City of Hagerstown, MD Article XIII Stormwater Protection Program

[Added 4-28-2020 by Ord. No. O-20-15]

§ 213-30 Authority.

The City is authorized by § 4-204(d) of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended, to adopt a system of charges to fund the implementation of a stormwater management program.

§ 213-31 Purpose and organization.

A. The City Council finds that an adequate, sustainable source of revenue for the implementation of a stormwater management program is necessary to protect the general public health, safety, and welfare. Further, the City Council finds that higher amounts of impervious area contribute greater amounts of stormwater and pollutants to the stormwater management system. Therefore, the City Council determines that it is in the best interest of the public to enact a stormwater utility fee that allocates stormwater management program costs to all owners of real property based on impervious area.

B. The stormwater management program shall be operated under the direction of the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall develop a stormwater utility fee policy and procedure manual for adoption by City Council resolution. The manual shall contain the necessary policies and procedures to carry out this article, as well as any credit policy pursuant to § 213-34.

§ 213-32 Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund.

A. The City's Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund is established as a dedicated, separate enterprise fund.

B. The following revenue will be deposited into the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund:

(1) All fees established by the City Council to cover the cost of administering the provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to application and permit fees and fines.

(2) All revenue collected from the imposition of the stormwater utility fee pursuant to § 213-33.

(3) All interest from deposits in the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund.

(4) Any payments received pursuant to § 213-9D(5).

(5) Any other revenue as may be determined by the City Council or the City Engineer, including but not limited to grants and special appropriations.

C. The Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund will be used for the sole purpose of recovering costs associated with the management of stormwater, including the following:

(1) The study, design, purchase, construction, expansion, retrofit, repair, maintenance, landscaping, operation, and inspection of any component of the stormwater management system;

(2) Review, approval and enforcement of stormwater management plans;

(3) Street sweeping;

(4) Water quality and pollution prevention education and outreach activities;

(5) Water quality monitoring, inspection, and enforcement activities, including illicit discharge and illicit connection investigations;

(6) Program administration and implementation, including reasonable operating and capital reserves to meet unanticipated or emergency requirements associated with the management of stormwater;

(7) Land acquisition (including but not limited to easements and rights-of-way) associated with the construction, operation, or maintenance of any component of the stormwater management system;

(8) Retrofitting developed areas for pollution control;

(9) Financial incentive programs for assistance with construction of private stormwater management systems;

(10) Planning and program development associated with these activities; and

(11) Any other activities consistent with § 4-204(d)(1) of the Environment Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.

§ 213-33 Stormwater utility fee.

A. A stormwater utility fee is hereby imposed on all real property in the City that exists on January 1 of each year, including government-owned real property and regardless of whether the property is subject to taxation under Title 7, Tax Property Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.

B. All revenue from the stormwater utility fee and income derived from the fee shall be deposited into the Stormwater Utility Enterprise Fund described in § 213-32.

C. The stormwater utility fee billing unit is 1,000 square feet of impervious area. The rate per stormwater utility fee billing unit to be used for calculating the stormwater utility fee shall be set by the City Council by resolution.

D. Except as otherwise provided in this article, the impervious area for a property will be determined by the City using aerial photography, as-built drawings, final approved site plans, field surveys, or other appropriate engineering and mapping analysis tools as determined by the City Engineer.

E. Except as otherwise provided in this article, the stormwater utility fee for a property will be calculated in the following manner:

(1) Determine the impervious area of the property in square feet;

(2) Divide the impervious area of the property by the stormwater utility fee billing unit;

(3) Round the resulting calculation to the nearest whole number to determine the number of stormwater utility fee billing units; and

(4) Multiply the number of stormwater utility fee billing units by the rate established in Subsection C to obtain the stormwater utility fee for the property.

F. The stormwater utility fee for any common area not owned by a community association or business park will be charged as follows:

(1) The stormwater utility fee for the common area will be calculated based on the impervious area of the common area in the manner described in Subsection E.

(2) The entire stormwater utility fee for the impervious area of the common area will be divided equally among the property tax accounts for all accounts assigned to the property owners of record in the community or business park by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

G. The stormwater utility fee for a condominium will be charged as follows:

(1) The stormwater utility fee for the impervious area of the condominium will be calculated in accordance with the methodology in Subsection E.

(2) The entire stormwater utility fee for the condominium will be divided equally among the property tax accounts for all accounts assigned to the condominium unit owners of record by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

H. The City Administrator, at his sole discretion, may authorize the use of alternative methodologies for billing the stormwater utility fee.

I. No stormwater utility fee shall be charged to a property with less than 500 square feet of impervious area where the calculation in Subsection E results in zero billing units.

J. Roads and rights-of-way. No stormwater utility fee will be charged to public roads or other property within a public right-of-way. The stormwater utility fee will be charged to owners of private alleys, streets, and roads except where the City Engineer determines that a private street or road functions primarily as a public street or road.

K. Mainline tracks. No stormwater utility fee will be charged to mainline tracks devoted to movement of subway, rapid transit, and railroad traffic. The stormwater utility fee will be charged for all other impervious areas associated with the movement of subway, rapid transit, and railroad traffic, including but not limited to parking lots, maintenance yards, buildings, and storage areas.

§ 213-34 Credits.

The City Council shall adopt by resolution as part of the stormwater utility fee policy and procedure manual a system of credits against the stormwater utility fee for a property owner who operates and maintains a stormwater management structure designed, installed, and accepted by the City in accordance with technical standards required by the City at the time of construction or in accordance with other technical standards approved at the discretion of the City Engineer. No credit will be provided unless the structure is subject to a properly executed maintenance agreement with the City. No credit will be provided if the City Engineer determines that the structure is not functioning as designed and the property owner fails to take corrective action within the time period provided by the City Engineer. Nothing shall prevent the City Council from modifying the adopted system of credits. Any such modification may apply to holders of existing credits at the discretion of the City Council.

§ 213-35 Method of collection, interest, and penalties.

A. The City will prepare and forward to the Director of Finance the necessary data for collecting the stormwater utility fee from owners of real property in the City. The data must include the identification of each parcel to be charged and the amount of the fee. The fee will be included as a separate line item on the water and wastewater bill for each property subject to the fee. Property owned by people or entities who do not receive a water and wastewater bill will be billed separately. The bill will include information on whom to contact for questions and petitions for adjustment.

B. The stormwater utility fee will be considered delinquent if not paid on or before the due date shown on the bill. If the owner has filed a petition for adjustment in accordance with § 213-36, the stormwater utility fee must be paid by the date shown on the bill and will be reimbursed to the owner if the petition for adjustment is successful.

C. A late charge on an overdue payment accrues according to the same schedule and at the same rate charged for delinquent water and wastewater bills until the owner has remitted the outstanding payment and late charge. Unpaid charges are subject to all penalties and remedies that apply to unpaid water and wastewater bills, including but not limited to discontinuance and a reconnection charge.

§ 213-36 Petitions for adjustment.

A. Any property owner subject to the stormwater utility fee may petition for an adjustment to the fee by submitting a request in writing to the City within 30 days after the date the bill is issued to the property owner. Grounds for adjustment of the stormwater utility fee are limited to the following:

(1) An error was made regarding the square footage of the impervious area attributed to the property;

(2) A mathematical error in calculating the stormwater utility fee;

(3) An error in the identification of the property owner billed; or

(4) An approved credit was incorrectly applied.

B. The property owner shall complete a petition for adjustment form in a format approved by the City Engineer. In the event the City Engineer finds that the form is incomplete, the City Engineer shall offer the property owner 15 additional days from his decision to supply the missing or incomplete information. If the missing or incomplete information is not provided to the City Engineer within the fifteen-additional-day period, the petition for adjustment shall be considered withdrawn.

C. If the property owner alleges an error in the amount of the impervious area, a plan view of the property's impervious area will be provided by the City with labeled dimensions of all impervious area within the property boundaries. If, based on the plan view or other materials provided by the property owner, the City Engineer finds that the impervious area calculation is in error, the City will recalculate the impervious area of the property.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Former Subsection D, regarding appeals of final decision, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 7-26-2022 by Ord. No. O-22-09.

§ 213-37 Effective date.

The provisions of this article shall be effective May 29, 2020. The initial billing shall be for fiscal year 2021 based on impervious area in existence as of January 1, 2020.