§ 24-66. Deposits for water and gas meters; temporary disconnect policy and transfer fee.

(a)

Generally. A meter deposit shall be collected by the City of Fort Stockton before any service is turned on or transferred from an active account holder to a new occupant on the account. Deposits shall be according to the following:

(1)

Residential customers. All new residential accounts shall require a deposit based on the credit standing of the customer. Customers shall be categorized according to the following table:

Credit Rating	Excellent	Good to Moderate	Poor
Deposit	$ 125.00	$ 200.00	$ 275.00

 

(2)

Renters. All residential customers that are renters shall be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275.00) per account. Deposit will be applied towards final billing statement or delinquent account.

(3)

Commercial customers. All new commercial accounts shall require a deposit based on an estimated average of two (2) months billing cycle. For commercial customers with multiple accounts under the same business name, the deposit will be calculated at the average two (2) month billing cycle for at least two (2) of the accounts and may be used towards delinquent amounts on any of the accounts under that business name.

(4)

Deposit refunds. For all accounts, unless otherwise noted, deposits shall be automatically applied to the billing statement if the customer is classified as "excellent" rating after twelve (12) consecutive months, or to the final billing statement. If applied to final statement, the customer will be refunded or billed for the remaining balance.

(5)

Reinstatements. For all accounts, all deposits shall be automatically applied to a delinquent account for non-payment on the second incident if it falls within a twelve-month period of the first incident. Reinstatement of the account shall require a new deposit based on the credit standing of the customer. Commercial customers considered "poor" rating shall be charge the appropriate commercial deposit plus fifty (50) percent.

The credit standing of all customers shall be calculated on a twelve-month cycle regardless of previous payment history.

(b)

Temporary disconnect and reconnect policy. Temporary disconnect of water and gas meters shall have a ten-dollar disconnect and a thirty-five-dollar reconnect charge. There shall not be any charges for water or gas during the voluntary discontinuation period of the meter. The meter shall continue to be read on a monthly basis and any consumption shown on the meter during the disconnect period will be charged to the consumer when the meter is placed back into service. The meter shall be locked and under complete control of the city for the temporary disconnect period.

(c)

Transfer fee. A transfer fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) will be charged to an active account holder when transferring deposit, other than for a deceased spouse, to a new occupant on the account, only after the current balance has been paid in full.

(Code 1966, § 24-40; Ord. No. 83-103, § 24-40, 4-26-83; Ord. No. 83-109, 5-24-83; Ord. No. 84-106, 2-28-84; Ord. No. 87-106, 8-11-87; Ord. No. 89-106, 9-12-89; Ord. No. 91-113, 10-8-91; Ord. No. 93-107, 9-28-93; Ord. No. 95-109, 9-26-95; Ord. No. 04-105, 6-8-04; Ord. No. 05-102, 4-12-05; Ord. No. 09-122, 7-14-09; Ord. No. 14-112, 9-8-14)