Action for Unpaid Sewer or Wastewater Utility Fees or Assessments
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In addition to § 7-35-201, upon approval by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the legislative body, any municipality having a municipal sanitary sewer system may enforce the payment of fees or assessments charged for sewer or wastewater disposal utility services by filing an action in the same manner and with the same penalties and interest attached as provided for the enforcement of unpaid taxes pursuant to title 67, including the sale or execution of such property as provided in title 26, chapter 5, and the redemption provisions of title 66, chapter 8. Such action may be taken only once every calendar year by the municipal sanitary sewer system for unpaid sewer or wastewater utility fees or assessments. The municipal sanitary sewer system shall be required to give notice to the property owner, if different from the service user, not less than ninety (90) days prior to the filing of any action, which would include levying on the real property. Such notice shall be mailed to the last known address of the property owner as contained on the tax records of the county where the property is located, and shall include the amount of the unpaid fee or assessment for sewer or wastewater disposal services, together with penalties and interest. The notice shall also contain a statement to the effect that, unless the payments are brought up to date, a lien will attach to the property and an action will be filed pursuant to title 67. The municipal sanitary sewer system shall bear the reasonable costs incurred by a property owner in defending such an action due to an error in the records or fees of the system for the provision of such sewer or wastewater disposal services.
As used in this section, “municipality” means a municipality having a population of:
Not less than eight hundred ninety (890) nor more than nine hundred (900), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census; and
Not less than five hundred thirty (530) nor more than five hundred forty (540) that is located in a county having a population of not less than thirty-one thousand seven hundred one (31,701) nor more than thirty-one thousand eight hundred seven (31,807), according to the 2010 federal census or any subsequent federal census.