Manatee County postpones stormwater fee to figure out the details
Is the stormwater fee a tax? Will a discount be given to those who already pay for stormwater maintenance in their neighborhoods? How will organizations and businesses budget for the annual payment?
County staff say they’re still working on figuring out answers to those questions, and the stormwater fee that the Board of County Commissioners was set to vote on Dec. 10 will be delayed for up to a year, according to County Administrator Cheri Coryea.
After conducting several information sessions with the public, Manatee County officials say they’ve heard enough to postpone the planned implementation of a stormwater fee, citing a need to tweak details of the plan. The remaining five sessions have been canceled in the meantime.
Coryea informed the board of the update at the end of a work session meeting Tuesday afternoon. She said staff have heard enough questions to send them back to the drawing board.
“We’ve been listening to the public and many of the outstanding questions they have about how agricultural lands will be handled, potential incentives for homeowner associations and community development districts that pay a stormwater fee for privately owned stormwater systems and more,” Coryea told commissioners.
“In coming months, county staff will continue working with our stormwater consultant to resolve or address many of the public concerns,” she added.
Over the course of the year, county staff have walked commissioners through the need for a new stormwater fee that would be used to double the level of maintenance that the public works department can provide to drainage pipes, street sweeping, pond maintenance and other services that could lessen flooding problems throughout Manatee County. It could also improve local water quality, officials say.
In September, the board approved an information outreach campaign to allow county staff to plead their case for the new fee — which was set to charge average-sized homes either $58 or $88 a year — directly to residents. The fee scales up or down based on the amount of impervious surface area on the property and would apply to every landowner in unincorporated parts of the Manatee.
But many residents said they didn’t think it was fair to charge them or not provide a discount in areas that already pay toward some form of stormwater control. Others were concerned that they would never see a benefit from the new fee.
“I don’t think it’s fair that I’ll have to pay a fee when I live on a dirt road,” said Betty Arnold, a Myakka City resident who expressed concern about the stormwater fee at a recent public meeting in Ellenton.
Following Coryea’s update on Thursday, commissioners said they supported holding off on the stormwater fee until they could tweak the plan and address the issues that residents had raised.
“I appreciate you thinking about everyone involved and what’s the best way to move forward,” said Commissioner Vanessa Baugh, who has voiced concerns about charging the fee to some of her constituents who lives in HOAs and CDDs. “It shows that this county truly does listen to citizens and is trying to do the right thing.”
“These issues are complex, so it makes sense to slow down and think about this,” Commissioner Betsy Benac added. “This doesn’t mean we’re giving up, just stepping back.”
Coryea says the extra time would allow institutions such as schools and nonprofits to plan for the stormwater fee in their budgets.
“By February, we will bring to the board our recommendations for immediate steps to address the most severely impacted areas to ensure we’re doing what we can to avoid flooding and enhance water quality,” Coryea explained. “At that time, we’ll also bring you our data-gathering plan and report completion for 2020 to fully address the common concerns we’ve heard so far.”
“By the first quarter of 2021, the board will have a comprehensive stormwater report and a list of appropriate projects to make a strong decision on the most appropriate stormwater rate,” she added.
For more information regarding the stormwater fee, and to calculate what the rate would be for your property, visit www.MyManatee.org/stormwater.
