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(a) Water service charges shall be due upon receipt of the statement
rendered by the county and shall be considered delinquent thirty (30) days following the
billing date. A late charge of ten (10) percent of the amount due or
ten dollars ($10.00),
whichever is greater, shall be added to all service charges when they are first considered
delinquent. Interest at the rate of ten (10) percent per annum shall be charged on the
aggregate of the payment and penalty due beginning with the date the penalty is applied.
If any bills shall not be paid within forty-five (45) days of the billing date, the water
supply to the premises shall be discontinued as provided for in section 22-115 of this
chapter.
(b) In lieu of discontinuing water service as provided for in paragraph
(a) of this section, the county administrator may enter into agreements by which the
owners of the premises for which bills for service are unpaid may be allowed to pay the
amount owed including the penalty and interest owed in installment payments, such
agreements to contain such other reasonable terms and conditions as may be necessary to
ensure payment, and to be approved as to form by the county attorney. Such agreements
shall provide that late payment of any installment payment or a failure to pay current
amounts due shall result in immediate discontinuance of the water supply to the premises.
(c) Any unpaid water connection fee or any installment thereof, or any
unpaid service charge, together with any penalty and interest, shall become a lien
superior to the interest of any owner, lessee, or tenant, and next in succession to county
taxes on the real estate benefitted by any such facilities. Such lien may be discharged by
payment to the county of the total amount of such lien, together with penalty and interest
accrued thereon to the date of payment. If any such charges remain unpaid for a period of
sixty (60) days from the billing date, the county administrator shall within thirty (30)
days certify such charges as being unpaid to the Clerk of the circuit court, who shall
docket the same in the appropriate lien books of the circuit court.