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STORM WATER UTILITY
By the adoption of this chapter the Town Council hereby establishes a storm water utility to support storm water management programs to protect water quality by controlling the level of pollutants in and the quantity and flow of storm water as well as storm water structures and natural storm water and drainage systems of all types. The storm water utility is a public enterprise furnishing services to the town and its citizens.
(Ord. passed 6-25-2007)
All storm water service charges and interest generated by such charges, also referred to as the storm water utility funds, shall be accounted for separately from all other revenues and funds and shall be used by the town solely for the operational costs, maintenance costs, management costs, indirect costs, capital improvements, debt principal and debt service, and establishment of a reserve fund for storm water services. The town may use funds that are not storm water utility funds to provide storm water services.
(Ord. passed 6-25-2007)
(A) All developed land in the town, whether public or private, shall be subject to a storm water service charge. Exemptions shall not be allowed based on age, tax exemption, or other status of an individual or organization. Storm water service charges may be subject to a credit system as further provided herein.
(B) Storm water service charges on developed land shall be based on a schedule of rates, charges, tiers, and late fees fixed and established from time to time by the Town Council, adopted in the annual budget ordinance and maintained on file in the offices of the Town Clerk. Storm water service charges will be determined and modified from time to time by the Town Council, so that the total revenues generated by said charges will be used to pay the principal and the interest on the debt incurred for storm water purposes, and such expenses as are reasonably necessary for providing storm water services within the town.
(C) Computation of storm water service charges.
(1) For single-family developed residential land, the monthly storm water service charges shall be based on the median amount of impervious surface on a single-family residential lot in the town, which is known as an "Equivalent Residential Unit" or ERU. (The median amount of impervious surfaces on a single-family residential lot in the town has been calculated to be square feet.) There shall be two tiers for single-family developed properties, based on the amounts of impervious surfaces of single-family properties, as shown in the following table.
Single-Family Size | Amount of Impervious Area |
Small and medium | Less than ERU square feet |
Large | Greater than ERU square feet |
(2) For other developed residential land, the monthly storm water service charges shall be one ERU per each dwelling unit. This category includes townhouses, apartments, condominiums, and other multi-unit residential developments.
(3) For all other developed properties, the monthly storm water service charge on developed land is calculated by dividing the total impervious surface area of the property by one ERU, rounded to the nearest tenth, multiplied by the established monthly ERU rate.
(D) The following exemptions from storm water management service charges are allowed provided that requests for exemptions authorized under this division are made in writing to the Town Manager or his or her designee and document the application of the exemption. The Town Manager may approve or reject the request in whole or in part.
(1) Undeveloped land.
(2) Improved public transportation ways, including public streets, roads, greenways and trails, airport taxiways and runways, and internal roads within public facilities which have been conveyed to the North Carolina Department of Transportation or the town and which are used by the general public for motor vehicle transportation.
(3) Railroad tracks. However, railroad stations, maintenance buildings or other developed land shall not be exempted from storm water management service charges.
(4) Developed land with less than 400 square feet of impervious surface area.
(Ord. passed 6-25-2007)
(A) The storm water utility fee shall be billed on an annual basis and shall be due and payable within the time and manner prescribed by law for town ad valorem taxes, G.S. § 105-360. The town tax collector shall bill and collect the annual storm water fee established herein in the same manner as town taxes are collected and shall include the storm water fee as one or more line items on the tax bills mailed to each owner of the property subject to the storm water fee.
(B) The property owner is ultimately responsible for payment of the storm water service charge for property for which the party billed has not paid the storm water management service charge.
(C) Storm water utility fees shall be past due after January 5th of each calendar year. Said past due amounts shall bear the same rate of interest and penalty as unpaid past due property tax. Unpaid past due storm water utility bills shall become a lien against the real property and may be collected by civil action in the nature of foreclosure in the appropriate division of the General Court of Justice for Union County, North Carolina. In any legal action for collection of past due unpaid storm water utility bills, the attorneys fees for the town shall be taxed against the customer or consumer as a part of the judgment.
(Ord. passed 6-25-2007)
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