Chapter 290 |
2019 -- S 0965 Enacted 07/19/2019 |
A N A C T |
RELATING TO THE CITY OF WARWICK -- SEWER AUTHORITY |
Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, Lynch Prata, and McKenney |
Date Introduced: June 11, 2019 |
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, are hereby incorporated by reference and shall remain in full force and |
effect. |
SECTION 2. Sections 2, and 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 are hereby further amended to read as follows: |
Section 2. Sewer Authority. -- There shall be a bi-partisan sewer authority for the city |
consisting of five (5) seven (7) qualified electors of the city, not more than three (3) five (5) of |
whom shall be members of the same political party, to be appointed by the mayor subject to |
confirmation by the city council. It shall be the purpose of the sewer authority to provide |
wastewater collection and treatment services to the City city of Warwick in a cost effective and |
environmentally sound manner. The mayor shall appoint the five (5) seven (7) members of the |
authority, two (2) of each from lists of not less than three (3) names submitted by the respective |
chairman of the city political committees and one (1) member three (3) members without party |
designation; one (1) member to hold office until one (1) year from the first day of February |
preceding said the appointment, one (1) member to hold office until two (2) years from the first |
day of February preceding said the appointment, one (1) member to hold office until three (3) |
years from the first day of February preceding said the appointment, one (1) member to hold |
office until four (4) years from the first day of February preceding said the appointment, and one |
(1) member to hold office until five (5) years from the first day of February preceding said the |
appointment. In the month of January preceding the expiration of the term of each of the |
authority's members, the mayor shall appoint one (1) member to succeed the member whose term |
will next expire to hold office for the term of five (5) years from the first day of February next |
after his appointment and until his successor is appointed and qualified in the same manner as |
provided in the original appointment for such the term. The two (2) members added to the |
authority by the 2019 amendment of the enabling act shall serve for five (5) years. In case any |
person appointed as a member of said the authority shall decline to serve or neglect to qualify |
within ten (10) days after his appointment, or a vacancy shall occur in said the authority for any |
other cause, the mayor, within thirty (30) days shall appoint some person to fill such the vacancy |
for the unexpired term in the same manner as provided in the original appointment for such the |
term. A person holding any other office of emolument or profit under the government of the city |
shall not be eligible to membership on the authority and if any member of said the authority shall |
accept any such office or shall remove from the city, his place on the authority shall immediately |
become vacant. The members of the authority shall be severally sworn to the faithful performance |
of their duties under this act. They shall elect from among their members a chairman and a |
secretary at the first meeting after the organization and upon the appointment of any new member |
for a full term and shall fill any vacancy that may occur in either office from any cause. A |
majority of the members of the authority shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. |
The mayor may remove any member of the authority from office for cause shown after a hearing |
before the city council of which such that member shall be given seven (7) days' notice in |
writing. |
The mayor, with the advice and consent of the city council, shall fix the compensation of |
the members of the authority and shall annually appropriate a sum sufficient to pay the same |
together with a sum sufficient for office expenses. |
The authority may adopt by-laws governing the transaction of business by an affirmative |
vote of at least four (4) five (5) members, but no such by-laws shall authorize any action by the |
authority except by the affirmative vote of at least three (3) four (4) members thereof and with the |
advice and consent of the mayor. |
The authority shall review the sewer survey (Facilities Plan) in order to develop |
procedures for the implementation of the general sewer program and to conduct preliminary |
studies in order to execute the administrative details contained in this act. |
Such The activities may include: |
(a) The planning and programming of the various phases of the sewer project,; and |
(b) A review of the procedures of various financing programs in terms of charges and |
assessments to be instituted upon the commencement of the construction of sewers,; and |
(c) An establishment and exercise of a public information program. |
The members of the authority and their duly authorized agents may enter upon any |
premises within the city to examine, inspect, or survey the same, whenever necessary for the |
performance of their duties under this act. |
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 which that are connected to a common |
sewer or in accordance with section 17(b). |
Such 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. Such 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 such the parcels remain subject to assessment upon the development or |
redevelopment of such 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 such the parcel shall remain subject to assessment and shall begin paying such 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 may shall be paid in as many as thirty (30) annual |
installments in accordance with the terms of the loan secured for sewer construction, upon |
application by the parcel owner and approval of the sewer authority. 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. Such These annual installment payments may be paid on a quarterly |
basis. |
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 such 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 his 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 such the persons shall be published in a newspaper of general |
circulation in the city and such the published notice may be a single collective notice for all such |
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 such 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 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 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 such 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 in accordance with this act. |
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LC002818 |
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