of Orange County, California, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 327 was passed and adopted at a regular meeting of said Board on the 17th day of December, 1997, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Margie Rice, Chair; Steve Anderson; Don Bankhead; Eva M. Bradford; George Brown; John Collins; Tim Keenan; Mark Leyes; Patsy Marshall; Pat McGuigan; Todd Spitzer; Dave Sullivan; Charles E. Sylvia; Bob Zemel NOES: None ABSENT: Brian Donahue; Burnie Dunlap IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of December, 1997. Penny Kyle Secretary Zf4eUarcl of Directors of County Sanitation District No. 3 of Orange County,, California H:\WP.DTAADMINkBS ORDINANCES5 M27CERTIFICATION DOC `