§ 3.14.020. General provisions.

User fees, rates and charges are adopted by the Board and incorporated in the District Code as follows:

Water (Portable)	Chapter 4.08
Recycled Water	Chapter 4.16
Wastewater	Chapter 5.08

 

A.

Utility Rates. CVWD levies utility rates for water, wastewater, and recycled water services. Except in limited circumstances, these rates are not adjusted or reversed.

B.

Customer Service Fees and Charges. CVWD collects customer utility user fees and charges which include a reconnection charge, refund charge, extension charge, delinquent charge, termination notice charge, meter replacement, drought penalties, and/or meter testing charge.

From time-to-time, on a case-by-case basis, when it is in the best interest of the District, user fees may be adjusted or reversed due to extraordinary or unique circumstances and/or to encourage good will with customers. Staff shall follow the authorization table (subsection F) for such adjustments. Staff's authority to grant an adjustment or reversal shall be limited as specifically set forth in this Policy and the attached table.

C.

Engineering Fees and Charges. CVWD collects engineering fees and charges. Examples of the types of charges which are currently in effect, and which relate to new or existing development, include charges for utility research, easements, photocopy, cross-connection, industrial waste, plan check, inspection, fire flow tests, and temporary water services. Under extraordinary or unique occurrences, these fees may be adjusted in accordance with the authorization table (subsection F).

Under no circumstances will CVWD water, wastewater, and/or recycled water capital capacity fees be adjusted. The adjustment or application of credits for Other Agency Fees is addressed in Section 3.

D.

Related Party Adjustments. Under no circumstances may an employee authorize a payment extension, adjustment of utility user fee/charge, or adjustment/credit of an engineering fee relating to the following: (1) their own account, (2) another employee's account, (3) an ex-employee's account, or (4) a related party's account. In addition, Customer Service employees should not process or tender their own payments.

A related party includes, but is not limited to family members, business associates, affiliates, neighbors and social acquaintances. Any related party adjustments, credits, and reversals must be approved in accordance with the authorization table (subsection F) by a manager or higher level employee who has no such relationship with the customer making the request.

E.

Daily Review of Adjustments. The Customer Service Supervisor and/or the Accounting Supervisor will review the daily utility adjustment posting register to ensure compliance with this policy.

F.

Authorization Table. The following table provides approval levels for adjustments and/or fee reversals. The adjustments, credits or reversals may not be split into separate transactions to circumvent these authorization levels.

All adjustments or fee reversals exceeding seventy-five dollars ($75.00) must be documented in writing on an Authorization Form showing justification for the credit with the corresponding approval in accordance with this authorization table. Approved Authorization Forms for utility fees and charges shall be scanned and attached to the customer's account database for future reference and documentation. Unless approved by the Customer Service Supervisor or Manager, no customer shall receive an adjustment/reversal under this Policy within twelve (12) months from the date of a previous adjustment/reversal granted to said customer.

Maximum Adjustment/Reversal Amount	Approval Level
$25	Customer Service Representative
$75	Lead Customer Service Representative Lead Engineering Technician
$150	Supervisor
$250	Manager
$750	Director
$1,000	Assistant General Manager
$10,000	General Manager/CEO
$10,000+	Board of Directors

 

(Res. No. 2018-7-3 , § 1(Exh. A), 7-24-2018)