Section 14-8 of the City of Allen Code of Ordinances concerns the assessment of reconnection fees for water utility shut-offs due to account nonpayment.
The City will transition Utility Billing to Tyler financials in early 2020. Tyler accounting refers to the fee paid to reestablish an account terminated for nonpayment as a "disconnection fee" rather than the current ordinance terminology of "reconnection fee." The first ordinance change proposed is simply to change the term reconnection fee to disconnection fee.
The City's current Ordinance provides that when the City disconnects customers for non-payment they pay an additional deposit for each disconnection in a calendar year after the first disconnection in each calendar year. In this way, customers currently get one annual disconnect without incurring an additional deposit. Tyler accounting makes this provision completely manual to document. The second ordinance change would change the current policy to require an additional deposit for each disconnection.
There is a third proposed ordinance change that also deals with accrued additional deposits for disconnects due to non-payment. We have experienced customers that close their account to have the accrued deposits credited against their account as if their account was being permanently terminated. They then re-apply for service at the same address and are charged only the initial account deposit. Staff proposes Ordinance language to preclude this from happening in the future by requiring the new account to be re-opened with the required initial deposit plus the accrued additional deposits that existed on the account before it was closed.
Any customer that establishes a two-year on-time payment history automatically gets all of their deposits refunded as an account credit. This Ordinance provision does apply to disconnect customers when they attain a two-year on-time payment history.