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(A) Billings. All stormwater bills shall be rendered on a monthly basis, along with the user's charges for other city utility services.
(B) Terms of payment. The stormwater service charges prescribed in § 53.56 shall be due on the payment date set out on the bill. It shall be a violation of this chapter to fail to pay a stormwater service bill when due. All bills for stormwater services not paid on or before the due date, which due date shall be approximately 15 days after the bill is rendered, shall be subject to a collection or deferred payment charge of 10% on outstanding balance.
(C) Payment priority. Stormwater service charges shall take priority over all other charges for city utility services. Partial payments shall first be applied to satisfy the garbage user fee under Chapter 50 and secondly, to these charges.
(D) Collection. Delinquent stormwater service charges may be collected in a civil action along with other delinquent city utility charges, reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
(Ord. G-11-07, passed 4-10-07)
(A) If, in the opinion of any user, the ERU multiple assigned to his property is inaccurate in light of the amount of impervious area of said property, the user shall have the right to contest the ERU determination and thus the rate assessed in the following manner.
(B) User shall obtain and complete a petition to appeal stormwater rate form (petition) which shall be returned to the DSM with verifiable documentation supporting user's claim.
(C) The DSM shall investigate user's claim and, upon review thereof, shall render a written determination that either the original ERU determination and assessed rate should be affirmed or the user's rate should be adjusted according to the petition.
(D) If user's petition is denied, said opinion shall be forwarded to user by certified mail, return receipt requested. User shall then have seven days from date of receipt to request a reconsideration by the Director. Any additional facts concerning the dispute shall be reduced to writing and submitted, along with a copy of the original petition and supporting documents, to the Director. The DSM shall submit a written report of the determination in the case, along with any documents used in denying the user's claim.
(E) Thereafter, the Director, or his designee, shall review all documentation and conduct, as necessary in his opinion, an informal hearing to determine and resolve the dispute based on the documentation submitted and any oral testimony. A written opinion shall be rendered within 30 days after the hearing or submission of documentation if no hearing is conducted. The written opinion of the Director of his designee shall constitute the final DSM determination, and may be challenged by the user by a written request to the Board for formal consideration within 15 days of the Director's opinion.
(F) The Board shall conduct a hearing and issue a determination which shall be binding on the city utilities. The hearing shall be electronically recorded and a transcript of the hearing provided upon request at a cost per page as determined by the City Utilities Accounting Department and amended from time to time.
(G) A party or person aggrieved by the final Board determination shall have the right to judicial review of such determination in accordance with state law.
(H) If the DSM recommends the user's rate be reduced, or reduction is ordered by the Director, Board or court of law, user shall be credited accordingly for any overpayment made from the date of the petition.
(I) Dispute or appeal of an ERU determination for stormwater service rate shall not be a valid reason for non-payment of the originally assessed stormwater service charge by the user.
(Ord. G-11-07, passed 4-10-07)
(A) This section establishes a discount for land and buildings used for various purposes when exempt from property taxation under IC 6-1.1-10-1, 6-1.1-10-2, 6-1.1-10-4, 6-1.1-10-5, and 6-1.1-1016.
(B) This section also discusses some of the most common credit considerations and requirements but is not intended to be the exclusive authority. The Board, through the rules and regulations of the DSM shall more fully and completely establish the credit policies and procedures for stormwater management.
(1) Discounts. The following categories of property exempt from property taxation shall be entitled to a 25% discount off of the gross ERUs assigned for any such land or building under § 53.57 where the statutory exemption has been granted and can be confirmed through the records of the Allen County Auditor's office, upon proper application for said discount:
(a) IC 6-1.1-10-1. Property of the United States and its agencies and instrumentalities.
(b) IC 6-1.1-10-2. Property owned by the state, and any agency thereof or the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles Commission.
(c) IC 6-1.1-10-4. Property owned by a political subdivision of the state.
(d) IC 6-1.1-10-5. Property owned by the city which is used to provide a municipal service.
(e) IC 6-1.1-10-16. Property owned, occupied, and used for educational, literary, scientific, religious or charitable purposes.
(2) Credit availability.
(a) Credit will be available to all properties for various forms and levels of abatement.
(b) Maintenance requirements. Credit will only be allowed for properties where structural controls are maintained in fully functional condition and according to maintenance criteria and design standards issued by the DSM.
(c) Existing structure credits. Credit will be allowed for previously constructed abatement features or stormwater controls. The amount of credit granted will be determined by the methods of design as outlined within the rules and regulations of the DSM.
(d) Property location. Credit will be granted on the basis of location of a given property in relation to a major waterway of the United States, if it directly discharges its stormwater to that waterway in conformance with all maintenance criteria and design standards as applicable. The waterways covered by this section shall include the St. Mary's River, the St. Joseph River, the Maumee River, the major tributaries of these three rivers and other ditches and drains specified in the rules and regulations of the DSM, and any legal public drains under the control by Allen County.
(e) Voluntary controls. For new developments, credit will be granted where the city requires abatement features or stormwater controls to be constructed and/or maintained, and all city standards and criteria are met. Other voluntary controls or upgrades of existing systems through retrofitting will be granted credits on a case-by-case basis considering the impact of the controls on the city's stormwater system, as determined by the DSM.
(f) Detention/retention. Credit will be granted for qualifying detention basins and wet ponds. Credit may be granted for other control devices on a caseby-case basis providing sufficient technical justification is available to make such determinations.
(g) Oversizing. Oversized private stormwater facilities or improvements exceeding standard abatement design criteria and intended to serve an area larger than the immediate project site or designed to handle a larger than specified storm event as required by the DSM shall be considered for additional credit.
(h) Industrial NPDES permit credits. No credit shall be allowed for industries in compliance with federal laws and regulations regarding industrial stormwater discharge permits at this time.
(i) Pollution reduction Credit may be granted on a case-by-case basis for efforts to reduce the amount of pollutants in a user's stormwater runoff or for improvements to the quality of a user's stormwater discharge.
(j) Regional basins. Credit will not be granted to properties draining into ponds or basins maintained or owned by the city. Credit will be considered for privately owned and maintained regional controls and will be apportioned among owners on a prearranged basis.
(k) Percent discounted credits for private stormwater facilities.
1. Discounts and credits shall be computed on an ERU basis. A maximum credit of less than 100% of the gross ERUs originally assigned can be granted for the construction and maintenance of private stormwater facilities considering the potential of each to reduce peak flow and/or volume stormwater flow and direct discharge capabilities. Private stormwater facilities eligible for credits listed above constitute elements of the secondary drainage system. The secondary system is designed to drain a limited area with benefits limited to the owners of the particular property or owners of adjacent properties. As such, secondary elements of the system are not eligible for 100% credit.
2. Further, there are administrative costs involved with operation of the DSM that must be shared by all users, including costs incurred to meet quality-based permit requirements, which provide community-wide benefits, and thus cannot be credited. Discounts and credits shall be cumulative; however, in no case shall the total amount of discounts and credits equal more than 65% of the user's gross stormwater service fee.
3. The formula for determining the applicable credit percentage for individual parcels shall be specifically set out in the Rules and Regulations of the DSM.
(l) Federal, state, city and county roadways, publicly-owned airport movement areas. Publicly-owned streets and roads and highway shall be given 100% credit in reliance on governmental guidance documents which classify them as an integral part of the stormwater conveyance system. Publicly-owned airport movement areas including runways, taxiways, ramps and other areas of an airport which are used for taxiing or hover taxiing, air taxiing, takeoff and landing of aircraft when constructed and maintained similarly to public roadways, shall also qualify for this credit. The surface water control systems incorporated in the design of roadways and airport movement are areas engineered to convey all design runoff without street flooding, and the like associated with frequent, small runoff events up to about five- or ten- year recurrence intervals, and as such, constitute elements of the primary drainage system. Primary elements of the drainage system yield community-wide benefits and are installed to service the general public's interests, conveying runoff from large areas encompassing whole watershed in some cases.
(3) Procedure.
(a) Timing of applications and/or determinations. Application for credits shall be made on forms provided by City Utilities and accompanied by the appropriate application fee. The fee shall be $25 for residential users and $100 for all others. It is the intent of the city that all applications will be reviewed and credits and discounts determined within 30 days after submittal of a complete and correct application package. The credit will be effective on the 1st billing cycle for that property following completion of construction, or the date of the application. Appeals. Appeals of credit or discount determinations shall be handled consistent with the procedures set out above for reconsideration of ERU petitions. Appeals of credit or discount decisions will be made initially to the Director, or his designee. Should satisfaction not be achieved, an appeal may be lodged with the Board.
(b) Application for credit or discount, or appeal of determination thereon shall not constitute a valid reason for non-payment of the originally assessed stormwater service charge by the user.
(Ord. G-11-07, passed 4-10-07)
All revenues earned and fees collected for stormwater service, including but not limited to, drainage service charges, permit and inspection fees, direct charges and interest earnings on any unused funds shall be deposited in an account entitled "City of Fort Wayne Stormwater Account." Disbursements from this account will be authorized by the Board and, as required by law, the Common Council. Such disbursements will be used exclusively for the operation, maintenance and improvement of the city's stormwater system. Funds from this account shall not revert to any other city utilities or Civil City Fund and may not be transferred for any other purpose, including to avoid a default on bonds or any city utilities fund or the city.
(Ord. G-11-07, passed 4-10-07)
Delinquent charges for stormwater services, and applied penalties, recording fees and service charges may be made a lien upon the property when the delinquent party is the property owner and may be collected in accordance with the provisions of IC 36-9-23-32 and 36-9-23-33.
(Ord. G-11-07, passed 4-10-07)
(A) SWP3 submittal review and fees. The following table contains the hourly fees to be charged for review of SWP3/stormwater plan submittals and compliance inspections.
Permit/Fee Type | Extra Submittal Review - Rate Per Hour1 | Extra SWP3 Inspection - Rate Per Hour2 |
Single residential lot | $140 | $80 |
Development (0-19.99 acres)3 | $265 | $220 |
Development (20+ acres) | $355 | $220 |
1 Review of initial submittals and a maximum of two resubmittals will be performed at no charge to the applicant. Time spent on plan reviews beyond the initial submittal and two resubmittals will be charged at these hourly rates until the submittal is approved. For projects involving only City Utilities in the review, the cost per hour is measured based on the City Utilities’ staff time spent on the review. For projects involving consultants, the time measurement is based on the senior consulting engineer’s time spent on the review. 2 Sites that have been issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) will incur a re-inspection cost for time spent on each reinspection until the site is brought into compliance. For projects involving only City Utilities in the inspection, the cost per hour is measured based on the City Utilities’ staff time spent on the review. For projects involving consultants, the time measurement is based on the senior consulting engineer’s time spent on the review. 3 The size of all sites will be rounded to the nearest hundredth of an acre for purposes of determining SWP3 review and inspection fees. | ||
(B) Regulated drain fees. Fees for review of petitions involving regulated drains will be assessed in accordance with the following table:
Permit/Fee Type | Standard Regulated Drain Review Fee |
Drain encroachment/drain crossing | $220 |
Drain reconstruction/drain vacation/drain abandonment | $760 |
(C) BMP inspection fees. Fees for inspections of BMPs will be assessed in accordance with the following table.
Permit/Fee Type | Annual BMP Inspection Fee4 | BMP Extra Inspection Hourly Rate ($/Hour)5 |
Stormwater BMP | $520 | $290 |
4 The inspection fee for a single private BMP if the required annual inspection is not performed by the property owner and/or information from the property owner does not meet City Utilities’ requirements. 5 Sites with BMP deficiencies identified in site inspections will incur a re-inspection cost for time spent on each inspection until the site is brought into compliance. For projects involving only City Utilities in the inspection, the cost per hour is measured based on the City Utilities’ staff time spent on the review. For projects involving consultants, the time measurement is based on the senior consulting engineer’s time spent on the review. | ||
(Ord. G-28-22, passed 12-13-22; Am. Ord. G-17-24, passed 7-9-24)
ENFORCEMENT
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