[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village President and the Board
of the Village of Whitefish Bay as Secs. 19.01 through 19.10 of the
Codification. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Village Stormwater Utility is hereby created to be operated
under the administrative direction of the Village Engineer. The overall
operation of the Stormwater Utility shall be under the supervision
and control of the Village Board.
The Village, acting through the Stormwater Utility, may under
the authority of Chapters 61 and 66 of the Wisconsin Statutes, including,
but not limited to §§ 61.34(5), 61.36, 61.39, 66.0621,
66.0627, 66.0809, 66.0811, and 66.0821, do all those acts permitted
to a stormwater utility under Wisconsin Statutes, including, but not
limited to, the following:
A.
Acquire, construct, lease, own, operate, maintain, extend, expand,
replace, clean, dredge, repair, manage and finance such facilities
as are deemed by the Village to be proper and necessary for storm
and surface water management. These facilities may include, without
limitation due to enumeration, surface and underground drainage facilities,
sewers, watercourse, retaining walls, ponds, streets, roads, ditches
and such other natural or man-made facilities as will support a stormwater
management system;
B.
Undertake operations or activities, or provide any services deemed
by the Village to be proper and necessary for storm and surface water
management; and
C.
Maintain compliance with all regulatory requirements for storm and
surface water management.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any or all of the fee components as established by the Village
Board.
A parcel shall be considered developed pursuant to this chapter
if it has measurable impervious surfaces of at least 153 square feet.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 17, Village
Code and Ordinances, Art. I)]
The Village Engineer or his/her designee.
The average horizontal impervious area of single-family properties
within the Village, based on the "Village Zoning District 2 Single-Family
Residence" zoning classification.
A horizontal surface that has been compacted or covered with
a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration
by rainwater. This includes, but is not limited to, streets, roofs,
sidewalks, parking lots and other similar surfaces as well as semi-impervious
surfaces such as compacted gravel, stone or clay.
A tract of land.
An identifying number to relate ownership (unique or shared)
in a parcel.
Any lot or parcel that has less than 153 square feet of impervious
surfaces.
A.
This chapter is applicable to all lands, lots or parcels within the
Village; and
B.
This chapter is applicable to lands outside the Village by written
agreement approved by the Village Board, which include the acceptance
of stormwater utility fees as established from time to time pursuant
to the terms of this chapter and subject to all other legal requirements.
For purposes of imposing the stormwater charges, all applicable
lands, lots and parcels shall be assigned a customer classification
by the Director.
The following charge methodology is established for the purpose
of imposing stormwater charges:
A.
Charge component establishment. There shall be three charge components
that may be used to share the costs of the Stormwater Utility. These
charge components are:
(1)
Base charge (BC). The BC may be imposed on all lands, lots and parcels
in the Village. The base charge will be designed to reflect the fact
that all parcels benefit from the stormwater management activities
of the Village and/or that all parcels contribute stormwater runoff
(quantity burden) and pollution (quality burden) that must be managed
by the Village. The BC may be designed to collect the administrative
costs and other appropriate expenses of the stormwater utility operations
and maintenance. The BC may be based on the size of a parcel, impervious
area (ERU basis), or other method.
(2)
Equivalency charge (EC). The EC may be imposed on all parcels with
impervious area. The EC will be designed on an ERU comparative basis.
(3)
Special charge (SC). The SC may be imposed on parcels that are in
an area specially benefited and served by a particular stormwater
management facility or service. This charge will be developed to reflect
the relative burden of each parcel in a particular area that may not
be appropriate to allocate to all parcels throughout the Village.
The SC will be calculated on an ERU comparative basis unless dictated
otherwise by resolution or ordinance.
B.
Charge component modification. The Village Board may, by ordinance
or resolution, modify the aforementioned charge components or establish
additional charge components to provide a fair and reasonable distribution
of the costs of the Stormwater Utility.
C.
ERU establishment. The value 1.0 ERU is established to be equivalent
to 3,045 square feet of impervious area.
D.
Impervious area determination. The Director shall be responsible
for determining the impervious area of parcels as necessary to establish
and maintain this stormwater utility, based on the best available
information, including, but not limited to, data supplied by the Village
Assessor, aerial photography, the parcel owner, tenant or developer.
The Director may require additional information as necessary to make
the determination.
E.
Parcel ERU determination. The number of ERUs on an individual parcel
is determined as follows:
(1)
Developed parcels. All parcels determined to be developed are classified
as such and are assigned an impervious area square footage and corresponding
ERU value rounded to the nearest 0.1 ERU.
(2)
Undeveloped parcels. All parcels determined to be undeveloped (less
than 153 square feet of impervious surfaces) are classified as such
and assigned an impervious area square footage (if any) and an ERU
value of zero for the purposes of this Utility.
F.
Stormwater fees. The Village Board may, by resolution, set or adjust
the base charge, equivalency charge and the special charge fees to
recover the cost of the stormwater management program. Stormwater
fees will be kept on file with the Village Clerk-Treasurer and the
Director. The fee for any individual parcel shall be the sum of all
applicable charge components.
G.
Billing methodology. The fee applicable to a parcel as established
hereunder shall be billed to the parcel owner in the same manner as
the water and sewer utility fees. The parcel owner shall be responsible
for payment of the Stormwater Utility fee. A bill may be sent to a
parcel that is not receiving other services from the Village. Late
payment, failure to pay, and checks returned for insufficient funds
shall be subject to the same penalties as established and documented
by the Village for water and sewer utility fees. Unpaid charges may
be assessed as a lien against the parcel pursuant to §§ 66.0809
and 66.0821(4)(d), Wis. Stats.
A.
The Village Board shall from time to time adopt the criteria for
providing adjustments, rebates, and credits.
B.
The application fee schedule for adjustments, rebates, and credits
will be established by the Village Board through resolution.
(1)
Adjustments. Adjustments may be considered at the request of parcel
owners to correct the amount of impervious area upon which the bill
is based, correct or update the parcel customer classification or
other items of consequence, upon the presentation of site-specific
information.
(a)
Adjustment procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for an adjustment
to update or correct the information assigned to the parcel if the
parcel owner believes there to be some information that is inaccurate.
The following procedure for applying for an adjustment is established:
[1]
A request for an adjustment may be submitted at any time. All
such requests shall be submitted to the Director on forms provided
by the Village, together with all supporting information and any application
fees.
[2]
The Director may require the parcel owner, at parcel owner's
expense, to provide supplemental information.
(b)
Granting of adjustments.
[2]
Adjustments applied for and granted in whole or in part shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the adjustment has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the adjustment as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
(2)
Rebates. Parcel owners that install and properly maintain applicable
devices/practices may be eligible for a one-time rebate. A rebate
is not a long-term reduction (credit) in the stormwater utility charge.
Rebates may be updated or amended from time to time by the Director.
(a)
Technical and procedural criteria. The Director shall establish
specified technical and procedural criteria by which rebates will
be granted. Copies of such technical and procedural criteria will
be maintained by and be available from the Engineering Department.
(b)
Rebate procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for a rebate if,
based on a review of available technical and procedural criteria,
the parcel owner believes there to be grounds for receiving a rebate.
The following procedure for applying for a rebate is established:
[1]
Parcel owners must make application to the Director on forms
provided by the Director for such purpose.
[2]
The application for any rebates must be in writing and must
include the information necessary to document the eligibility for
the rebate, accompanied by any application fee, and be in the format
established by the Director. Incomplete applications will not be accepted
by the Director.
[3]
Where applicable as a condition for granting rebate, applicants
must have an approved maintenance agreement on file with the Director.
(c)
Granting of rebates.
[2]
Rebates applied for and granted, in whole or in part, shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the rebate has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the rebate as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
(3)
Credits. Parcel owners may be eligible for credits (reduction) to
their stormwater utility charge. A credit may be considered for parcels
that either receive a reduced level of stormwater management service
or result from privately owned and properly constructed and maintained
stormwater-mitigating measures that allow the Village to realize a
cost savings in some portion of their stormwater management program.
(a)
Credit policy. The Director shall establish a credit policy
and procedural criteria by which credits will be granted. Copies of
such credit policy and procedural criteria will be maintained by and
be available from the Engineering Department.
(b)
Credit procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for credit if,
based on a review of available credit policy, the parcel owner believes
there to be grounds for receiving credit to their stormwater fee.
The following procedure for applying for credit is established:
[1]
Parcel owners must make application to the Director on forms
provided by the Director for such purpose.
[2]
The application for any credit must be in writing and must include
the information necessary to document the eligibility for the credit,
accompanied by any application fee, and be in the format established
by the Director. Incomplete applications will not be accepted by the
Director.
[3]
Where applicable as a condition for granting credits, applicants
must have an approved maintenance agreement on file with the Director.
(c)
Granting of credits.
[2]
Credits applied for and granted, in whole or in part, shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the credit has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the adjustment as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
(d)
Regular review of credit. The Director may review the credit
and the basis thereof periodically and may terminate the credit if
grounds are found to do so. If such credit is terminated, the parcel
owner will be notified in writing of the grounds for revoking the
credit. The owner may appeal such determination following the appeals
process or may, if possible, correct the deficiencies that caused
the termination and reapply for the credit.
Appeals regarding the stormwater utility charges levied herein
or any adjustment, rebate, or credit requests shall be made to the
Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board of Appeals shall make the determination
of the charges within the scope of this chapter after considering
all the facts in each case. If the finding of the Zoning Board of
Appeals is not acceptable, the appeal may be elevated to the Village
Board.
The Village shall separately account for the Stormwater Utility
finances. The Stormwater Utility shall prepare an annual budget, which
is to include all operation and maintenance costs, costs of borrowing,
capital costs and other costs related to the operation of the stormwater
utility. The budget is subject to approval by the Village Board. Any
excess stormwater revenues over expenditures in a year will be retained
by the fund for subsequent years' needs of the stormwater utility.
In the event that any provision of this chapter is for any reason
held to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable by any court
of competent jurisdiction, such portions of this chapter shall be
deemed separate, distinct and independent provisions of the chapter
and all remaining portions of this chapter shall remain in full force
and effect.
