Stormwater Service Charge

A new city-county storm water service charge on homes, businesses, churches and other property will generate an estimated $858,000 a year.

 

The charge (95 cents a month or $11.40 a year for homes) was approved by the city sanitary district board of commissioners and by Delaware County commissioners.

The city and county are budgeting $283,500 of the $858,000 for compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Stormwater Phase II Rule, which is intended to improve waterways by reducing the amount of pollutants that storm water picks up and carries into storm sewers.

Common pollutants include oil, grease and salt from roadways, pesticides in grass clippings, sediment from construction sites, car detergent, pet waste, cigarette butts, paper wrappers and plastic bottles.

Such pollutants impair waterways, according to EPA, discouraging recreational use, contaminating drinking water supplies and interfering with habitat for fish, other aquatic organisms and wildlife.

 

The city and county earmarked $575,300 of the $858,000 annual budget for storm sewer "replacements, improvements, system maintenance and reimbursements."

Non-residential properties will pay up to $190 a month. Twenty-one properties fall in that category because they have 500,000 or more square feet of impervious surface, such as rooftops, driveways and parking lots.

There is a correlation between impervious surface and water quality. The more impervious surface in a community, the more degraded are its waterways.

The new fees apply to properties within the sanitary district and within unincorporated Delaware County, including the suburbs.

The city-county stormwater program, which will employ three people, will educate and involve the public, detect and eliminate illegal discharges, control construction site runoff and post-construction site runoff from new development and redeveloped areas, and keep streets and storm drains clean.

Please see service charge rates below.

 

Class		Description		Multiplier		Rate Per Month		Semiannual Rate		Annual Rate
R		Residential		1		$0.95		$5.70		$11.40
1		Other<= 5,000 SF		1		$0.95		$5.70		$11.40
2		Other 5,001 – 11,000 SF		3		$2.85		$17.10		$34.20
3		Other 11,001 – 22,000 SF		6		$5.70		$34.20		$68.40
4		Other 22,001 – 34,000 SF		11		$10.45		$62.70		$125.40
5		Other 34,001 – 56,000 SF		17		$16.15		$96.90		$193.80
6		Other 56,001 – 94,000 SF		28		$26.60		$159.60		$319.20
7		Other 94,001 – 147,000 SF		47		$44.65		$267.90		$535.80
8		Other 147,001 – 235,000 SF		75		$71.25		$427.50		$855.00
9		Other 235,001 – 500,000 SF		133		$126.35		$758.10		$1,516.20
10		Other > 500,000 SF		200		$190.00		$1,140.00		$2,280.00