§ 21-118.4. Certain additional powers of governing body.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, when an order has been enteredcreating a sanitary district in such county, the board of supervisors orother governing body hereinafter referred to as "board of supervisors,"shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to such powers andduties created by any law, subject to the conditions and limitationshereinafter prescribed:
(a) To construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operatemotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbagedisposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems, for the use and benefit of thepublic in such sanitary district and as to such motor vehicle parking lotssystems to make such charges for the use of such facilities as may beprescribed by said board or body;
(a1) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate, or to contract for suchacquisition, construction, maintenance and operation, within such sanitarydistrict, such community buildings, community centers, other recreationalfacilities and advisory community planning councils as the board may deemexpedient or advisable, and to make such charges for the use of suchfacilities as may be prescribed by the board;
(b) To acquire by gift, condemnation, purchase, lease or otherwise, and tomaintain and operate any such motor vehicle parking lots, water supply,drainage, sewerage, garbage disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks,curbs, gutters, streets and street name signs and fire-fighting systems insuch district;
(c) To contract with any person, firm, corporation, municipality, county,authority or the federal government or any agency thereof to acquire,construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operate any suchmotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbage removaland disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems in such district, and to acceptthe funds of, or to reimburse from any available source, such person, firm,corporation, municipality, county, authority or the federal government or anyagency thereof for either the whole or any part of the costs, expenses andcharges incident to the acquisition, construction, reconstruction,maintenance, alteration, improvement, addition to and operation of any suchsystem or systems;
(d) To require owners or tenants of any property in the district to connectwith any such system or systems, and to contract with the owners or tenantsfor such connections. In order to require owners or tenants of any propertyin the district to connect with any such system or systems, the board ofsupervisors shall have power and authority to adopt ordinances so requiringowners or tenants to connect with such systems, and to use the same, and theboard of supervisors shall have power to provide for a punishment in theordinance of not exceeding a fifty-dollar fine for each failure and refusalto so connect with such systems, or to use the same. Before adopting any suchordinance the board of supervisors shall give public notice of the intentionto propose the same for passage by posting handbill notices of such proposalin three or more public places in the sanitary district at least ten daysprior to the time the ordinance shall be proposed for passage. The ordinanceshall not become effective after its passage until ten days' like notice hasbeen given by posting copies of such ordinance in three or more public placesin the district. The board of supervisors, in lieu of giving notice in suchmanner, may cause notice to be published in the manner provided in §15.2-1427 for imposing or increasing any tax or levy. Violations of suchordinances shall be tried before the county court of the county as isprovided for trial of misdemeanors, and with like right of appeal;
(e) To fix and prescribe or change the rates of charge for the use of anysuch system or systems, the rate of charge for connection to any such systemor systems, a late charge not to exceed ten percent of the amount due or tendollars, whichever is the greater, and interest on outstanding bills at therate provided for in § 58.1-3918, after a public hearing upon notice asprovided in subdivision (d) and to provide for the collection of suchcharges. In fixing such rates the sanitary district may seek the advice ofthe State Corporation Commission. The Commission may charge the district areasonable fee for any advice given pursuant to this section. The board ofsupervisors may provide for the exemption from, deferral of or reduction ofthe rates of charge for the use of any garbage disposal system or systems bypersons at least sixty-five years of age or persons permanently and totallydisabled as defined in § 58.1-3217. Any such exemptions, deferrals orreductions may be conditioned upon only the income criteria as provided by §58.1-3211. And to enable the board to enforce the collection of charges forthe use of any such system against the person or persons, firm or corporationusing the same, the charges when made for the use of any such system shall becollectible by distress, levy, garnishment, attachment or otherwise withoutrecourse to court procedure, except so far as the selected procedure mayrequire the same. And the board shall have power to designate as its agentfor the purpose of collection such officer or officers, person or persons asit may determine, and the officer or officers, person or persons shall bevested with the same power and authority as a sheriff or constable may havein like procedure.
Water and sewer connection fees established by any county, city, town orsanitary district shall be fair and reasonable. Such fees shall be reviewedby the county, city, town or sanitary district periodically and shall beadjusted, if necessary, to assure that they continue to be fair andreasonable. Nothing herein shall affect existing contracts with bondholderswhich are in conflict with any of the foregoing provisions.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use of and for the services furnishedby any system acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under theprovisions of this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after thesame shall become due and payable, and the person who incurred the debt isthe occupant of such premises, the board may at the expiration of suchthirty-day period disconnect the premises from the water and/or sewer system,or otherwise suspend services and the board may proceed to recover the amountof any such delinquent rates, fees or charges, with interest, in a civilaction.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use and services of any water or sewersystem acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under the provisionsof this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after the same becomesdue and payable, the occupant-debtor of such premises shall cease to disposeof sewage or industrial wastes originating from or on such premises bydischarge thereof directly or indirectly into the sewer system until suchrates, fees or charges with interest, shall be paid. If such occupant-debtordoes not cease such disposal at the expiration of such thirty-day period, thepolitical subdivision or district or other public corporation, board, or bodysupplying water to or selling water for use on such premises may, within fivedays after the receipt of notice of such delinquency, cease to supply waterto or to sell water to such occupant-debtor. If such political subdivision ordistrict or public corporation, board or body shall not, at the expiration ofsuch five-day period, cease supplying water to or selling water for use bysuch occupant-debtor, then the governing body within whose geographicalboundaries such sanitary district lies may shut off the supply of water tosuch person.
The water supply to or for any occupant-debtor shall not be shut off orstopped under the provisions of this section, if the State HealthCommissioner, upon application of the local board of health or health officerof the county, city or town wherein such water is supplied or such realestate is located, shall have found and shall certify to the authoritiescharged with the responsibility of ceasing to supply or sell such water, orto shut off the supply of such water, that ceasing to supply or shutting offsuch water supply will endanger the health of such person or the health ofothers in such county, city or town.
Any unpaid charge shall become a lien superior to the interest of any owner,lessee or tenant, and next in succession to county taxes, on the realproperty on which the use of any such system was made and for which thecharge was imposed. However, such lien shall not bind or affect a subsequentbona fide purchaser of such real estate for valuable consideration withoutactual notice of such lien, except and until from the time that the amount ofsuch charge is entered in the Judgment Lien Docket kept in the office wheredeeds may be recorded in the political subdivision wherein the real estate ora part thereof is located. It shall be the duty of the clerk in whose officedeeds may be recorded to keep and preserve and hold available for publicinspection such Judgment Lien Docket and to cause entries to be made andindexed therein from time to time upon certification by the board for whichhe shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars per entry to be paid by theboard and added to the amount of the lien.
No such lien shall be placed by the board unless the board or its billing andcollection agent (i) shall have advised the owner of such real estate at thetime of initiating service to a lessee or tenant of such real estate that alien will be placed on such real estate if the lessee or tenant fails to payany fees, rents or other charges when due for services rendered to suchlessee or tenant; (ii) shall have mailed to the owner of such real estate aduplicate copy of the final bill rendered to such lessee or tenant at thetime of rendering the final bill to such lessee or tenant; and (iii) shallemploy the same collection efforts and practices to collect amounts due theboard from a lessee or a tenant as are employed with respect to collection ofsuch amounts due from customers who are owners of the real estate for whichservice is provided.
Such lien on any real estate may be discharged by the payment to the board ofthe total amount of such lien, and interest accrued thereon to the date ofsuch payment, and the entry fee of two dollars, and it shall be the duty ofthe board to deliver a certificate thereof to the person paying the same, andupon presentation thereof and the payment of the further fee of one dollar bysuch person, the clerk having the record of such lien shall mark the entry ofsuch lien satisfied.
Jurisdiction to enforce any such lien shall be in equity and the court maydecree the real estate subject to the lien, or any part thereof, to be soldand the proceeds applied to the payment of such lien and the interest whichmay accrue to the date of such payment.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prejudice the right of theboard to recover the amount of such lien, or of the charge, and the interestwhich may accrue, by action at law or otherwise, which relief shall becumulative and not alternative;
(f) To employ and fix the compensation of any technical, clerical, or otherforce and help which from time to time, in their judgment, may be deemednecessary for the construction, operation or maintenance of any such systemor systems;
(g) To negotiate and contract with any person, firm, corporation, county,authority or municipality with regard to the connection of any system orsystems with any other system or systems now in operation or hereafter to beestablished, and with regard to any other matter necessary and proper for theconstruction or operation and maintenance of any such system within thesanitary district;
(h) To contract for the extension of any such system into territory outsideof the district, and for the use thereof, upon such terms and conditions asthe board may from time to time determine upon;
(i) With respect to the maintenance and operation of said motor vehicleparking lots system, the board is authorized to purchase, install, maintainand operate, and to fix and charge parking meter fees for the use of, suchparking lot or lots;
(j) Insofar as is permitted by Article VIII, Section 5 and Article VIII,Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia, to construct or contract toconstruct within such sanitary district, at the request of the school boardand subject to all provisions of law applicable to the construction of schoolbuildings, and additions thereto;
(k) To borrow not earlier than January 1 of any year, or the first day of thefiscal year of the district, for the purpose of meeting casual deficits inthe revenue of the district or creating a debt in anticipation of thecollection of the revenue of the district, a sum of money not to exceedone-half of the amount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenuesof the district, including taxes levied pursuant to § 21-119, for the year inwhich the loan is negotiated; provided, there shall be excluded from theamount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenue of the districtany anticipated tax revenues of the district which have not actually beenlevied and assessed against property within the district.
Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, any sanitary districtis empowered to borrow in advance of grants and reimbursements due thedistrict from the federal and state governments for the purpose of meetingappropriations for the then current fiscal year. "Grants" and"reimbursements" as used herein shall mean grants which the district hasbeen formally advised in writing it will receive, and reimbursements onmoneys which the federal or state governments are obligated to pay thedistrict on account of expenditures made in anticipation of receiving suchpayment from the federal or state government. The district may borrow thefull amount of the grant or reimbursement that the federal or stategovernment is obligated to pay at the time the loan is issued. The loan shallbe repaid within sixty days of the time the grant or reimbursement isreceived, but in any event, the loan shall be repaid within one year from thedate of its issue.
Such temporary loans shall be evidenced by notes or bonds, negotiable ornonnegotiable as the board of supervisors may determine; shall bear interestat a rate as provided in § 2.2-5000; and shall be repaid not later thaneither December 15 of the year in which they are borrowed or fifteen daysbefore the last day of the fiscal year of the district. No extension of anysuch loan shall be valid. No additional loan under this subsection shall bemade until all temporary loans of preceding years shall have been paid. Noelection shall be required for the issuance of any bond pursuant to theprovisions of this subsection. Except as this subsection otherwise provides,any bonds issued pursuant to this subsection may be issued in accordance withthe provisions of §§ 21-130 through 21-136;
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary,where the use of any water or sewer systems described in this section iscontracted for by an occupant who is not the owner of the premises and wheresuch occupant's premises are separately metered for service, the owner of anysuch premises shall be liable only for the payment of delinquent rates orcharges applicable to three delinquent billing periods but not to exceed aperiod of ninety days for such delinquency. No board shall refuse to serviceother premises of the owner not occupied by an occupant who is delinquent inthe payment of such rates or charges on account of such delinquency providedthat such owner has paid in full any delinquent charges for which he would beresponsible for paying. No board shall refuse to service or unreasonablydelay reinstatement of service to premises where such occupant who isdelinquent has vacated the premises and a new party has applied for serviceprovided such owner has paid in full such delinquent charges as he would beresponsible for paying.
(1962, c. 571; 1964, c. 517; 1970, c. 674; 1975, cc. 251, 490; 1976, c. 684;1977, c. 516; 1981, cc. 554, 563, 564; 1982, c. 447; 1983, c. 422; 1994, c.432; 1997, c. 12; 2000, c. 230.)
§ 21-118.4. Certain additional powers of governing body.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, when an order has been enteredcreating a sanitary district in such county, the board of supervisors orother governing body hereinafter referred to as "board of supervisors,"shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to such powers andduties created by any law, subject to the conditions and limitationshereinafter prescribed:
(a) To construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operatemotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbagedisposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems, for the use and benefit of thepublic in such sanitary district and as to such motor vehicle parking lotssystems to make such charges for the use of such facilities as may beprescribed by said board or body;
(a1) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate, or to contract for suchacquisition, construction, maintenance and operation, within such sanitarydistrict, such community buildings, community centers, other recreationalfacilities and advisory community planning councils as the board may deemexpedient or advisable, and to make such charges for the use of suchfacilities as may be prescribed by the board;
(b) To acquire by gift, condemnation, purchase, lease or otherwise, and tomaintain and operate any such motor vehicle parking lots, water supply,drainage, sewerage, garbage disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks,curbs, gutters, streets and street name signs and fire-fighting systems insuch district;
(c) To contract with any person, firm, corporation, municipality, county,authority or the federal government or any agency thereof to acquire,construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operate any suchmotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbage removaland disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems in such district, and to acceptthe funds of, or to reimburse from any available source, such person, firm,corporation, municipality, county, authority or the federal government or anyagency thereof for either the whole or any part of the costs, expenses andcharges incident to the acquisition, construction, reconstruction,maintenance, alteration, improvement, addition to and operation of any suchsystem or systems;
(d) To require owners or tenants of any property in the district to connectwith any such system or systems, and to contract with the owners or tenantsfor such connections. In order to require owners or tenants of any propertyin the district to connect with any such system or systems, the board ofsupervisors shall have power and authority to adopt ordinances so requiringowners or tenants to connect with such systems, and to use the same, and theboard of supervisors shall have power to provide for a punishment in theordinance of not exceeding a fifty-dollar fine for each failure and refusalto so connect with such systems, or to use the same. Before adopting any suchordinance the board of supervisors shall give public notice of the intentionto propose the same for passage by posting handbill notices of such proposalin three or more public places in the sanitary district at least ten daysprior to the time the ordinance shall be proposed for passage. The ordinanceshall not become effective after its passage until ten days' like notice hasbeen given by posting copies of such ordinance in three or more public placesin the district. The board of supervisors, in lieu of giving notice in suchmanner, may cause notice to be published in the manner provided in §15.2-1427 for imposing or increasing any tax or levy. Violations of suchordinances shall be tried before the county court of the county as isprovided for trial of misdemeanors, and with like right of appeal;
(e) To fix and prescribe or change the rates of charge for the use of anysuch system or systems, the rate of charge for connection to any such systemor systems, a late charge not to exceed ten percent of the amount due or tendollars, whichever is the greater, and interest on outstanding bills at therate provided for in § 58.1-3918, after a public hearing upon notice asprovided in subdivision (d) and to provide for the collection of suchcharges. In fixing such rates the sanitary district may seek the advice ofthe State Corporation Commission. The Commission may charge the district areasonable fee for any advice given pursuant to this section. The board ofsupervisors may provide for the exemption from, deferral of or reduction ofthe rates of charge for the use of any garbage disposal system or systems bypersons at least sixty-five years of age or persons permanently and totallydisabled as defined in § 58.1-3217. Any such exemptions, deferrals orreductions may be conditioned upon only the income criteria as provided by §58.1-3211. And to enable the board to enforce the collection of charges forthe use of any such system against the person or persons, firm or corporationusing the same, the charges when made for the use of any such system shall becollectible by distress, levy, garnishment, attachment or otherwise withoutrecourse to court procedure, except so far as the selected procedure mayrequire the same. And the board shall have power to designate as its agentfor the purpose of collection such officer or officers, person or persons asit may determine, and the officer or officers, person or persons shall bevested with the same power and authority as a sheriff or constable may havein like procedure.
Water and sewer connection fees established by any county, city, town orsanitary district shall be fair and reasonable. Such fees shall be reviewedby the county, city, town or sanitary district periodically and shall beadjusted, if necessary, to assure that they continue to be fair andreasonable. Nothing herein shall affect existing contracts with bondholderswhich are in conflict with any of the foregoing provisions.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use of and for the services furnishedby any system acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under theprovisions of this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after thesame shall become due and payable, and the person who incurred the debt isthe occupant of such premises, the board may at the expiration of suchthirty-day period disconnect the premises from the water and/or sewer system,or otherwise suspend services and the board may proceed to recover the amountof any such delinquent rates, fees or charges, with interest, in a civilaction.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use and services of any water or sewersystem acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under the provisionsof this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after the same becomesdue and payable, the occupant-debtor of such premises shall cease to disposeof sewage or industrial wastes originating from or on such premises bydischarge thereof directly or indirectly into the sewer system until suchrates, fees or charges with interest, shall be paid. If such occupant-debtordoes not cease such disposal at the expiration of such thirty-day period, thepolitical subdivision or district or other public corporation, board, or bodysupplying water to or selling water for use on such premises may, within fivedays after the receipt of notice of such delinquency, cease to supply waterto or to sell water to such occupant-debtor. If such political subdivision ordistrict or public corporation, board or body shall not, at the expiration ofsuch five-day period, cease supplying water to or selling water for use bysuch occupant-debtor, then the governing body within whose geographicalboundaries such sanitary district lies may shut off the supply of water tosuch person.
The water supply to or for any occupant-debtor shall not be shut off orstopped under the provisions of this section, if the State HealthCommissioner, upon application of the local board of health or health officerof the county, city or town wherein such water is supplied or such realestate is located, shall have found and shall certify to the authoritiescharged with the responsibility of ceasing to supply or sell such water, orto shut off the supply of such water, that ceasing to supply or shutting offsuch water supply will endanger the health of such person or the health ofothers in such county, city or town.
Any unpaid charge shall become a lien superior to the interest of any owner,lessee or tenant, and next in succession to county taxes, on the realproperty on which the use of any such system was made and for which thecharge was imposed. However, such lien shall not bind or affect a subsequentbona fide purchaser of such real estate for valuable consideration withoutactual notice of such lien, except and until from the time that the amount ofsuch charge is entered in the Judgment Lien Docket kept in the office wheredeeds may be recorded in the political subdivision wherein the real estate ora part thereof is located. It shall be the duty of the clerk in whose officedeeds may be recorded to keep and preserve and hold available for publicinspection such Judgment Lien Docket and to cause entries to be made andindexed therein from time to time upon certification by the board for whichhe shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars per entry to be paid by theboard and added to the amount of the lien.
No such lien shall be placed by the board unless the board or its billing andcollection agent (i) shall have advised the owner of such real estate at thetime of initiating service to a lessee or tenant of such real estate that alien will be placed on such real estate if the lessee or tenant fails to payany fees, rents or other charges when due for services rendered to suchlessee or tenant; (ii) shall have mailed to the owner of such real estate aduplicate copy of the final bill rendered to such lessee or tenant at thetime of rendering the final bill to such lessee or tenant; and (iii) shallemploy the same collection efforts and practices to collect amounts due theboard from a lessee or a tenant as are employed with respect to collection ofsuch amounts due from customers who are owners of the real estate for whichservice is provided.
Such lien on any real estate may be discharged by the payment to the board ofthe total amount of such lien, and interest accrued thereon to the date ofsuch payment, and the entry fee of two dollars, and it shall be the duty ofthe board to deliver a certificate thereof to the person paying the same, andupon presentation thereof and the payment of the further fee of one dollar bysuch person, the clerk having the record of such lien shall mark the entry ofsuch lien satisfied.
Jurisdiction to enforce any such lien shall be in equity and the court maydecree the real estate subject to the lien, or any part thereof, to be soldand the proceeds applied to the payment of such lien and the interest whichmay accrue to the date of such payment.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prejudice the right of theboard to recover the amount of such lien, or of the charge, and the interestwhich may accrue, by action at law or otherwise, which relief shall becumulative and not alternative;
(f) To employ and fix the compensation of any technical, clerical, or otherforce and help which from time to time, in their judgment, may be deemednecessary for the construction, operation or maintenance of any such systemor systems;
(g) To negotiate and contract with any person, firm, corporation, county,authority or municipality with regard to the connection of any system orsystems with any other system or systems now in operation or hereafter to beestablished, and with regard to any other matter necessary and proper for theconstruction or operation and maintenance of any such system within thesanitary district;
(h) To contract for the extension of any such system into territory outsideof the district, and for the use thereof, upon such terms and conditions asthe board may from time to time determine upon;
(i) With respect to the maintenance and operation of said motor vehicleparking lots system, the board is authorized to purchase, install, maintainand operate, and to fix and charge parking meter fees for the use of, suchparking lot or lots;
(j) Insofar as is permitted by Article VIII, Section 5 and Article VIII,Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia, to construct or contract toconstruct within such sanitary district, at the request of the school boardand subject to all provisions of law applicable to the construction of schoolbuildings, and additions thereto;
(k) To borrow not earlier than January 1 of any year, or the first day of thefiscal year of the district, for the purpose of meeting casual deficits inthe revenue of the district or creating a debt in anticipation of thecollection of the revenue of the district, a sum of money not to exceedone-half of the amount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenuesof the district, including taxes levied pursuant to § 21-119, for the year inwhich the loan is negotiated; provided, there shall be excluded from theamount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenue of the districtany anticipated tax revenues of the district which have not actually beenlevied and assessed against property within the district.
Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, any sanitary districtis empowered to borrow in advance of grants and reimbursements due thedistrict from the federal and state governments for the purpose of meetingappropriations for the then current fiscal year. "Grants" and"reimbursements" as used herein shall mean grants which the district hasbeen formally advised in writing it will receive, and reimbursements onmoneys which the federal or state governments are obligated to pay thedistrict on account of expenditures made in anticipation of receiving suchpayment from the federal or state government. The district may borrow thefull amount of the grant or reimbursement that the federal or stategovernment is obligated to pay at the time the loan is issued. The loan shallbe repaid within sixty days of the time the grant or reimbursement isreceived, but in any event, the loan shall be repaid within one year from thedate of its issue.
Such temporary loans shall be evidenced by notes or bonds, negotiable ornonnegotiable as the board of supervisors may determine; shall bear interestat a rate as provided in § 2.2-5000; and shall be repaid not later thaneither December 15 of the year in which they are borrowed or fifteen daysbefore the last day of the fiscal year of the district. No extension of anysuch loan shall be valid. No additional loan under this subsection shall bemade until all temporary loans of preceding years shall have been paid. Noelection shall be required for the issuance of any bond pursuant to theprovisions of this subsection. Except as this subsection otherwise provides,any bonds issued pursuant to this subsection may be issued in accordance withthe provisions of §§ 21-130 through 21-136;
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary,where the use of any water or sewer systems described in this section iscontracted for by an occupant who is not the owner of the premises and wheresuch occupant's premises are separately metered for service, the owner of anysuch premises shall be liable only for the payment of delinquent rates orcharges applicable to three delinquent billing periods but not to exceed aperiod of ninety days for such delinquency. No board shall refuse to serviceother premises of the owner not occupied by an occupant who is delinquent inthe payment of such rates or charges on account of such delinquency providedthat such owner has paid in full any delinquent charges for which he would beresponsible for paying. No board shall refuse to service or unreasonablydelay reinstatement of service to premises where such occupant who isdelinquent has vacated the premises and a new party has applied for serviceprovided such owner has paid in full such delinquent charges as he would beresponsible for paying.
(1962, c. 571; 1964, c. 517; 1970, c. 674; 1975, cc. 251, 490; 1976, c. 684;1977, c. 516; 1981, cc. 554, 563, 564; 1982, c. 447; 1983, c. 422; 1994, c.432; 1997, c. 12; 2000, c. 230.)
§ 21-118.4. Certain additional powers of governing body.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, when an order has been enteredcreating a sanitary district in such county, the board of supervisors orother governing body hereinafter referred to as "board of supervisors,"shall have the following powers and duties, in addition to such powers andduties created by any law, subject to the conditions and limitationshereinafter prescribed:
(a) To construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operatemotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbagedisposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems, for the use and benefit of thepublic in such sanitary district and as to such motor vehicle parking lotssystems to make such charges for the use of such facilities as may beprescribed by said board or body;
(a1) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate, or to contract for suchacquisition, construction, maintenance and operation, within such sanitarydistrict, such community buildings, community centers, other recreationalfacilities and advisory community planning councils as the board may deemexpedient or advisable, and to make such charges for the use of suchfacilities as may be prescribed by the board;
(b) To acquire by gift, condemnation, purchase, lease or otherwise, and tomaintain and operate any such motor vehicle parking lots, water supply,drainage, sewerage, garbage disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks,curbs, gutters, streets and street name signs and fire-fighting systems insuch district;
(c) To contract with any person, firm, corporation, municipality, county,authority or the federal government or any agency thereof to acquire,construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operate any suchmotor vehicle parking lots, water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbage removaland disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets andstreet name signs and fire-fighting systems in such district, and to acceptthe funds of, or to reimburse from any available source, such person, firm,corporation, municipality, county, authority or the federal government or anyagency thereof for either the whole or any part of the costs, expenses andcharges incident to the acquisition, construction, reconstruction,maintenance, alteration, improvement, addition to and operation of any suchsystem or systems;
(d) To require owners or tenants of any property in the district to connectwith any such system or systems, and to contract with the owners or tenantsfor such connections. In order to require owners or tenants of any propertyin the district to connect with any such system or systems, the board ofsupervisors shall have power and authority to adopt ordinances so requiringowners or tenants to connect with such systems, and to use the same, and theboard of supervisors shall have power to provide for a punishment in theordinance of not exceeding a fifty-dollar fine for each failure and refusalto so connect with such systems, or to use the same. Before adopting any suchordinance the board of supervisors shall give public notice of the intentionto propose the same for passage by posting handbill notices of such proposalin three or more public places in the sanitary district at least ten daysprior to the time the ordinance shall be proposed for passage. The ordinanceshall not become effective after its passage until ten days' like notice hasbeen given by posting copies of such ordinance in three or more public placesin the district. The board of supervisors, in lieu of giving notice in suchmanner, may cause notice to be published in the manner provided in §15.2-1427 for imposing or increasing any tax or levy. Violations of suchordinances shall be tried before the county court of the county as isprovided for trial of misdemeanors, and with like right of appeal;
(e) To fix and prescribe or change the rates of charge for the use of anysuch system or systems, the rate of charge for connection to any such systemor systems, a late charge not to exceed ten percent of the amount due or tendollars, whichever is the greater, and interest on outstanding bills at therate provided for in § 58.1-3918, after a public hearing upon notice asprovided in subdivision (d) and to provide for the collection of suchcharges. In fixing such rates the sanitary district may seek the advice ofthe State Corporation Commission. The Commission may charge the district areasonable fee for any advice given pursuant to this section. The board ofsupervisors may provide for the exemption from, deferral of or reduction ofthe rates of charge for the use of any garbage disposal system or systems bypersons at least sixty-five years of age or persons permanently and totallydisabled as defined in § 58.1-3217. Any such exemptions, deferrals orreductions may be conditioned upon only the income criteria as provided by §58.1-3211. And to enable the board to enforce the collection of charges forthe use of any such system against the person or persons, firm or corporationusing the same, the charges when made for the use of any such system shall becollectible by distress, levy, garnishment, attachment or otherwise withoutrecourse to court procedure, except so far as the selected procedure mayrequire the same. And the board shall have power to designate as its agentfor the purpose of collection such officer or officers, person or persons asit may determine, and the officer or officers, person or persons shall bevested with the same power and authority as a sheriff or constable may havein like procedure.
Water and sewer connection fees established by any county, city, town orsanitary district shall be fair and reasonable. Such fees shall be reviewedby the county, city, town or sanitary district periodically and shall beadjusted, if necessary, to assure that they continue to be fair andreasonable. Nothing herein shall affect existing contracts with bondholderswhich are in conflict with any of the foregoing provisions.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use of and for the services furnishedby any system acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under theprovisions of this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after thesame shall become due and payable, and the person who incurred the debt isthe occupant of such premises, the board may at the expiration of suchthirty-day period disconnect the premises from the water and/or sewer system,or otherwise suspend services and the board may proceed to recover the amountof any such delinquent rates, fees or charges, with interest, in a civilaction.
If any rates, fees or charges for the use and services of any water or sewersystem acquired or constructed by the sanitary district under the provisionsof this chapter shall not be paid within thirty days after the same becomesdue and payable, the occupant-debtor of such premises shall cease to disposeof sewage or industrial wastes originating from or on such premises bydischarge thereof directly or indirectly into the sewer system until suchrates, fees or charges with interest, shall be paid. If such occupant-debtordoes not cease such disposal at the expiration of such thirty-day period, thepolitical subdivision or district or other public corporation, board, or bodysupplying water to or selling water for use on such premises may, within fivedays after the receipt of notice of such delinquency, cease to supply waterto or to sell water to such occupant-debtor. If such political subdivision ordistrict or public corporation, board or body shall not, at the expiration ofsuch five-day period, cease supplying water to or selling water for use bysuch occupant-debtor, then the governing body within whose geographicalboundaries such sanitary district lies may shut off the supply of water tosuch person.
The water supply to or for any occupant-debtor shall not be shut off orstopped under the provisions of this section, if the State HealthCommissioner, upon application of the local board of health or health officerof the county, city or town wherein such water is supplied or such realestate is located, shall have found and shall certify to the authoritiescharged with the responsibility of ceasing to supply or sell such water, orto shut off the supply of such water, that ceasing to supply or shutting offsuch water supply will endanger the health of such person or the health ofothers in such county, city or town.
Any unpaid charge shall become a lien superior to the interest of any owner,lessee or tenant, and next in succession to county taxes, on the realproperty on which the use of any such system was made and for which thecharge was imposed. However, such lien shall not bind or affect a subsequentbona fide purchaser of such real estate for valuable consideration withoutactual notice of such lien, except and until from the time that the amount ofsuch charge is entered in the Judgment Lien Docket kept in the office wheredeeds may be recorded in the political subdivision wherein the real estate ora part thereof is located. It shall be the duty of the clerk in whose officedeeds may be recorded to keep and preserve and hold available for publicinspection such Judgment Lien Docket and to cause entries to be made andindexed therein from time to time upon certification by the board for whichhe shall be entitled to a fee of five dollars per entry to be paid by theboard and added to the amount of the lien.
No such lien shall be placed by the board unless the board or its billing andcollection agent (i) shall have advised the owner of such real estate at thetime of initiating service to a lessee or tenant of such real estate that alien will be placed on such real estate if the lessee or tenant fails to payany fees, rents or other charges when due for services rendered to suchlessee or tenant; (ii) shall have mailed to the owner of such real estate aduplicate copy of the final bill rendered to such lessee or tenant at thetime of rendering the final bill to such lessee or tenant; and (iii) shallemploy the same collection efforts and practices to collect amounts due theboard from a lessee or a tenant as are employed with respect to collection ofsuch amounts due from customers who are owners of the real estate for whichservice is provided.
Such lien on any real estate may be discharged by the payment to the board ofthe total amount of such lien, and interest accrued thereon to the date ofsuch payment, and the entry fee of two dollars, and it shall be the duty ofthe board to deliver a certificate thereof to the person paying the same, andupon presentation thereof and the payment of the further fee of one dollar bysuch person, the clerk having the record of such lien shall mark the entry ofsuch lien satisfied.
Jurisdiction to enforce any such lien shall be in equity and the court maydecree the real estate subject to the lien, or any part thereof, to be soldand the proceeds applied to the payment of such lien and the interest whichmay accrue to the date of such payment.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prejudice the right of theboard to recover the amount of such lien, or of the charge, and the interestwhich may accrue, by action at law or otherwise, which relief shall becumulative and not alternative;
(f) To employ and fix the compensation of any technical, clerical, or otherforce and help which from time to time, in their judgment, may be deemednecessary for the construction, operation or maintenance of any such systemor systems;
(g) To negotiate and contract with any person, firm, corporation, county,authority or municipality with regard to the connection of any system orsystems with any other system or systems now in operation or hereafter to beestablished, and with regard to any other matter necessary and proper for theconstruction or operation and maintenance of any such system within thesanitary district;
(h) To contract for the extension of any such system into territory outsideof the district, and for the use thereof, upon such terms and conditions asthe board may from time to time determine upon;
(i) With respect to the maintenance and operation of said motor vehicleparking lots system, the board is authorized to purchase, install, maintainand operate, and to fix and charge parking meter fees for the use of, suchparking lot or lots;
(j) Insofar as is permitted by Article VIII, Section 5 and Article VIII,Section 7 of the Constitution of Virginia, to construct or contract toconstruct within such sanitary district, at the request of the school boardand subject to all provisions of law applicable to the construction of schoolbuildings, and additions thereto;
(k) To borrow not earlier than January 1 of any year, or the first day of thefiscal year of the district, for the purpose of meeting casual deficits inthe revenue of the district or creating a debt in anticipation of thecollection of the revenue of the district, a sum of money not to exceedone-half of the amount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenuesof the district, including taxes levied pursuant to § 21-119, for the year inwhich the loan is negotiated; provided, there shall be excluded from theamount reasonably anticipated to be produced by the revenue of the districtany anticipated tax revenues of the district which have not actually beenlevied and assessed against property within the district.
Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, any sanitary districtis empowered to borrow in advance of grants and reimbursements due thedistrict from the federal and state governments for the purpose of meetingappropriations for the then current fiscal year. "Grants" and"reimbursements" as used herein shall mean grants which the district hasbeen formally advised in writing it will receive, and reimbursements onmoneys which the federal or state governments are obligated to pay thedistrict on account of expenditures made in anticipation of receiving suchpayment from the federal or state government. The district may borrow thefull amount of the grant or reimbursement that the federal or stategovernment is obligated to pay at the time the loan is issued. The loan shallbe repaid within sixty days of the time the grant or reimbursement isreceived, but in any event, the loan shall be repaid within one year from thedate of its issue.
Such temporary loans shall be evidenced by notes or bonds, negotiable ornonnegotiable as the board of supervisors may determine; shall bear interestat a rate as provided in § 2.2-5000; and shall be repaid not later thaneither December 15 of the year in which they are borrowed or fifteen daysbefore the last day of the fiscal year of the district. No extension of anysuch loan shall be valid. No additional loan under this subsection shall bemade until all temporary loans of preceding years shall have been paid. Noelection shall be required for the issuance of any bond pursuant to theprovisions of this subsection. Except as this subsection otherwise provides,any bonds issued pursuant to this subsection may be issued in accordance withthe provisions of §§ 21-130 through 21-136;
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary,where the use of any water or sewer systems described in this section iscontracted for by an occupant who is not the owner of the premises and wheresuch occupant's premises are separately metered for service, the owner of anysuch premises shall be liable only for the payment of delinquent rates orcharges applicable to three delinquent billing periods but not to exceed aperiod of ninety days for such delinquency. No board shall refuse to serviceother premises of the owner not occupied by an occupant who is delinquent inthe payment of such rates or charges on account of such delinquency providedthat such owner has paid in full any delinquent charges for which he would beresponsible for paying. No board shall refuse to service or unreasonablydelay reinstatement of service to premises where such occupant who isdelinquent has vacated the premises and a new party has applied for serviceprovided such owner has paid in full such delinquent charges as he would beresponsible for paying.
(1962, c. 571; 1964, c. 517; 1970, c. 674; 1975, cc. 251, 490; 1976, c. 684;1977, c. 516; 1981, cc. 554, 563, 564; 1982, c. 447; 1983, c. 422; 1994, c.432; 1997, c. 12; 2000, c. 230.)
