When bills due, payable; discontinuing service to delinquents.

Meridian Code of Ordinances § 25-44

in effect

Sec. 25-44. - When bills due, payable; discontinuing service to delinquents. (a) All meters shall be read one (1) time per month and, to the extent practicable, shall be read in the same consecutive order each month. Statements shall be mailed out once per month. (b) All billings and collections for water and sanitary sewer service shall be made by the public works department, and all charges for water and sewer service shall be billed to each consumer on a combined monthly bill. The combined bill shall list thereon the separate charges for each service, and the total combined water and sewer bill shall be paid as hereinafter provided, and it may be permissible to accept the payment of less than the amount of the combined bill. (c) All water and sanitary sewer bills shall be due monthly and shall be paid to the city clerk at the city hall, and the failure of any consumer to pay his combined water and sanitary sewer bill within fourteen (14) business days after the bill date shall constitute default and incur a late fee of five dollars ($5.00). The public works department may shut off and discontinue all water service to any consumer who fails to pay his combined water and sanitary sewer bills within such time. The deposits provided for herein shall not be used in automatic settlement of current water and sanitary sewer bills, but shall be applied only in payment of past due water and sanitary sewer bills in cases where default has been made and water supply has been shut off by reason of, default. No further water service shall be supplied to any consumer in default until all past due bills and the charge hereafter provided have been paid in full and total amount of the deposits required hereunder has been reestablished. A collection fee, as allowed by law, may be made for the special handling of each bad check. An additional collection fee may be added to any consumer's bill each time it is necessary that a city employee or bill collector employed or retained by the city must call upon such customer or otherwise make an effort to collect a bill more than thirty (30) days delinquent. (d) Hold agreements: Once a final notice has been issued on an account the entire amount is due. No "hold" will be placed on delinquent accounts except under the following circumstances. If a customer has extenuating circumstances, such as a death in the family, the loss of a job or illness, which will prevent full payment before the cutoff date, the customer or his/her official designee may come to the office and request payment arrangements, hereinafter described as a "hold" agreement. No "hold" agreement will be made over the phone. The customer or his/her official designee must appear in person at the department's business office to sign the "hold" agreement. The director or his designee shall have the discretion to make or refuse such a "hold" agreement based upon the extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis, considering each customer's prior request(s) for such an agreement and any prior abuse of the system by that customer. The following minimum guidelines will be used in determining payment arrangements, if any: (a) length of time account has been established, (b) date of last payment, and (c) payment history. Any member of the department's business office staff is authorized to enter into a "hold" agreement for accounts up to seventy-five dollars ($75.00) and up to ten (10) days past the due date. Any request for the extension of such an agreement past the initial ten-day period or respecting an amount in excess of seventy-five dollars ($75.00), must receive prior approval by the director or his designee. If the customer does not perform the "hold" agreement as promised, penalties and service charges as otherwise outlined in this chapter shall apply. (Code 1962, § 25-64; Ord. No. 3612, § 28, 8-4-81; Ord. No. 3955, § 24, 5-18-93; Ord. No. 4194, 9-18-01; Ord. No. 4383, § 5, 4-5-11; Ord. No. 4440, § 1, 6-17-14; Ord. No. 4454, § 1, 3-5-15)

Source: City of Meridian, Mississippi, Code of Ordinances (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/ms/meridian/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH25WASE_ARTIIRA_S25-44WHBIDUPADISEDEFetched: 11/1/2026