New Stormwater Fees on the Horizon for Inver Grove Heights?

Residents, organizations and business owners in Inver Grove Heights may be getting a new bill in the mail next year.

After five years of on-and-off discussion, city officials are moving this fall toward the adoption of a new stormwater utility fee that would charge property owners for the amount of storm water runoff generated by the property.

Under the proposed, quarterly rates, single-family residential landowners outside the Northwest Area would see fees ranging from $3 a lot to $6.30 per lot, depending on the zoning of the property. Inside the Northwest Area, the proposed fees are much higher, with rates for single-family residential property owners ranging from $11.47 to $24.08 per lot.

Rates vary for businesses, schools and churches in the city; lots outside of the Northwest Area that are zoned for general business may pay $26.10 per acre, while schools and churches outside the Northwest Area may pay $11.70 per acre. For a complete list of proposed rates, click here.

The proposed fee system has been driven in part by new restrictions and requirements imposed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for managing and reporting stormwater, City Administrator Joe Lynch said. Those requirements, in turn, drive up the city’s expenses, Lynch said.

But the new system should also equalize the cost of the stormwater system between taxpayers and other, tax-exempt organizations in the city, Lynch said. For example, churches—with their large parking lots—generate a considerable of runoff, Lynch said. But the cost of the infrastructure to manage that runoff falls to local taxpayers, not churches, nonprofits, which are tax exempt.

In 2010, the city paid $590,000 in stormwater maintenance and operation costs, according to a public information posted on the city’s website. The proposed fee system would generate roughly $300,000 annually in revenue for the city. Lynch noted that fees might increase over the years, until the fee revenue covers the majority of the city’s operational and maintenance costs for the storm water system.

The proposed stormwater utility would pay for street sweeping, erosion and sedimentation control inspections, storm sewer system inspections and repairs, storm water pond and infiltration basin cleaning and maintenance and drainage ditch cleaning.

“It’s not to make a profit, it’s to cover expenses,” Lynch said of the proposed utility fee. If approved, fee collection would likely begin in the third quarter of 2012.

The fees are based on runoff estimates for a particular property type. An appeal process would allow property owners to petition for a lower rate if they can demonstrate that their property produces significantly less than the estimated amount.

Members of the public can weigh in with their thoughts on the proposed fee at a pair of public hearings at noon and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Veterans Memorial Community Center.

Why Will Properties in the Northwest Area Pay More?

In much of the city, storm water pipes carry water directly to the Mississippi River, City Administrator Joe Lynch said. However, in the Northwest Area, there are fewer pipes and more holding ponds, which periodically need to be dredged. The city must pay for treatment and disposal of the waste from those ponds. The higher operational costs facing the city in the Northwest Area as a result of the pond dredging translate into higher proposed fees for users in that area, Lynch said.