13.15.080 Procedure and penalties for failure to pay capacity fee.
A. 1. Upon a determination by the city that a real property owner has failed to pay the mandatory capacity fee required by SCC 13.15.060 when wastewater service became available for developed properties, written notice of the failure to pay shall be mailed to the real property owner.
2. Notice shall be mailed by certified, return receipt requested mail. The notice shall advise the property owner that an objection to the action set forth in the notice of delinquency must be filed in writing within 15 days of the date the notice was received and that a hearing procedure, as described in the notice of delinquency, is available upon request of the real property owner.
3. The notice shall specify that if a timely objection is not filed, the unpaid capacity fee shall be deemed due and owing and failure to pay shall result in the city pursuing all available means of collection as authorized by this code.
4. The notice shall specify that if a hearing before the city wastewater hearing officer is requested and it is determined as a result of the hearing that the unpaid capacity fee is due and owing, failure to pay shall result in the city pursuing all available means of collection as authorized by law.
B. If the real property owner wishes to file an objection and request a hearing, the owner shall submit any objection to the notice of delinquency in writing within 15 days of the receipt of the notice of delinquency. The written objection shall include copies of all documents that support the owner’s position that there is no delinquency or that no fee is due and owing.
C. Within 10 days of date of receipt of the objection from the property owner, the city finance director may request, in writing, a meeting to discuss the appeal and attempt to settle the matter prior to the hearing. If this is not acceptable to the property owner, the appeal will be forwarded to the city wastewater hearing officer. The city shall schedule a hearing date within 30 days of receipt of the objection and give written notice to the owner of the scheduled date.
1. The hearing shall be held by a hearing officer who shall be a noncity employee retained by the city or a city employee that is not under the supervision of the city engineer, director of wastewater, or finance director. The duties of the hearing officer shall only extend to issues related to capacity fee, monthly service fee, disconnections, and financial penalties related to these payments. The hearing officer shall be limited to determining if fees and use classifications were required and enforced in accordance with city adopted codes and fee schedules.
2. The hearing shall be held during regular city business hours.
3. The hearing may be continued one time by the hearing officer upon the written request of either party for good cause.
4.
a. The property owner and the city shall each be given an opportunity to present their respective cases. The city shall present its case first and presentation may include:
i. Sworn testimony;
ii. Submission of evidence;
iii. Presentation of witnesses; and
iv. Cross-examination.
b. The rules of evidence shall not apply, and the hearing officer may permit any evidence deemed relevant to the issues at hand to be admitted.
5. At the close of the hearing, the city may agree to permit the property owner to participate in the city program which provides for the financing of capacity fees.
6. Unless the city agrees to permit the property owner to participate in the financing program, the hearing officer shall render a written decision within 30 days of the close of the hearing. The hearing officer may find the following:
a. The property owner does not owe the connection fee and cancel the notice of delinquency;
b. The property owner does owe the connection fee as noticed by the city and order that it be paid within 15 days of receipt of the order;
c. A different (lesser) amount than that which was noticed is owed by the property owner and order that amount to be paid within 15 days from receipt of the order.
7. The hearing officer’s order shall be mailed to the property owner by certified, return receipt requested mail.
8. If the property owner fails to appear at the scheduled hearing, the hearing officer shall enter an order directing the property owner to pay the delinquent connection fee as set forth in the notice of delinquency.
9. The hearing shall be recorded by an electronic recording device.
D. The city may use all available legal means to collect a delinquent capacity fee, including the following:
1. Report the delinquency to credit bureaus.
2. Record in the official land records of the county in which the subject real property is located, a notice of delinquency, which notice shall not constitute a lien against the real property.
3. Record debt setoff to intercept any Arizona income tax refunds.
4. Referral to a collection agency or service, which collection agency or service may report the delinquency to credit bureaus and take all legal actions necessary to collect the debt including filing suit on the debt and, upon obtaining a judgment against the debtor, pursue garnishment, execution, recordation of a judgment lien against the property and foreclosure.
5. Direct the city attorney to file suit in the appropriate court and, upon obtaining a judgment against the debtor, pursue garnishment, execution, recordation of a judgment lien against the property and foreclosure. [Code 2006 § 13-5-9. Ord. 2009-04, 4-14-2009; Ord. 2014-06 § 1, 5-27-2014; Res. 2014-10 Exh. A, 5-27-2014; Ord. 2021-07 § 1, 9-28-2021; Res. 2021-23 Exh. A, 9-28-2021].