Post in Applied for stormwater credit, got a 50% fee increase

Feb 22 15:59 UTC

While I agree that the engineer stuff is overkill and City Council should look
for ways to simplify the credit program for homeowners, I think that something
is being overlooked here with this storm water utility fee.

As Justin said, his property was initially classified as a 0.75 ESU and after
his application was reviewed, it was reclassified to 1.25 ESU. I guess what I'm
wondering is why was it so wrong in the first place? Had the initial
classification been done right, then Justin would have paid a $12.50 storm
water fee from the start and his credit would have been applied to that. He
might have been prompted to do even more.

It also begs the much larger question of how many other properties out there
are misclassified either too high or too low and whether the city is actually
receiving the revenue it's supposed to so that we can maintain our storm water
infrastructure. Additionally, as word gets out about this, folks like me who
have done some stuff in our yards are going to be less inclined to formally
participate in the credit program because we could end up getting shafted just
like Justin did.

I would say a hard look needs to be taken at the Transportation and Public
Works committee process that approved how this program was set up. It seems
like they did not place nearly as high a premium on accuracy as they should
have.

Mark Snyder
Windom Park