Dover City Council voted 8 to 0 with one abstention last week to lower the stormwater utility fee to zero. The change will likely result in increased fees elsewhere, according to the city’s controller-treasurer Patricia Marney.
Dover originally relied on its General Fund for stormwater utilities, but city officials decided to create a stormwater utility fund.
The burden on taxpayers ended up being higher than expected, and City Council voted last week to return to the drawing board and use the General Fund for stormwater costs in the meantime.
Constituents who paid stormwater fees will be refunded.
The city now has to figure out how to reconcile the books, according to the assistant city manager Sharon Duca.
“If the choice is made to not provide the services, then yes, we will be fined by the EPA and the state. I know in 2003 those fines were up to $25,000 per day, per event, per occurrence,” Duca said.
One method the city is considering is to transfer funds from the electric fund. Controller-treasurer Marney said that’s an option, but it doesn’t negate the city’s need for stormwater utility funding.
“No matter what, we're going to have to pass those charges along to the constituents,” Marney said. “That doesn't make me happy. No one likes increased fees whatsoever. It's either going to be an increase in tax fees or it's going to be an increase in electric rates.”
At an earlier meeting, Marney also said using the electric fund would deplete reserves that could be used in the event of a natural disaster.
Duca said stormwater costs are no different from trash costs, which increased enough over the years to warrant its own fund about 50 years ago.
Councilmember Brian Lewis said returning stormwater fees to the General Fund is not a permanent solution. He added he is against using money from the city’s electric fund to cover these costs.
“Stormwater utility fees [are] not going to go away. What are we going to do five years from now?” Lewis said. “I mean, it's going to be consistent.”
