(A) The Town Council shall establish by ordinance the amounts and classifications of Stormwater Utility Management Program fees to be implemented to help fund the Program.
(B) The Town Council shall consider, among other things, the following criteria in establishing fees:
(1) The fee system must be reasonable and equitable so that property owners pay in general relationship to their contribution to the need for and benefit from the Program, and the fees must bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the service. The fees shall be apportioned in an aggregately reasonable basis of equality with due regard for the benefits conferred. The Town Council recognizes that these benefits, while reasonable, in many cases cannot be measured directly.
(2) Cost analysis, construction, maintenance, and the overall operation of the stormwater utility system should be borne by all property owners in the town, in that all will enjoy the direct and indirect benefits of an improved and well-maintained utility system.
(3) All fees established should be in an amount that is reasonable and equitable under the circumstances.
(4) The components of the calculations used to establish fees may include, but shall not be limited to, the following component cost factors:
(a) Stormwater utility management planning and preparation of comprehensive watershed master plans for stormwater management;
(b) Regular inspections of public and private stormwater utility management facilities and measures and the construction thereof;
(c) Maintenance and improvement of stormwater utility management facilities that have been accepted by the town for that purpose;
(d) Plan review and inspection of stormwater management plans, measures, and practices;
(e) Retrofitting designated watersheds to reduce existing flooding problems or to improve water quality;
(f) Acquisition of interests in land, including easements;
(g) Design and construction of stormwater utility management facilities and measures and acquisition of equipment;
(h) Administration and cost of enforcement;
(i) Water quantity and water quality management, including monitoring and surveillance; and
(j) Debt service and financing costs.
(5) The practical difficulties and limitations related to establishing, calculating, and administering such fees.
(6) The components of the calculations used to establish fees shall be based on an equivalent residential unit (ERU), to be determined by the Town Council with reasonable general adjustments being made for, but not limited to, the following factors:
(a) Commercial and land uses other than single-family residential;
(b) Vacant and/or undeveloped land; and
(c) Other generally accepted factors relevant to such calculations based upon the provisions of this chapter.
(Ord. 21059, passed 8-10-21)