UTILITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED FOR HOME OWNERS - Water Service Application Form

When moving into the Village of Carbon Cliff home owners are required to pay a Utility Deposit when filling out their Water Service Application Form.  Please contact the Village  Hall at 309-792-8235 to find out how much this fee is.  For your convenience you can fill out the form online and mail it to the Village Hall at the address listed above.  The utility deposit is returned to the home owner when one of the two conditions occurs:  (1) Eight billing cycles (or 2 years) have passed without any late penalties being charged to your account or (2) The home owner sells the property, in which case the deposit is deducted from the final bill.  In the event that the final bill is less than the deposit the remaining balance will be returned to the home owner.

BILL PROCESS:

Reading Meters - Water meters are read around the 15th of March, June, September and December. The processing time usually takes about two weeks and the bills are then mailed out the last business day of the same month.

Due Date - All bills are then due on the 24th of April, July, October and January. If a bill has not paid on or before the 24th a 10% penalty will be added. If the 24th falls on a weekend, the Village will allow bills to be paid on Monday without being counted as late.

Payment Options - The Village will take Cash, Check, Money Order & Credit Cards (American Express, Discover and MasterCard). A Payment Agreement can be made in the event a customer needs to defer his/her bill.  For additional customer convenience you may pay your bill online using a credit card (American Express, Discover or MasterCard). At this time the Village is not currently set up to take Visa cards. The Village also offers ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments were the amount of your bill is automatically deducted from your specified checking/savings account on the due date (or following business day). ACH payments must be set up with the Village Hall prior to the due date. For more information regarding ACH payments, please contact the Village Hall. For those seeking assistance in paying a bill, organizations such as Project Now and the Salvation Army have provided assistance to customers in need.

Second Notices / Friendly Reminders - Seven days after the due date, 2nd Notices / Friendly Reminders are mailed out to customers who have missed the due date of the 24th or who have not made arrangements in the form of a payment agreement with the Village Hall. The second notice / friendly reminder gives customers an additional fifteen (15) days to pay their water / sewer / garbage bill.  There is a $2.50 service charge added to the bill for this mailing.

Final Notices - Immediately following the due date of the second notice / friendly reminder a Final Notice is mailed out to customers who are still delinquent on their account. If arrangements have been made with the Village in the form of a payment agreement, a final notice will not be sent out.  Final Notices are sent out by certified mail with an additional $2.50 service charge added to the bill for this mailing.

Lien Filings - Any bills not paid by the due date listed on the Final Notice are filed with the Rock Island County Recorder as a Lien.  Once a lien is filed it will accrue interest at a rate of 18% per annum.  There is a $30.00 filing fee that must be paid along with the cost of the bill and all interest before a lien can be released.  When a lien is filed a letter is sent to the customer stating that a lien has been placed on their property due to an unpaid bill. If the lien has not been paid in full by the next billing period a notice will appear with their bill informing them of the lien that still remains on their account.  Once two liens have been filed on a property, the water can be shut off to that property and may remain off until all outstanding liens have been paid in full.

Questions regarding your bill - If you have questions regarding your bill, you may contact the Village Hall Water Department at 309-792-8325.

Contesting the Charges on your bill - If after you’ve talked to the Water Department you still don’t agree with the charges that appear on your bill, you may submit in writing a request to have your bill reviewed by our “Public Works Hearing Committee”. The committee will then review your bill and inform you in writing of their decision.  A meeting with you may be required before a decision is reached.

Change of Billing - If you need to have your billing information changed you must stop by the Village Hall with a photo I.D. and fill out a Change in billing form. Based on state and federal laws, this process can no longer be done online.  Reasons one may want to change their billing information, marriage, divorce, moving, leaving town for season, etc.

Senior Citizen Water Rate.  If you are 60 years of age or older you may print out an application for our senior rate, fill it out and then mail it to the Village Hall at 106 1st Avenue, P.O. Box 426.

CHECKING FOR WATER LEAKS - ONE DRIP AT A TIME

Using the Meter - Turn off all faucets & all appliances that use water & make sure nobody in the house uses water during the testing period.  Take a reading on your water meter, wait for about 30 minutes, then take a second reading.  If the numeric dial has moved you have a leak.  Remember a lot of the meters only register 100 gallons, so it may take awhile to find a small leak using this method.  Also on the top of most water meters is a little red dial / wheel that indicates movement of water, not the numeric dial.  If everything is shut off this little red dial / wheel should not be moving.  If it is moving you have a leak.

Checking Toilets - The most common source of leaks is the toilet and often cannot be heard.  Check toilets for leaks by placing a few drops of food coloring in the tank.  If after 15 minutes the coloring shows up in the bowl, the toilet has a leaking valve. According to experts, many leaking toilet problems can be blamed on toilet cleaning tablets or drop in containers that distribute chlorine into the tank water. The soft rubber or vinyl flapper valves and other components lost 50% of their useful life because of those cleaners.  These tablets have also been known to float towards the drain hole and can get caught holding the flapper up just a little.  Most leaks in a toilet can be stopped simply by tightening up the connections using a wrench but we must warn you to not overdo it or you may crack the bowl or tank.  If you find a leak at the ball cock connection you can try tightening the nut at the bottom of the ball cock assembly (where the water supply line enters the tank) from both the inside and the outside of the tank.  Other tips such as checking the stopper at the bottom of the tank and making sure the chain from the float to the stopper is not hanging down in the drain under the stopper can save you water and money.

Request to have Water Shut Off / Turned On at Curb Box.

Please fill this form out and send it to Village Hall if you are going on vacation and you would like the water shut off at the curb box. There is a $15.00 for turning the water off and a $15.00 fee for turning the water back on.

Boil Order Guidelines - pdf

Important Information About Your Drinking Water - Violation Notice
Monitoring Requirements Not Met for July & October of 2009

Ehlers & Associates submits this preliminary report for your consideration and discussion. Provided is background information to describe the financial condition of the wastewater and water utilities, estimate potential customer growth, and offer recommendations.  Our findings include: Utility Rate Study and Waste Water System Issues.

Additional information regarding private well safety and use, including information about testing private well water can be found at: http://www.epa.state.il.us/well-water/index.html

SITE CREATED AND MAINTAINED BY NICHOLAS GOTTWALT.  LAST UPDATED:  SEPTEMBER 03, 2010

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