Sewer Abatement & Discount Information

§ 252-25. Abatement of and discounts to sewer use charge. [Amended August 28, 1995 by Ord. Number 95-359]

1. Abatements of sewer use charges may be granted by the Superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant upon application of a ratepayer, where the ratepayer can demonstrate that a loss of water occurred due to no fault of the ratepayer, his or her agents or employees. Abatement requests from commercial properties will be considered only if the loss of water was from building services (furnace, toilet, water heater, etc.), not from equipment used in the course of business, or unless otherwise allowed by § 252-25I of the Bangor Code. Ratepayers are responsible for exercising due care in the maintenance of their water and sewer systems to prevent water losses. For purposes of abatement, "due care" shall be defined as the normal and reasonable steps which would be taken by a prudent individual in operating and maintaining his or her sewer systems. A property whose owner has requested more than one abatement in any twelve-month period shall be subject to a property inspection by the Bangor Code Enforcement Division to verify compliance with the City of Bangor's Property Maintenance Code Editor's Note: See Ch. 223, Property Maintenance Code. and to ascertain whether due care is being exercised by the property owner. The inspection report, along with the abatement request, will be referred to the appropriate committee of the City Council. To be considered, a request for abatement must be made within 120 days of the billing date of the bill in question. [Amended February 12, 2001 by Ord. Number 01-46]
2. Valid reasons for a request for abatement include, but are not necessarily limited to, unanticipated water pipe breakage, plumbing fixture malfunction, heating system malfunction and vandalism. Upon notice or knowledge of such circumstances, the ratepayer is responsible for taking appropriate and timely action to remedy the problem.
3. The Superintendent shall be responsible for researching the basis for the requested abatement in light of the due care standard established in Subsection A above. He or she shall make a record of the results of the investigation, which shall include an estimate of the amount of water lost. The estimate of water lost shall be based on a minimum of the previous four quarters of water consumption, if available, and consideration of seasonal water use patterns. This estimate of water loss shall be used to calculate the amount of the abatement should one be granted.
4. When an abatement is granted, the amount of the abatement shall be calculated based on the total sewer use charge for the estimated amount of water lost less the cost to convey and pump the estimated amount of water lost through the sewer system and treatment plant. The Superintendent shall be responsible for calculating, on an annual basis, the cost to convey and pump uncontaminated water through the sewer system and treatment plant. The basis for this calculation shall be the prior fiscal year's operation and maintenance costs of the system and plant.
5. When an abatement is granted, the Superintendent shall be responsible for taking the necessary steps to correct the appropriate billing records to reflect the abatement or to process a credit where the sewer use charge in question has been paid. Abatements granted shall be used to credit past due balances (oldest first) on any sewer bill(s) owed by the applicant prior to issuance of a refund for overpayment. [Amended February 24, 2003 by Ord. Number 03-77]
6. Any abatement exceeding $500 must be reported to and confirmed by the appropriate committee of the City Council prior to final approval and the processing of a correction or credit.
7. Any ratepayer who disagrees with the decision of the Superintendent to deny an abatement or with the amount of an abatement calculated by the Superintendent may, within 30 days of the date the ratepayer is notified of the Superintendent's decision, appeal the decision to the appropriate committee of the City Council. Appropriate City staff shall notify the ratepayer of the date, time and location of the meeting at which the appeal will be considered. In order for the appeal to be considered, the ratepayer and/or his or her representative must be present at the meeting. At the request of the ratepayer, consideration of the appeal may be postponed to a future meeting to be held within 60 days of the date established for the original meeting. Failure of the ratepayer to appear before the committee at the originally scheduled meeting or at a subsequent meeting called at the ratepayer's request shall result in the denial of the appeal. The decision of the appropriate committee of the City Council shall be final.
8. Abatements shall not be granted for water used for watering lawns or gardens, filling swimming pools or other outside water uses. Ratepayers may, however, at their own cost, install a secondary water meter that will measure only water used for outside water use purposes and/or only for purposes of filling indoor swimming pools. [Amended September 10, 2001 by Ord. Number 01-343]
   1. Installation of the meter must be by a permit granted by the Superintendent or his or her designee. The installation must also be permitted by appropriate City staff to ensure that the meter meets all requirements of the Plumbing and Building Codes Editor's Note: See Ch. 81, Building Code, and Ch. 211, Plumbing Code. and is used only to measure water actually used for outside water use purposes. The City Council may establish, by order, appropriate fees for this permit.
   2. The City reserves the right to periodically inspect such meters to ensure continued compliance with the requirements of this Subsection H. Should it be determined that violations of this Subsection H have occurred, the permit for this secondary meter shall be revoked, and the ratepayer shall be subject to a fine equal to the amount the ratepayer would have been charged in sewer use fees since the date of installation of the secondary meter or for eight full quarters, whichever shall be the lesser.
   3. The ratepayer shall be responsible for reporting to the Superintendent or his or her designee the reading on the secondary meter. This report must be made no later than three working days after the date the ratepayer's primary water meter is normally read. Failure to report the reading in a timely matter will result in any adjustment appearing on the ratepayer's next quarterly bill subject to the provisions of § 252-25E, above. If adjustment is applied to the next quarterly bill, the adjustment will not exceed the quarterly sewer bill. [Amended February 24, 2003 by Ord. Number 03-77]
   4. Where a secondary meter is installed, the ratepayer will be granted an abatement equal to the water metered through the submeter, in hundreds of cubic feet, multiplied by the current sewer rate, subject to the limitation stated in Subsection H above.
9. Any ratepayer which uses water in its end manufactured product which is shipped from the ratepayer's facility or in the process of manufacturing a product or providing a service and where such water does not enter into the sewer system, either in whole or in part, may apply for an abatement of the sewer use fee equal to that portion of the water which does not reach the City's sewer system.
   1. The applicant shall bear the burden of providing the necessary proof and documentation as to the amount of water used which does not enter into the sewer system. Adequate documentation must accompany the request for abatement and must clearly demonstrate the quantity of water used which does not enter into the sewer system. All such requests for abatement shall be made to the Superintendent, who shall be responsible for researching the basis for the abatement as well as the adequacy of the information provided.
   2. The Superintendent shall provide to the appropriate Council committee his or her recommendation as to whether the abatement should or should not be granted. The appropriate Council committee shall make the final determination as to whether the abatement shall or shall not be granted.
   3. All such abatements shall be limited to a period of no more than three years. At the end of this period, the ratepayer may apply for a new abatement. During the period in which an abatement is in effect and for one year following the expiration of the abatement, the City reserves the right to periodically inspect the ratepayer's premises and records to ensure that the ratepayer is in compliance with the abatement. Should it be determined that the information provided by the ratepayer is invalid, that changes have occurred in the ratepayer's processes which have the effect of increasing the amount of water reaching the sewer system or that more water is reaching the sewer system than reported by the ratepayer, the Superintendent may revoke the abatement, and the ratepayer shall be subject to a revised user charge equal to the full value of the abatement for the prior three-year period or the period in which a current or prior abatement was in effect, whichever is lesser.
   4. The amount of the abatement shall equal the full sewer use charge for water documented not to reach the sewer system less a quarterly charge established by order adopted by the City Council to recover expenses associated with administering the abatement.
10. Development discounts.
    1. The appropriate Council committee, at its sole discretion, may approve, subject to the following provisions, a sewer use charge discount for new businesses or existing businesses which expand. Such discounts will be available based on the number of full-time equivalent new jobs created by the business. The discount shall be limited to the capital portion of the sewer user charge. Any discounts granted shall be authorized for a period not to exceed five years and shall proportionately decrease each year. The sewer use discount shall be computed in accordance with the percentages and job creation categories shown here.

       Development Discount Sewer Use Computation Table

       Number of Jobs Created (Full-Time Equivalent)	Percentage Discount Capital Portion of Sewer Use Fee
       	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
       100+	100	80	60	40	20
       75 to 99	80	64	48	32	16
       50 to 74	60	48	36	24	12
       25 to 49	40	32	24	16	8
       10 to 24	20	16	12	8	4
       9 or fewer	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

    2. Any business which has been granted a development discount must, on an annual basis, report to the Sewer Treatment Superintendent the number of new full-time equivalent jobs which continue to exist. Should this number either increase or decrease to the extent that the business receiving the discount moves from one job creation category to another, the discount shown in the computation table shown above for the number of new full-time equivalent jobs then reported shall apply for that year of the five-year discount period.
    3. In order to be eligible for such discount, the business seeking it must be located within the corporate boundaries of the City of Bangor, be subject to the payment of full municipal property taxes and have made a significant investment in an existing or new facility. A "significant investment" shall be defined as the construction of a new facility or the investment of an amount equal to at least 20% of the preexisting assessed value of an existing facility in renovation, expansion or equipment costs associated with the location or expansion of the business. This discount shall not be available to businesses which have purchased other existing businesses, unless additional new employment is created or the business purchased has not been in operation for a minimum period of six months. It shall also not be available to businesses which recall laid-off workers or increase employment due to a prior reduction in force, unless such layoffs or reductions have been in effect for a period of more than one year.