2023 -- H 5451

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LC000431

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO THE CITY OF WARWICK -- SEWER AUTHORITY

     Introduced By: Representative Joseph J. Solomon

     Date Introduced: February 08, 2023

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Unless otherwise amended by this act, the terms, conditions, provisions and

definitions of Chapter 254 of the Public Laws of 1962, as amended by Chapters 60 and 61 of the

Public Laws of 2016, and Chapters 290 and 307 of the Public Laws of 2019 are hereby incorporated

by reference and shall remain in full force and effect.

     SECTION 2. Section 9 of Chapter 254 of the Public Laws of 1962 entitled "An Act to

Create a Sewer Authority for the City of Warwick and to Authorize said City to Plan, Construct,

Finance, Operate and Maintain Sewage Works", as amended, by Chapters 60 and 61 of the Public

Laws of 2016 and Chapters 290 and 307 of the Public Laws of 2019 is hereby further amended to

read as follows:

     Section 9. Apportionment of costs; sewer assessments and charges; enforcement of charges

and assessments. -- The authority, with the advice and consent of the mayor, shall prescribe just

and equitable sewer assessment rates on account of the construction costs and the cost of principal

and interest for any bonds or notes issued for sewage works, to be levied against owners of parcels

abutting on that portion of any highway in which a common sewer is laid under this act and also

rates of user charges on account of operation and maintenance costs and renewal and replacement

funding and the cost of principal and interest for any bonds or notes issued for sewage works, to be

levied against owners of parcels that are connected to a common sewer or in accordance with

section 17(b).

     The assessments herein referred shall be paid by every parcel owner whose parcel abuts on

that portion of any highway in which a common sewer is laid, under this act, in a manner prescribed

by the authority, with the approval of the mayor and the finance director. The annual user charges

herein referred shall be paid by every parcel owner whose parcel is connected to a common sewer,

or in accordance with section 17(b), in a manner prescribed by the authority, with the approval of

the mayor and the finance director.

     Notwithstanding the foregoing, the authority may defer sewer assessments against parcels

that are undeveloped or not developed to the extent permissible by city zoning ordinances;

provided, that the parcels remain subject to assessment upon the development or redevelopment of

the parcels in accordance with the authority's rules and regulations. The authority may defer sewer

assessments against any parcels, if the owner of a parcel has installed a new OWTS within twenty

(20) years of sewer service initially becoming operational, provided that the parcel shall remain

subject to assessment and shall begin paying the assessment twenty (20) years from the date of the

installation of the OWTS or upon connection to the sewer system, whichever occurs first.

     The sewer assessments shall be determined by a method(s) adopted by the sewer authority

that assesses charges for use of the sewers and the sewer systems in an amount that bears a

reasonable relation to the cost of construction to the city and authority of the service rendered to

the users, which method(s) may include, but is not limited to, the frontage along the highway of

each parcel of land abutting on a common sewer, the area of such land within a fixed depth from

the highway, or other alternative methods. The sewer authority, with the advice and consent of the

mayor, may, from time to time, redetermine the rates fixed for sewer assessments, if construction

costs warrant, and may redetermine rates for user charges if costs so warrant.

     The sewer assessments herein referred to shall be paid by every parcel owner whose parcel

is abutting on that portion of any highway in which a common sewer is laid under this act or is

connected to the city's sewage works.

     Sewer assessments levied hereunder shall be paid in as many as thirty (30) annual

installments in accordance with the terms of the loan secured for sewer construction. In the case of

installment payments, at a simple interest at a rate not to exceed a maximum rate of one and twenty-

five hundredths percent (1.25%) above the average interest rate the authority is charged on the loan

used to fund the construction of the sewers shall be charged annually on the unpaid balance of the

total sewer assessment. The city of Warwick may charge the owners of lands using the sewage

works monetary interest charges in excess of those interest charges actually paid by the city for the

funds it has borrowed for sewage works' purposes, up to a maximum of one-half of one percent

(.5%) of the interest charges paid by the city. The excess interest charges shall only be used for

administrative purposes. These annual installment payments may be paid on a quarterly basis.

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     Sewer assessments shall be levied at a uniform rate based upon the final cost of

constructing all sewers, sewer service connections, and other sewage works belonging to the city.

Sewer assessment revenues shall be used for the payment of the principal and interest costs for any

bonds or notes issued for sewage works.

     User charges shall be levied upon every parcel owner or institution whose parcel is

connected to the city's sewage system. The charge shall be computed as annual rates based upon

water consumption or other factors deemed equitable by the sewer authority. The user charge shall

be set at a level sufficient to support operation and maintenance costs of the sewer system and the

wastewater treatment plant, the renewal and replacement fund, and the principal and interest for

any bonds or notes issued for sewage works. The revenues to be raised by user charges will be

reduced by revenues generated by sewer assessments.

     The authority shall annually certify to the finance director and to the mayor all the charges

and sewer assessments made by it under the authority of this act. Each charge or assessment made

by the authority pursuant to this act shall be a lien upon the parcels, lands, buildings, and

improvements upon which it is made in the same way and manner as taxes assessed on real estate,

but the liens shall not expire until the charge or assessment, with all interest, costs, and penalties

thereon, is paid in full, and, if the charge or assessment is not paid as required, it shall be collected

in the same manner that taxes assessed on real estate are by law collected. The finance director,

after receiving a list of charges or assessments under this act, shall forthwith, at the expense of the

authority, send to each person assessed or charged notice of the amount of the assessment or charge.

The notice shall substantially identify the person assessed, state the amount of the assessment or

charge, and refer to the remedy available under section 19 of this act. The notice shall be mailed

postpaid and directed to the last known address of the person assessed. If there are persons whose

addresses are unknown, a similar notice covering the assessments against the persons shall be

published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city and the published notice may be a single

collective notice for all the persons. No irregularity in the notice required by this section shall

excuse the nonpayment of the assessment or charge or affect its validity or any proceedings for the

collection thereof as long as there is substantial compliance with the provision hereof. No

deficiency in the notice to the person assessed shall excuse the nonpayment by others of the

assessment or charges assessed against them or affect the validity thereof or any proceedings for

the collection thereof. The finance director shall without further warrant collect the charges and

assessments in the same manner as the regular taxes of the city may be payable. Interest at the rate

per annum fixed for nonpayment of city taxes shall be charged and collected upon all overdue

charges and assessments from the date they become payable until paid; provided, however, that the

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total overdue charge for non-payment of installment of sewer assessments shall be applied to past

due installments and not the total assessment; and provided, further, that there shall be no penalty

on installment assessments deferred by reason of income subject to rules and regulations that the

Warwick city council may prescribe by ordinance.

     The authority with the advice and consent of the mayor may at any time modify in whole

or in part any charge or assessment to the extent the authority determines the charge or assessment

to have been improperly imposed.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage and the sewer authority shall adopt

rules and regulations within one year thereafter to implement the provisions of this act.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO THE CITY OF WARWICK -- SEWER AUTHORITY

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     This act would amend the authority of the Warwick Sewer Authority to charge excess

interest at a rate not to exceed a current maximum rate up to one and twenty-five hundredths percent

(1.25%) by reducing the maximum rate to one-half of one percent (.5%) with the amount collected

only for use for administrative purposes.

     This act would take effect upon passage and require the Warwick Sewer Authority to adopt

rules and regulations within one year thereafter to implement the provisions of this act.

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