*Authorize Bureau of Environmental Services to reimburse property owner at 6242 SE Carlton Street for sewer user fees in the amount of $5,490

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: Floyd Weisenberg (the Owner) has been the ratepayer at the property located at 6242 SE Carlton Street (the Property) since December 1, 1977. Since July 1, 1993, sewer user fees have been billed to Portland ratepayers who cause or permit the discharge of sanitary sewage from a property in their possession into sewer facilities owned or maintained by the City. The Owner was billed sewer user fees for the Property from July 1, 1993, until December 28, 2021. On or about February 15, 2020, the Owner discovered, through an inspection of the sanitary system on their property which was performed by a private contractor, that the property is not connected to the City sanitary sewer system. The Bureau of Environmental Services reviewed City plumbing records to confirm that the property is not connected to the City sanitary sewer system. The Owner paid sewer user fees for the Property, to the City, in an amount estimated to be $5,920 from July 1, 1993, to December 28, 2021. The Owner did not receive sanitary sewer service from the City for these user fees. City Code section 17.36.090.A. allows the Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services to authorize sewer adjustments for billing errors, limited to the most recent three years of billing from when the Bureau is notified of a billing error. The Bureau of Environmental Services issued a reimbursement of $430 to the Owner, for the three years of billed sewer users fees collected prior to notification of the error, on February 18, 2022. The remaining amount due is $5,490, with the refund occurring within the water/sewer billing system (Cayenta). Environmental Services will see a reduction in the usual daily revenue and cash for this transaction, with no budgetary expense occurring in BES’ cost elements. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs: The Bureau of Environmental Services to reimburse the Owner, Floyd Weisenberg, $5,490 in sewer user fees collected in error by the City, from the Owner, from July 1, 1993 to December 31, 2018. Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists in order to reimburse the Owner for funds that were collected in error; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.