Village of Bellevue, WI Article I Stormwater Management Utility

[Adopted 3-13-2002 (Ch. 16 of the 1998 Code)]

§ 400-1 Findings.

A. The Village of Bellevue finds that the management of stormwater and other surface water discharges within and beyond its borders is a matter that affects the public health, safety and welfare of the Village, its citizens and businesses and others in the surrounding area. The development of land increases impervious surfaces and results in increased stormwater runoff. Failure to effectively manage this increased stormwater runoff affects the sanitary sewer utility operations of the Village Sanitary District by, among other things, increasing the likelihood of infiltration and inflow in the sanitary sewer. In addition, surface water runoff may create erosion of lands, threaten businesses and residences with water damage and create sedimentation and other environmental damage in the Village.

B. The cost of operating and maintaining the Village stormwater management system, ensuring regulatory compliance, and financing necessary plans, studies, repairs, replacements, improvements and extension thereof should, to the extent practicable, be allocated in relationship to the benefits enjoyed and services received therefrom.

§ 400-2 Establishment of Stormwater Management Utility.

A. In order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, the Village Board is exercising its authority to establish the Village of Bellevue Stormwater Management Utility and set the rates for stormwater management services.

B. The operation of the Stormwater Management Utility shall be under the supervision of the Village Board. The Village Administrator will be in charge of the Stormwater Management Utility.

C. The Village is acting under the authority of Chapters 61 and 66 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and particularly without limitation the following sections: §§ 66.0621, 60.0627, 66.0701, 66.0703, 66.0809, 66.0811, 66.0813 and 66.0821.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).

§ 400-3 Powers and duties of Utility.

A. Facilities. The Village through the Stormwater Management Utility may acquire, construct, lease, own, operate, maintain, extend, expand, replace, clean, dredge, repair, conduct, manage and finance such facilities as are deemed by the Village to be proper and reasonably necessary for a system of stormwater and surface water management. These facilities may include, without limitation by enumeration, surface and underground drainage facilities, sewers, watercourses, retaining walls and ponds and such other facilities as will support a stormwater management system.

B. Rates and charges. The Village through the Stormwater Management Utility may establish such rates and charges as are necessary to finance planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of the facilities in accordance with the procedures set forth in this article.

C. Budgeting process. The Village through the Stormwater Management Utility shall prepare an annual budget, which is to include all operation and maintenance costs, debt service and other costs related to the operation of the Stormwater Management Utility. The costs shall be spread over the rate classifications as determined by the Board. The budget is subject to the public hearing and approval process set forth in § 65.90, Wis. Stats.

D. Excess revenues. The Village will retain any excess of revenues over expenditures in a year in a segregated Stormwater Enterprise Fund which shall be used exclusively for purposes consistent with this article.

§ 400-4 Definitions.

In this article, the following terms have the meanings set forth below:

ADMINISTRATOR

The Village Administrator or his designee.

DUPLEX UNIT

A residential space containing two dwelling units.

DWELLING UNIT

One or more rooms that are arranged, designed or used as living quarters for one family only. Individual bathrooms and complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, shall always be included for each dwelling unit.

EQUIVALENT RUNOFF UNIT or ERU

The unit by which a storm sewer charge is calculated in this article and is based on average horizontal impervious area of a fully developed single-family parcel within the Village. An ERU is established as 3,221 square feet.

FARMSTEAD HOME SITE

That portion of any agricultural property which contains one or more dwelling units, regardless of whether the dwelling units are on a separate lot or parcel.

IMPERVIOUS AREA or IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

A horizontal surface that has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by rainwater. It includes, but is not limited to, semi-impervious surfaces such as compacted clay as well as streets, roofs, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways and other similar surfaces.

LOT

A parcel of land having a width and depth sufficient for one principal building and its accessory building together with open spaces required by the Village of Bellevue Zoning Ordinance and abutting a public street or access easement.

MULTIFAMILY UNIT

A residential space consisting of three or more dwelling units.

NONRESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

Any developed lot or parcel, other than residential property as defined herein, including but not limited to transient rentals (such as hotels and motels), mobile home parks, and commercial, industrial, institutional, and governmental property and parking lots.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

Any lot, parcel or farmstead home site developed exclusively for residential purposes, including single-family homes, duplex units, and multifamily units, but not including transient rentals (such as hotels and motels) and mobile home parks.

SINGLE-FAMILY HOME

Any residential property consisting of a single dwelling unit.

STORMWATER SYSTEM

Any natural or man-made stormwater conveyance facility operated or maintained by the Village, including but not limited to retention/detention ponds, ditches, storm sewer, roads and navigable and non-navigable waterways.

UNDEVELOPED PROPERTY

Property that has not been altered by the addition of any improvements such as a building, structure, change of grade or substantial landscaping; agricultural use of property; or property that has been graded for residential or commercial development but does not have buildings, structures or other improvements. A property shall be considered developed pursuant to this article upon issuance of a certificate of occupancy or upon substantial completion of construction or final inspection if no such certificate is issued or where construction is at least 50% complete and construction is halted for a period of three months.

§ 400-5 Rates and charges.

A. By this article, the Village Board is establishing the basis for the rates that will be used to calculate and impose a charge upon each developed lot and parcel within the Village for services and facilities provided by the Stormwater Management Utility consistent with this article. Charges imposed under this article are in addition to assessments imposed under Chapter 49, Article II, of this Code.

B. The amount of the charge to be imposed for each customer classification shall be made by resolution. All rates established pursuant to this article will be fair and reasonable. The current rates will be on file with the Village Clerk.

C. Charges shall be imposed to recover all or a portion of the costs for the Stormwater Management Utility. Such charges may include the following components:

(1) Base charge (BC). The base charge may be imposed on all developed property in the Village. The base charge will be designed to reflect the fact that all developed properties benefit from the stormwater management activities of the Village and that all developed properties contribute in some way to the stormwater discharge that must be managed by the Village. The base charge will be designed to collect the administrative costs of the Stormwater Management Utility and the portion of capital costs not covered by other means.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).

(2) Equivalent runoff unit (ERU) charge. The ERU charge may be assessed for each developed property in the Village based upon the amount of impervious area as reasonably determined by the Administrator under § 400-7 of this article.

(3) Special charge (SC). A special charge may be imposed on property that is in a specific area benefited by a particular stormwater management facility. The special charge will be developed to reflect the benefits/services in a particular area that may not be appropriate to spread to property throughout the Village.

(4) Connection charge (CC). A one-time charge may be imposed when a property is converted from undeveloped to developed property or otherwise becomes connected to the Village stormwater management system. The charge may vary based on the size of the parcel.

D. The Village Board may make such other classifications in accordance with § 400-7 of this article as will be likely to provide reasonable and fair distribution of the costs of the Stormwater Management Utility.

§ 400-6 (Reserved) [1]

[1] Editor's Note: Former § 400-6, Credits, was repealed 2-24-2021 by Ord. No. O-2021-04.

§ 400-7 Customer classifications.

A. For purposes of imposing the base and ERU charges, all lots and parcels within the Village shall be classified into the following five customer classes:

(1) Residential — single family, including farmstead home sites.

(2) Residential — duplex.

(3) Residential — multifamily, including condominiums.

(4) Nonresidential.

(5) Undeveloped.

B. The Administrator shall prepare a list of lots within the Village and assign a customer classification to each lot or parcel.

C. Equivalent runoff units shall be calculated per classification as follows:

(1) Residential — single family: one ERU.

(2) Residential — duplex: 0.75 ERU for each dwelling unit.

(3) Residential — multifamily: 0.6 ERU times the number of dwelling units.

(4) For nonresidential properties equal to or greater than three acres, the Administrator shall be responsible for determining the impervious area based on the best available information, including but not limited to data supplied by the Village Assessor, aerial photography, the property owner, tenant or developer, or actual on-site measurement. The Administrator may require additional information as necessary to make the determination. The billing amount shall be updated by the Administrator based on any additions to the impervious area as approved through the building permit process.

(5) For nonresidential construction less than three acres the impervious area shall be the total acreage of the parcel minus the green space requirement from the Village of Bellevue Zoning Ordinance divided by the ERU. The property owner may seek an adjustment of the ERU by providing appropriate supporting data acceptable to the Administrator.

(6) Undeveloped properties: no ERU.

D. Water quality factor. For nonresidential properties, the number of ERUs calculated under Subsection C(4) or (5) of this section shall be increased by a factor of 25%.

[Added 5-8-2002]

§ 400-8 Billing and penalties.

A. Stormwater Management Utility charges will be billed quarterly with said charges to appear on the bill issued for municipal water and sanitary sewer service. Irrespective of the service periods for municipal water and sanitary sewer service, the first charges billed by the Stormwater Management Utility shall be for the quarter beginning April 1, 2002, and ending June 30, 2002. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to preclude the Stormwater Management Utility from billing on a more frequent basis should the frequency of billing for municipal water and sanitary sewer service be increased.

[Added 5-8-2002]

B. The bills for Stormwater Management Utility charges shall be mailed to the designated utility bill recipient, but this mailing shall not relieve the owner of the property from liability for rental property in the event payment is not made as required in this article. The owner of any property served which is occupied by tenants shall have the right to examine collection records of the Village for the purpose of determining whether such charges have been paid for such tenants, provided that such examination shall be made at the office at which the records are kept and during the hours that such office is open for business.

C. If Stormwater Management Utility charges remain unpaid after a period of 30 days from the date the utility bill was mailed, such bill shall be determined delinquent. The Village may collect delinquent charges under §§ 66.0821(4) and 66.0809(3), Wis. Stats.

D. All delinquent charges shall be subject to a three-percent penalty per quarter in addition to all other charges, including prior penalties or interest, that exist when the delinquent charge is extended upon the tax roll.

E. For any Stormwater Management Utility services provided for which a service charge was or was not charged, billing or credits for such services shall be issued up to 24 months from the date of discovery of such error.

[Added 2-24-2016 by Ord. No. O-2016-06]

§ 400-9 Method of appeal.

A. The Stormwater Management Utility charge or determination of ERUs may be appealed by filing a written appeal with the Village Clerk prior to the utility charge due date, if not paid, or within 30 days of payment. The appeal shall specify all bases for the challenge and the amount of the stormwater charge the customer asserts is appropriate. Failure to file a timely challenge waives all right to later challenge that charge.

[Amended 2-24-2021 by Ord. No. O-2021-04]

B. The Village Administrator will determine whether the stormwater charge is fair and reasonable or whether a refund is due the customer. The Administrator may act with or without a hearing and will inform the customer in writing of his or her decision.

C. The customer has 30 days from the decision of the Administrator to file a written appeal to the Village Board.

D. If the Board or the Administrator determines that a refund is due the customer, the refund will be applied as a credit on the customer's next quarterly stormwater billing, if the refund will not exceed the customer's next quarterly stormwater billing, or will be refunded at the discretion of the Administrator.

§ 400-10 Special assessment and charges.

A. In addition to any other method for collection of the charges established pursuant to this article for Stormwater Management Utility costs, the Village Board finds that these charges may be levied on property as a special charge pursuant to § 66.0627, Wis. Stats. The charges established hereunder reasonably reflect the benefits conferred on property and may be assessed as special charges. The mailing of the bill for such charges to the owner will serve as notice to the owner that failure to pay the charges when due may result in them being charged pursuant to the authority of § 66.0627(4), Wis. Stats., and placed upon the tax roll.

B. In addition to any other method of charging for Stormwater Management Utility costs, the Village Board may by resolution collect special assessments on property in a limited and determinable area for special benefits conferred upon property pursuant to § 66.0703, Wis. Stats. The failure to pay such special assessments may result in a lien on the property enforced pursuant to § 66.0703(13), Wis. Stats.