(1) There shall be a charge, to be known as “Application Fee – Service to new connection” as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC, to process an application for service and to establish a utility billing account. This fee shall be waived in the case where:

(2) There shall be a penalty known as the “late pay penalty” as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC, if a bill is not paid in full within 25 days of the date of billing. The Director is hereby authorized to waive this fee once in a rolling 12-calendar-month period if the customer acknowledges understanding of and future compliance with the utility payment and collection policies. If the charges remain unpaid at 11 days past the past due bill date then the account shall incur a collection fee to be known as the “collection notification fee” as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC. The collection notification fee applies to all accounts that meet the stated criteria. Failure by the customer to provide a current phone number, failure to notify the utility billing department of changes in phone number, or failure to receive the phone message shall not be recognized as a valid excuse to waive this fee. The Director is hereby authorized to waive this fee once per account in a rolling 12-calendar-month period if the customer acknowledges understanding of and future compliance with the utility payment and collection policies.

(3) In the event delinquent charges and related fees are not paid in full by the date specified in the delinquent notice required by PMC 3.65.080(2) there shall be a charge known as the “disconnect collection fee” as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC. The disconnect collection fee is a bundled charge and covers administrative costs as well as related one-time costs of service to disconnect and to reconnect the meter if needed to enforce payment for delinquent charges. The Director is hereby authorized to waive this fee once during the duration of the account, if the account is paid to zero before being reconnected and the account is signed up to have future payments processed automatically through the City’s autopay program.

(4) There shall be a charge as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC to be known as the “field service fee” for providing field service which resulted from dispatching personnel to the property location. There shall be an exception to this fee one time in 12 consecutive months pursuant to a customer request to verify a previously obtained meter read. There shall also be an exception to this fee for the cost of service to re-read a meter if the new read clearly indicates the past read was in error as well as in the case where there is a request for emergency service to shut off water due to a broken pipe or valve.

(5) There shall be a charge as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC to be known as the “field service after hours fee” for the service to turn water off and a charge to turn water on during field service nonbusiness working hours which takes into account the cost of service covered by the fee authorized in subsection (3) of this section.

(6) There shall be a separate, lower charge as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC to be known as the “field service after hours fee/collection” to reconnect water service pursuant to the payment of the disconnect collection charge required in subsection (3) of this section during field service nonbusiness working hours.

(7) Interest on the unpaid balance shall be eight percent per annum or such higher rate as authorized by state law. Additionally, there shall be a penalty known as the “turnover penalty,” a one-time penalty of five percent of the unpaid account balance outstanding at 41 days from account close date, which shall be assessed.

(8) There shall be a charge as set forth in Chapter 3.35 PMC to be known as the “utility lien search fee.” This fee shall apply for providing a legally binding utility payoff estimate pursuant to RCW 60.80.020. [Ord. 4161, 2014; Ord. 4098, 2013; Code 1970 § 3.200.140.]