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Council contemplates raising utility fees
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| Damage reflected here is an example of what happens from not having adequate storm water management, Lake City Executive Director of Utilities David Clanton said. This erosion is at St. Margarets Street and U.S. Highway 41. COURTESY PHOTO |
Residential customers could see a hike from $3 to $7 per month.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
Every residential property owner in Lake City will see an increase between $3 and $7 on his or her monthly utility bill starting Oct. 1, if City Council adopts the storm water utility as it has planned.
The first public hearing to approve the new fee is slated for 7 p.m. Aug. 4 in City Council Chambers.
Every business owner also can expect to see a higher new monthly charge if the utility fee is adopted. Although residential property owners will each see the same base rate, commercial bills will vary depending on the size of the building and
parking lot.
The Lake City Storm Water Utility Authority is being formed to clean up drainage systems that exist, stabilize banks as well as to create new systems where erosion or drainage problems plague the city. Reducing the level of pollution entering the aquifer is another goal of the new department, Executive Director of Utilities David Clanton said.
Only residences and businesses in the city limits will see the added bills. One residential unit equals 2,087 square feet, City Manager Scott Reynolds said. A homeowner with a house that measures 5,000 square feet, however, would pay the same monthly fee as a person with a house measuring 1,000 square feet.
Burton & Associates of Jacksonville is the consulting firm that helped the city create fees. It recommended a $7 monthly fee for residences, Reynolds said, for the city to complete its storm capital improvement water drainage projects. If the city went with a $3 fee, he said, it would allow for maintenance and some improvement of drainage problems.
A $3 base monthly residential fee would generate about $400,000 a year, Reynolds said. A $5 base fee would produce about $600,000 a year in revenue and a
$7 fee would bring in about $1 million a year, he said.
The city will use the Columbia County Property Appraiser’s office records to determine the impervious surface — rooftops and parking lots. Business interests with storm water detention ponds will see a 50 percent credit factor, Reynolds said.
The formula to determine fees for business interests breaks down like this: the total square feet of impervious surface is divided by the 2,087 square feet of one residential unit, and then that number is multiplied by $3 to $7, depending on what is adopted as a fee. That amount equals the monthly fee for the business.
For instance, the Lake City Reporter office with its 30,800 square feet of impervious surface would pay a monthly bill of $44.27 at the $3 rate; $73.79 at the $5 rate; or $103.31 at the $7 rate.
Winn-Dixie, with its 199,690 square feet, would see monthly bills of either $287.05, or $478.41 or $669.70 at the $3, $5 and $7 rates respectively.
Not all grocery stores had information available yet. Reynolds said the Property Appraiser’s office did not list the square feet for Publix. As for Food Lion, he said, until it is issued a certificate of occupancy, it will not pay the storm water fee.
No empty lots will be billed for storm water, Reynolds said.
Timco will pay no fee because it is outside the city limits, even though it is on city property by being at the Lake City Municipal Airport, Reynolds said.
The Target Distribution Center has not been issued a certificate of occupancy yet either, Reynolds said. If the Target property covered 30 acres with rooftops and parking lots, for instance, then each month it would pay $1,878.49; or $3,130.81; or $4,383.13, based on rates of $3, $5 or $7, according to Information Technology Director Zack Mears, who is part of the implementation team.
Mears and other city workers are tasked with creating the database and system to bill customers monthly for storm water utility, including measuring places like Publix, where the Property Appraiser’s office has no data listed yet.
Not every dollar for stormwater management must come from city residents alone.
The city has a five-year matching grant with the Suwannee River Water Management District, where SRWMD will match $100,000 per year, Reynolds said. That started in December of 2006. The city has spent about $75,000 and is on the brink of seeing the first matching funds from SRWMD, he added.
The first public hearing to approve the new fee is slated for 7 p.m. Aug. 4 in City Council Chambers.
Every business owner also can expect to see a higher new monthly charge if the utility fee is adopted. Although residential property owners will each see the same base rate, commercial bills will vary depending on the size of the building and
parking lot.
The Lake City Storm Water Utility Authority is being formed to clean up drainage systems that exist, stabilize banks as well as to create new systems where erosion or drainage problems plague the city. Reducing the level of pollution entering the aquifer is another goal of the new department, Executive Director of Utilities David Clanton said.
Only residences and businesses in the city limits will see the added bills. One residential unit equals 2,087 square feet, City Manager Scott Reynolds said. A homeowner with a house that measures 5,000 square feet, however, would pay the same monthly fee as a person with a house measuring 1,000 square feet.
Burton & Associates of Jacksonville is the consulting firm that helped the city create fees. It recommended a $7 monthly fee for residences, Reynolds said, for the city to complete its storm capital improvement water drainage projects. If the city went with a $3 fee, he said, it would allow for maintenance and some improvement of drainage problems.
A $3 base monthly residential fee would generate about $400,000 a year, Reynolds said. A $5 base fee would produce about $600,000 a year in revenue and a
$7 fee would bring in about $1 million a year, he said.
The city will use the Columbia County Property Appraiser’s office records to determine the impervious surface — rooftops and parking lots. Business interests with storm water detention ponds will see a 50 percent credit factor, Reynolds said.
The formula to determine fees for business interests breaks down like this: the total square feet of impervious surface is divided by the 2,087 square feet of one residential unit, and then that number is multiplied by $3 to $7, depending on what is adopted as a fee. That amount equals the monthly fee for the business.
For instance, the Lake City Reporter office with its 30,800 square feet of impervious surface would pay a monthly bill of $44.27 at the $3 rate; $73.79 at the $5 rate; or $103.31 at the $7 rate.
Winn-Dixie, with its 199,690 square feet, would see monthly bills of either $287.05, or $478.41 or $669.70 at the $3, $5 and $7 rates respectively.
Not all grocery stores had information available yet. Reynolds said the Property Appraiser’s office did not list the square feet for Publix. As for Food Lion, he said, until it is issued a certificate of occupancy, it will not pay the storm water fee.
No empty lots will be billed for storm water, Reynolds said.
Timco will pay no fee because it is outside the city limits, even though it is on city property by being at the Lake City Municipal Airport, Reynolds said.
The Target Distribution Center has not been issued a certificate of occupancy yet either, Reynolds said. If the Target property covered 30 acres with rooftops and parking lots, for instance, then each month it would pay $1,878.49; or $3,130.81; or $4,383.13, based on rates of $3, $5 or $7, according to Information Technology Director Zack Mears, who is part of the implementation team.
Mears and other city workers are tasked with creating the database and system to bill customers monthly for storm water utility, including measuring places like Publix, where the Property Appraiser’s office has no data listed yet.
Not every dollar for stormwater management must come from city residents alone.
The city has a five-year matching grant with the Suwannee River Water Management District, where SRWMD will match $100,000 per year, Reynolds said. That started in December of 2006. The city has spent about $75,000 and is on the brink of seeing the first matching funds from SRWMD, he added.
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Holy Rocking the Boat Batman wrote on Jul 23, 2008 9:27 AM: