law19290

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

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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