Title
Amending Title 19 of The Philadelphia Code (Finance, Taxes, and Collections), Chapter 1600 (Water and Sewer Rents), by providing for installment payment agreements, all under certain terms and conditions.
Body
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 19-1600 of The Philadelphia Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 1600. WATER AND SEWER RENTS.
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ยง19-1605. Limitation on Action to Enforce Collection; Income-Based Water Rate Assistance Program.
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(1) The Department may waive any claim for unpaid water, sewer and stormwater charges (also referred to in this Chapter as "water or sewer rent") after the expiration of 15 years following the year in which such charges become due.
(2) Definitions. For purposes of this Section 19-1605, each of the following terms has the meaning specified or referred to in this section:
(a) Customer means a natural person who (i) is receiving or (ii) is in the process of requesting or simultaneously requests to receive or restore service from the Water Department at such person's primary residence in Philadelphia. A person shall cease to qualify as a customer under the second category if his or her application for service is ultimately denied.
(b) Income shall have the same definition as for Section 19-1305.
(b.1) FPL means the Federal Poverty Level, as determined annually by the United States Census Bureau, or, at the discretion of the Revenue Department, roughly equivalent levels of income measured by Area Median Income, as determined annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Any limitations based on FPL may be translated into their rough equivalent in Area Median Income.
(c) IWRAP means the Income-Based Water Rate Assistance Program described in this section.
(d) Low-income shall be defined as inc...
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