By Mary Thurwachter
Although the Lantana Town Council hasn’t officially voted to add a stormwater utility fee yet to cover the cost of drainage projects, officials are getting their ducks in a row to implement one. To that end, the town heard from the consulting firm it has hired, Chen Moore and Associates, during a June 10 workshop.
The fee is likely to cost property owners between $5 and $6 a month, according to Brent Whitfield, a project manager with Chen Moore and Associates.
Town Manager Brian Raducci said the utility fee has been a topic for the past eight to 10 months and was discussed at the council’s visioning session on April 19.
“Stormwater utility has a cost that has continued to grow,” Raducci said. “We anticipate it will be a larger part of our cost of operations in the future with probably the need for additional construction down the road. It’s time to take a good look at this.”
Lantana’s annual stormwater operations and maintenance costs are $320,030, according to a study done by the engineering firm.
That study also showed that the average monthly rate of utility fees for 130 Florida municipalities is about $8.
The fee is assessed based on the impact of stormwater generated from property within the town. The impact is calculated based on the amount of impervious area (land area covered or paved), and this is shown as an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU.
In Palm Beach County, monthly stormwater rates range from $4 in Palm Springs to $19 in Wellington, with an average among eight municipalities of $8.91 (Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington).
The council is expected to adopt a preliminary rate at its July 8 meeting. That rate would be sent to the county property appraiser by July 28 to be included in the TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice mailed to property owners in August. The final rate can be less, but not more, than the TRIM notice rate. The TRIM notice also includes all proposed property tax rates affecting a property.
The council is likely to have another workshop on a stormwater fee on July 22 when feedback from residents will be collected. First and second readings of the ordinance would be Aug. 12 and Sept. 9.
Although public comments were not accepted at the June workshop, one Hypoluxo Island man waited until the end of the Town Council meeting that followed the workshop to voice his objection during public comments.
“To go ahead and put an additional tax on the residents in my mind is not fair,” said Jordan Nichols. He also said hearings and meetings on important topics such as this should be postponed until February or March, since many island residents are away during the summer months.
Comments