Ferguson Township irons out details for stormwater fee plan. A public hearing is next
A controversial fee proposal in Ferguson Township continues to take shape, with the board of supervisors meeting for more than four hours Tuesday to fine-tune the ordinance.
The stormwater management utility fee program has been in the works since 2017 and would help pay for stormwater infrastructure, reduce pollution from water runoff and improve water quality. The township decided Tuesday to base the fee on an equivalent residential billing unit to accommodate property diversity.
The ordinance will be presented during a Feb. 1 public hearing, when residents have a chance to voice their opinions.
An ERU-based system means the number of billing units for each parcel will be based on the median value of impervious area — surfaces that prevent water from absorbing into the ground — for single-family detached residential parcels in the township. The township notes at least 3,097 square feet in its definition of an ERU approach.
Under this method, single-family detached residential parcels have one billing unit. This approach is used when a community does not have impervious area data on a parcel-by-parcel basis, according to the township.
Township consultant Elizabeth Treadway explained that buildings would be analyzed to determine billing. For example, grouped properties — condominiums or stacked parcels — would be billed based on the building’s total footprint and divided among landowners.
“We look at those individually and consider them unique, and we analyze the cost to them in the most equitable manner,” she said. “If it looks like a single-family home, but there are four dwelling units inside, it’s a single-family charge divided among four owners.”
The township has yet to update its website with the most recent changes to the draft, so property owners may see a higher amount for their property than what is proposed on the rate tables included on the township website, Supervisor Steve Miller said.
“We’re talking about less than $150 for almost every home and less than $200 for any farm,” Miller said — adding that residents would pay about $119 and farmers would pay about $150 per year.
In October, landowners — specifically farmers — opposed the fee, saying that it would create more financial burden on residents and adding that the agriculture community contributes very little to the level of service needed to manage stormwater. Larry Harpster, a lifelong township resident and farmer, told the board in October that farmers manage rainwater as part of crop and animal farm management.
The township has outlined a proposed credit and exemption program to accommodate diversity among properties, specifically farms that work to manage stormwater.
The township has continued to stress the need to address the rising cost of the stormwater system and its increasing complexities.
“If every parcel in the township was completely pervious, we had no impervious surface, we would still have a need for stormwater management, and that’s a simplistic way to look at it, but it’s very true,” Township Manager David Pribulka said.
Along with meeting details, the most recent changes to the proposed ordinance will be updated prior to the February public hearing. If adopted, it could take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
