Wentzville Aldermen Discuss Utility Fee to Meet Storm Water Rules

The city of Wentzville—and with every other city in the country—is caught between storm water runoff and a hard place.

Through Clean Water Act regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is mandating that cities adhere to more stringent storm-water runoff guidelines.

At Wednesday night’s meeting, the Wentzville Board of Aldermen heard a presentation from City Engineer Scott Smith on the storm water issue (see the pdf file accompanying this article). The presentation included establishing a storm water utility fee to pay for storm water efforts.

Cities have to come up with ways to prevent erosion and keep things such as pet waste, oil and household chemicals from entering storm water runoff.

Wentzville Mayor Paul Lambi said most Wentzville residents do want clean storm water going into area streams.

“I’m not sure they would feel it has to be as clean as the EPA wants it,” Lambi said. “But we as a city have to meet these standards which the EPA sets for us. Of course, the EPA does not provide any way to pay for this.”

Smith’s presentation suggested that each resident would pay a monthly fee of $1.10 per “equivalent residential unit,” or 2,350 square feet of “impervious space,” ground covered by a house, building, parking lot, sidewalk or other structure and generates storm water runoff.

“The big discussion is whether we start the utility fee or if this would come out of a general fund,” Lambi said. “The problem is this could end up sucking up our whole general fund.”

He said the city now charges fees for trash collection, water and sewage treatment without citizens voting on it.

The city has been waiting for a against the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District lawsuit to be settled. Someone sued MSD when it established a similar storm water fee. The case is before the state appeals court. 

“Fee is a tax”           

Alderman Nick Guccione said he believes the fee is really a tax, and shouldn’t be

“We’re trying to cut taxes—real estate and property taxes—to make things easier on residents,” Guccione said. “I can’t support a tax increase. This should be supported out of our general fund.”

He acknowledged the city’s general fund already is stretched tight. He said the board of aldermen could come up with another way to fund storm water improvements.

But he said the fee would hurt more in the long run.

“They say residents would pay about $1 a month, but this really would end up hurting businesses that have much larger buildings,” he said.

Guccione said he’s been in retail business for years, and he knows any added cost will be passed onto consumers. Wentzville residents will pay for it in the long run, he said.

“That’s the problem with unfunded mandates,” he said. “It’s a vicious cycle that hurts residents.”

Lambi noted there’s a large fine, up to $10,000 per day, for cities that do not meet the EPA standards.

“Lawsuits against unfunded mandates have been successful, but that could end up costing as much as the fine,” Lambi said. “That’s why so many cities submit to, quote ‘authorities’ like the EPA.”

Smith’s presentation included the following list on how other area governments pay for storm water cleanup efforts:

• O’Fallon: General Revenue
• St. Charles County: General Revenue
• St. Peters: 1/10^th-cent parks and storm water fund sales tax
• St. Charles: Casino gaming funds
• MSD (St. Louis/St. Louis County): User fee, property taxes and 2008 rate increase based on impervious areas.