Council nixes new utility fee for now

A new utility fee to fund stormwater infrastructure improvements likely will not be implemented until Charlottesville’s economic climate improves.

“I’m not really supportive of a utility [fee] at this stage,” City Councilor Satyendra Huja said at the body’s Tuesday meeting. “It’s a tax.”

The user-based fee is one of many aspects of the city’s Water Resources Protection Program, which was developed last year and first presented to the City Council in November. The fee is designed to supply a dedicated funding stream to repair the city’s stormwater system, which is crumbling beneath the surface — much like its water and wastewater counterparts.

The city has already requested $2.8 million in federal economic stimulus funds for pipe repairs. Kristel Riddervold, Charlottesville’s environmental administrator, said the city’s system has more than 50 miles of existing pipe and 4,000 structures. Riddervold said more than 7 miles of the system have been identified as being in need of immediate repair or replacement.

The fee would be designed so that property owners with more impervious surfaces — such as roads and roofs — would pay a higher amount because of their greater water contribution flowing directly into the stormwater pipes, as opposed to being absorbed into the ground.

“There’s some fairness to doing it proportionally,” said Councilor David Brown, who has been more receptive to the fee idea than have been his fellow elected officials. In the long run, Brown said, a program based on usage would create incentives for property owners to not generate as much stormwater.

“It helps solve the problem,” he said.

While councilors said that the fee should be a long-term strategy used in the city, concerns about whether the fee would create a financial burden on property owners in the ailing economy ultimately pushed the city government to recommend delaying its implementation for another two to three years.

“I do think at some point that a program that allocates costs based on impact is the way to go,” Mayor Dave Norris said. But, referring to creating a new user fee now, he said, “I’m just not convinced.”

The new stormwater program calls for $600,000 per year for system rehabilitation, with Riddervold suggesting that other sources of funding should be looked into because the fee is not being implemented now. The most recent draft of the city’s fiscal 2010 Capital Improvement Program shows that $100,000 would be allocated each year through fiscal 2014 for citywide emergency drainage projects and repairs.

“These expenses will compound over time,” she said, adding, “We would suggest that sooner [fee implementation] is better.”

City Manager Gary O’Connell said that $600,000 could be incorporated into the CIP for a few years and then the amount could be revisited once the economy turns around.

But Morgan Butler of the Southern Environmental Law Center said he thought punting the issue was not wise, suggesting that perhaps to start there could be a lower fee to get the resources protection program off the ground.

“We urge you to not table this proposal,” Butler said. “We’re already playing catch-up with maintaining our stormwater infrastructure.”

In other business Tuesday, councilors supported having a community dialogue on race but have not committed to a concrete monetary amount in next year’s budget. The body will consider funding for the program, which could cost from $40,000 to $60,000 over the next two fiscal years, during the upcoming budget process.