CITY OF CHERRYVALE
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE RULES AND REGULATIONSOF UTILITY SERVICE ACCOUNTS



ORDINANCE NO. 08-4561

4-225. NON-PAYMENT OF WATER BILLS; NOTICE.

(a) An account delinquency and service discontinuance notice shall be issued in writing on the 11th day of the month, or the next business day following the 11th, with respect to any delinquent and unpaid water service bill. Notice shall be sent by U.S. Mail, first class, to the customer (and a copy shall also be sent by U.S. Mail, first class, to the occupant of the premises serviced if the occupant is not the customer) at the last known address of the customer as shown on the records of the City. Written notice may also be provided by personal service upon the customer by an employee of the City Public Works Department or by any City Law Enforcement Officer, or by such City Employee posting the written notice upon a door of a building of the property serviced.

(b) The notice of account delinquency and service discontinuance shall provide the following information:
(1) Name of customer and address where service is being provided;
(2) Account number;
(3) Amount past due, including delinquency charges;
(4) Notice that water service shall be terminated upon failure to pay the delinquent billing plus delinquency charges by the 21st of the month or the 1st business day following the 21st.
(5) Notice that the customer has the right to appear and be heard at a hearing on the hearing date set by the City.

(c) Deleted.

(d) Any utility customer receiving a notice of account delinquency and service discontinuance shall have the right to a hearing prior to disconnection. The hearing shall be conducted by the City Administrator or such other hearing officer as may be appointed by the City Administrator. In the event the hearing officer finds water service should not be discontinued, the hearing officer shall so order and advise the City thereof. In the event the hearing officer finds water service should be discontinued, the hearing officer shall so order and advise the City thereof. Unless otherwise ordered by the hearing officer, water service shall be discontinued on the date that the order of discontinuance is issued by the hearing officer. Extensions of the date of discontinuance may be granted to enable the customer to make arrangements for reasonable installment payments or for other good cause shown. In making a determination of whether discontinuance should be ordered, the hearing officer shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:
(1) whether discontinuance is dangerous to the health of the customer;
(2) the customer's family or any other residents of the premises affected;
(3) the weather;
(4) unforeseen financial hardship of the customer; and
(5) the medical conditions, ages or disabilities of the customer, the customer's family or other residents of the premises.

4-227. LIEN UPON CUSTOMER'S PROPERTY.

In the event any person shall neglect, fail or refuse to pay by the 21st of the month, or the following business day, the water and sewer billings and delinquency charges due the City, such billings and charges shall constitute a lien upon the real property served by the connection to the water meter, and shall be certified by the City Clerk to the County Clerk of Montgomery County, Kansas, to be placed on the tax roll for collection, subject to the same penalties and collected in like manner as other taxes are by law collectible or sent to the State of Kansas Set-Off Program.

4-229. DELINQUENCY ACCOUNT CHARGE.

All water and sewer service account balances are due and payable no later than the 10th day of each month following the delivery of such services. All water and sewer service account balances which remain unpaid as of the 10th day of the month shall be subject to a late payment charge at the rate of 10% of the unpaid balance for such water and sewer service charges. All checks for payment to the City for such services which are rejected or returned due to insufficient funds in customer's checking account shall be subject to a thirty ($30.00) dollar Insufficient Fund Check Fee and said fee shall be paid to the City Clerk. If said fee is not paid as provided, the customer's water service shall be discontinued as provided in Section 4-203.


REPEAL. All other ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force upon its publication in the official city newspaper.

PASSED AND APPROVED by the Governing Body of the City of Cherryvale, Kansas, this 19th day of May, 2008.

City Council Action Report May 19, 2008

1. Annual Appointments
a) Reappointed Matt Dennis--Police Chief
b) Reappointed Ron Davis--Fire Chief
c) Reappointed Rebecca Anderson--City Clerk
d) Reappointed Pauline Burnor--City Treasurer
e) Reappointed John Bullard--City Attorney
f) Reappointed Richard Medley--Municipal Judge
2. Appointed Artie Hopkins to the Library Board.
3. Appointed Wade Webber as the Public Agency Director to Public Wholesale Water Supply District #4, and Jerry Wallace as the alternate.
4. Approved five revised condemnation resolutions.
5. Revised an ordinance dealing with Governing Body Laptops to allow a one-time payment.
6. Passed Ordinance 08-4561 concerning Utility Account Delinquencies.
7. Approved a bid from Dean's Home Repair for $22,277.36 for the second phase of the City Hall remodel. This remodel will expand the police department, while adding safety and security to the building.
8. Directed City Staff to begin the grant process for a housing rehab grant.
9. Approved a bid from Fink transportation to replace the transmission in the 1987 Top Kick Dump truck for $3,456.
10. Passed Ordinance 08-4560 rezoning property on Olive Street from R1 to A1.
11. Authorized City Administrator Trey Cocking to sign a contract selling city property to Vision Woodworks for future expansion.

City Council Report April 21, 2008

The Governing Body of the City of Cherryvale met and took the following actions:

1. Approved an agreement with Heckman and Associates of Independence to undertake the Architectural and Engineering work for the ADA enhancements at the Cherryvale Public Library.
2. Approved the City's membership in the Main Street task force.
3. Approved a Donation of $600 to the Cherryvale Beautification Committee for their 2008 projects.
4. Approved five resolutions dealing with unsafe and dangerous structures.
-612 E. 2nd
-212 S. Wilson
-726 E. 3rd
-322 W. 2nd
-300 E. Main
5. Approved a change in the structure of volunteer EMS stipends.
6. Approved up to $5,000 for repairs to the new street sweeper.
7. Approved vendors to stay overnight at Logan Park during Cherry Blossom Festival.
8. Approved a new rural water line leak policy.
9. Approved the purchase of three new bullet proof vests for the police department.
10. Approved a bid of $5,495 from Newton's of Cherryvale to install a new A/C and ducts.
11. Approved the consent agenda as printed.
12. Approved Resolution 08-11 dealing with pay of non-elected officials as amended.
13. Canceled the May 5, 2008 City Council Meeting.

Taxes, Part I

In Kansas, three major forms of taxation are used to support governmental functions.

Income Taxes - These are the sole domain of the State of Kansas and the Federal Government. The City of Cherryvale does not recieve any of this money directly.

Sales Taxes - The State of Kansas recieves the majority of your sales tax dollars. The total sales tax rate in Cherryvale is 8.05% and the State of Kansas receives 5.3% of this. The City of Cherryvale currently has four different sales taxes in place. The first is a 1.0% tax to fund general operations and it does not have a sunset provision. The second is a .75% which is set to expire in 2011. It pays the debt associatied with the City's 2001 and 2007 sewer projects. The third sales tax is a .5% for property tax relief and it is set to expire in 2011. The fourth sales tax of .5% finances street and storm water drainage improvements and other capital improvement projects. This sales tax is also set to expire in 2011.

Property Taxes - the total propety tax rate for Cherryvale is 167.344. This total is divided among Montgomery County, USD 447, Independence Community College, the State of Kansas, the Cherryvale Recreation Commission, and the City of Cherryvale. The City of Cherryvale recieves only 23% of your property tax dollars.

State of Kansas 1.5 mills or 1% of your total property tax bill.
Montgomery County 49.415 mills or 30% of your total property tax bill.
City of Cherryale 39.021 mills or 23% of your total property tax bill.
Independence Community College 33.211 mills or 20% of your total property tax bill.
Cherryvale Rec. Commission 1.877 mills or 1% of your total tax bill.

Statewide USD Tax 20.00
USD 447 Local Tax 22.320
Total School Mill Levy 42.320 Mills or 25% of your total tax bill

Total Mill Levy 167.344 100%

Street Lights

A blog poster recently said that the City should look at adding additional street lights. Where would you want to see the new street lights?

Thanks,


Trey Cocking
City Administrator

April 7, 2008 City Council Meeting

The Governing Body of the City of Cherryvale met on April 7, 2008, and the following actions were taken:

1. Approved a bid from Bellco Materials for $130,270 to pave 12 blocks within the City of Cherryvale.
2. Tabled a presentation on library accessibility until 4/21/2008.
3. Tabled a presentation on the Main Street Improvement Task Force until 4/21/2008.
4. Approved the purchase of a 1997 Johnston Street Sweeper from Key Equipment of Kansas City for $9,975.
5. Agreed to let Public Works Director Wade Webber bid out the replacement of four blocks of sewer line.
6. Amended the Purchasing Policy to require the City to seek competitive bids every three years for insurance products, such as property and casuality, employee group health, and worker's compensation.
7. Approved the renewal of the City's property and causality insurance with EMC for $22,354.
8. Approved the adoption of the personnel policy manual as amended.
9. Approved the City's MCAC membership dues of $2,240.
10. Approved the Consent Agenda as written.

Water Rates

As most Cherryvale residents will note, they have recently received their April water bill. The water bill does reflect the new rates that were passed by the City Council earlier this year. The purpose of the rate increase was three-fold: 1) To lessen the burden on low end customers, 2) help the city offset increased costs related to inflation, and 3) prepare for needed waterline replacement.

Waterline replacement is necessary to ensure safe quality drinking water and to offset future costs.

The water rate increase was structured to lower the water bills of low end users and to only have a slight impact on residential customers. The average customer should see a minimum increase or a slight decrease in their total water bill.

48% of water users should see an overall decrease in their bill.
24% of water users should see an increase between $2.09 and $5.22
16% of water users should see an increase between $8.35 and $11.48
7% of water users should see an increase between $14.61 and $17.74
And only 5% of water users should see an increase above $18.0o

In addition, the water bill now breaks out the base water charge of $8.00, instead of including it in the cost per 1,000 gallons.

Please let the City Clerk's Office know if you received a large increase. It may not be the result of the rate change and could be due to a water leak. The number is 336-2776.

Have a great day!

Trey Cocking
City Administrator