Terms of Service

PLEASE READ, AS IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

By accessing or using the City of Mountain View Online Account Services (“Account Services”) web site for utility, business license tax, developmental fees, transient occupancy tax, miscellaneous permits and miscellaneous invoices issued by Finance available for online payment (“Online Payments”) and/or electing to receive Paperless Statements for utility accounts, you agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement. The City of Mountain View may modify this Agreement at any time, and you agree that such modifications will be effective immediately upon posting of the modified Agreement. You agree that by using our web site or continuing to receive Paperless Statements after any such modifications, you will be deemed to have reviewed, agreed to, and accepted the modified Agreement.

Account Services provides you access to view, print, and pay your utility bills online and view and print your water usage history online. In addition, Account Services provides you access to pay online your Online Payments. Paperless Statements allows you to receive your utility statement online. Paymentus, a third party vendor that specializes in payment processing and electronic bill presentment, hosts these services.

The City of Mountain View will make every reasonable effort to ensure full performance of the Account Services and Paperless Statements and, on a timely basis, work with you to resolve disputes that may arise. The City of Mountain View does not assume responsibility for malfunctions in any computer equipment or system not under its control that may affect the accuracy or timeliness of e-mail messages you receive.

To use the Account Services, you must be registered and provide certain personal data, including contact information such as an e-mail address. In addition, payment account information is required for Online Payments. You agree to provide true and accurate information in connection with your registration and to promptly notify the City of Mountain View of any changes in the registration information. You must be over 18 years of age to register and use the Account Services. You are fully liable for all use of the Account Services accessed through your registration information, including any use by a user not authorized by you who accesses the Account Services using your registration information whether your user identification or password is lost, stolen, or misused. The City of Mountain View may, at its discretion, request that you verify or change your user identification and/or password. You should promptly notify the City of Mountain View of any unauthorized use of your registration information or other breach of security. You agree to comply with the requirements for creating your user identification and password that are specified in the account registration. Further, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the access information to your account for Account Services once created and for controlling access to your account and your computer. Any information sent by the City of Mountain View to you via e-mail is believed to be reliable. However, this information can only be provided on a best-efforts basis for your convenience and is not guaranteed. The City of Mountain View will not be liable for any deficiencies in the accuracy, completeness, availability, or timeliness of such information or for any decision made using this information.

In addition, please take note of the following guidelines which will assist you in detecting certain types of Internet and e-mail fraud (i.e. “phishing“):

The City of Mountain View does not make any warranties concerning the Account Services or Paperless Statements, including, without limitation, any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of third-party proprietary rights unless disclaiming such warranties is prohibited by law. The City of Mountain View makes no warranties other than those expressly set forth in this Agreement. The City of Mountain View will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this site, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, and punitive damages. You expressly agree that your use of this site is at your sole risk.

Privacy of Information

The City of Mountain View is committed to protecting your privacy. You acknowledge that the City of Mountain View and its vendor may receive certain private and confidential information in connection with your use of the Account Services and/or Paperless Statements. The City of Mountain View may utilize your name, mailing address, and changes thereto. The City of Mountain View will not rent, sell, or otherwise make available to any third party for any reason any of your private and confidential information that personally identifies you, your Payment Method, or payments you make through the Account Services, other than to provide Account Services or comply with applicable laws or regulations, including government agency or court orders, unless you otherwise expressly agree.

You agree that you will not intentionally provide false information when accessing or using the Account Services and/or Paperless Statements. You also agree that you will not falsify, forge, or otherwise tamper with any information in the e-mails you receive as part of the Account Services and/or Paperless Statements.

The Account Services web site has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misusage, or alteration of the information you provide. The Online Payment server software conforms to industry standards utilizing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, which is among the best software available for securing commerce transactions.

Account Services is designed to be available seven days a week, 24 hours a day; however, the City of Mountain View will update account balances and activity information daily, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and December holiday closure. The City of Mountain View shall not be liable for any inability to access the Account Services and/or Paperless Statements, or for the City of Mountain View's failure to update any information, for whatever reason. This would be true even if you are unable to access the system due to problems with the Internet, or our servers being temporarily unavailable.

Online Payments

Credit Card and Electronic Check

To use Account Services to make Online Payments, you must designate an eligible deposit or other asset account accessible by a credit card, debit card, or e-Check account (collectively referred to as “Payment Method”) at a bank or other eligible financial institution (your “Financial Institution”) from which payments will be made using Online Payments. You agree that, by scheduling automatic payments or a single payment, you authorize the City of Mountain View to initiate debit entries to your Payment Method in such amount(s), and to initiate any debit or credit entries to your Payment Method necessary to correct any error in a payment. You also must authorize your Financial Institution to debit or credit your Payment Method in the amount of such payments or corrections. You represent that you have all necessary right, power, and authority to authorize each such payment, and that you will take such steps as your Financial Institution requires to make such authorization. This authorization shall remain in full force and effect until the City of Mountain View has received notice from you of your termination of such authorization in such time and in such manner as to afford the City of Mountain View and your Financial Institution reasonable opportunity to act on it.

Payment Amount Limitations and Fees

The amount of funds you may use is limited by the amount of available funds you have on your Payment Method, including any available overdraft protection you may have with your Financial Institution. You agree to maintain sufficient funds on your Payment Method to satisfy your bill payments and that the City of Mountain View will have no obligation to complete a transaction if sufficient funds are not available. Your access to your Payment Method also may be limited by your agreement(s) with your Financial Institution governing the Payment Method and by applicable law and regulations.

Business license tax renewals paid online are subject to a convenience fee. Any such fee will be fully disclosed prior to payment and you will be provided an opportunity to decline paying online and incurring this fee. In addition, your Financial Institution may charge you fees related to your Payment Method, including transaction fees or fees for attempting transfers without sufficient funds. If a transaction is not honored by your bank or you have insufficient funds available or if your payment is declined by your Payment Method, a fee may be charged to your City of Mountain View account.

Payment Processing

Credit card and e-Check payments submitted before 5:00 p.m., Pacific time, Monday through Friday, will be posted to your account on the next business day. Payments submitted on or after 5:00 p.m., Pacific time, Monday through Friday, or on weekends and holidays, will be posted to your account within two business days. The Scheduled payment date must be no later than the bill/tax/fee due date and must be submitted via Online Payments before 5:00 p.m. of the previous business day to be timely received by the City of Mountain View. You are solely responsible for making payments prior to the due date, and you are solely responsible for any late fees charged or action taken by the City of Mountain View for payments not timely made. Late fees for payments made using Online Payments are the same as the late fees charged for mailed payments. Therefore, the City of Mountain View recommends that you submit and schedule Online Payments to the City of Mountain View at least two (2) business days before the actual due date (Business days are Monday through Friday, excluding holidays and December holiday closure.). If your payment is received after the due date of the bill/tax/fee, you will be responsible for any late charges and interest assessed the same as if you mailed your payment to us and we received it after the due date.

Payment transaction will only be completed after receiving successful authorization from your Financial Institution for the total amount charged.

Unauthorized Transfers

If you believe that someone has improperly accessed your Payment Method through Account Services without your permission, contact the City of Mountain View immediately. You should also immediately contact your Financial Institution. Please be aware that you are solely responsible for any unauthorized transfers, although your Financial Institution may provide some form of fraud protection.

Refund Policy

Payments made in excess of the total Online Payment amount owed will show as a credit on the customer's next utility bill/business license tax renewal/miscellaneous invoice. Questions concerning refunds of erroneous payments may be addressed in writing to the address shown below under “Notices”, attention to the City of Mountain View, Revenue Section of the Finance Department. All refunds must be approved by the City of Mountain View. For a credit or debit card refund request, if the City of Mountain View is notified of the refund request by 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) within the same business day of the transaction, the transaction may be voided within the same day. If the credit or debit card refund request is notified after 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) within the same business day of the transaction, the refund will be made within the next two business days. For an e-Check refund request, if the City of Mountain View is notified of the refund request by 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) within the same business day of the transaction, the transaction may be voided within the same day. If the e-Check refund request is notified after 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) within the same business day of the transaction, the City of Mountain View will have to wait at least 10 business days before allowing the refund to ensure the check clears and does not come back as a return. Upon successfully voiding a transaction, you will receive an e-mail confirming the voided transaction. It may take your Financial Institution 3-5 days to post the transaction.

Prohibited Use

Paymentus does not accept Online Payments from collections agencies and third party agencies. Paymentus reserves the right to reverse all such payments if it discovers that they were made from a collection agency or third party agency.

Termination of Online Payments

You may choose to cancel Online Payments at any time. No fee is charged to cancel Online Payments. If you wish to discontinue recurring Online Payments for utility accounts, you may cancel by sending a written cancellation notice to the address shown below or by contacting the City at the telephone number below under “Notices”. Your termination will become effective after one full billing cycle after we receive your request.

The City of Mountain View may suspend or terminate your access to the Account Services at any time, without notice, and for any reason. The City of Mountain View will attempt to provide you with prior notice of suspension or termination by posting at the City of Mountain View web site or otherwise sending notice of termination, but the City of Mountain View will not be liable for any failure to do so. Neither termination nor discontinuation of the Account Services shall affect your liability for transactions initiated through Account Services using your password.

Paperless Statement

By electing to receive your utility statement online, you are consenting to receive from the City by electronic means only, your utility statement for your utility account and other disclosures related to this service. While enrolled for online statements, you will no longer receive paper statements in the mail. However, you may be sent paper statements or other documents that contain important information about your account. You should continue to review any correspondence that we mail to you. When you elect to receive Paperless Statements, it may take one full billing cycle from the time of election before you will receive an e-mail notification that your online statement is available. Your online statement closely resembles your paper statement. Some variations may exist between the format of the mailed paper statement and the online statement versions, but the data display is identical.

When your online statement is available, an e-mail notification will be sent to the address that we have on file. It is your responsibility to update any changes in your e-mail address on the Account Services web site. If you do not receive an e-mail and believe you should have, please visit our web site to view your online statement and verify your email address. Paperless Statements are available seven days a week, 24 hours a day through Account Services.

While enrolled, your online statement will be available for two years. The City encourages you to retain a copy of any records you would like to keep. You can withdraw your consent to receiving your statement electronically with no cost to you by contacting the City or un-enrolling online (The contact information is shown below under “Notices”). It may take one full billing cycle to terminate the Paperless Statement and restart the paper statement. You will continue to have access to two years of past online statements as long as you are enrolled in Account Services. The City reserves the right to cancel your participation in this program at any time.

Notices to City

You may contact us at the following address or phone number: City of Mountain View, Revenue Section-Finance Department, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, California, 94041. Telephone: 650-903-6317 for Customer Service, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific time (excluding holidays). Or, contact us at the following e-mail address: Utility.Billing@mountainview.gov.

Amendments

The terms of the Agreement may be modified or amended by the City of Mountain View from time to time. In such event, the City of Mountain View will provide notice to you in accordance with applicable law, which may be accomplished by posting such change on the City of Mountain View's web site. Any use of Account Services after the City of Mountain View provides you with a notice of change will constitute your agreement to such change(s).

Assignment

You may not assign this Agreement to any other party.

Entire Agreement

This Agreement contains the entire understanding between the parties with respect to the subject matter herein. There are no representations, agreements, or understandings (whether oral or written) between or among the parties relating to the subject matter of this Agreement which are not fully expressed herein.

Severability

If any term or provision of this Agreement shall, to any extent, be held invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this agreement shall not be affected.

Governing Law and Venue

This Agreement shall be governed by the law of the State of California without regard to its conflicts of law provisions and any action or lawsuit related to this Agreement will be adjudicated in a court of competent jurisdiction in the County of Santa Clara.

Tort Claims Act

Prior to filing any action or lawsuit related in any way to this Agreement, you must comply with the provisions of the Tort Claims Act (Government Code Section 900 et seq.) and present a claim to the City of Mountain View.

Use of Electronic Communication

By accepting below or otherwise using Account Services or Paperless Statements, you also agree that any and all disclosures and communications regarding Account Services or Paperless Statements between you and the City of Mountain View, including this Agreement, may be made electronically, including by the City of Mountain View posting to its web site in accordance with applicable law. Any electronic disclosure or communication the City of Mountain View makes will be considered made when transmitted by the City of Mountain View.