[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of South
Milwaukee. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Storm Water Utility will be operated as part of the Engineering
Department. The operation of the Storm Water Utility shall be under
the supervision of the Common Council. The director of the Storm Water
Utility will be the City Engineer.
The City, acting through the Storm Water Utility, may without
limitation due to enumeration, do all those acts permitted to a storm
water utility under Wis. Stats., §§ 66.0621, 66.0627,
66.0809, and 66.0821, including 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 City 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,
water course, retaining walls, ponds, streets, roads, ditches and
such other natural or manmade facilities as will support a storm water
management system.
B.
Undertake operations or activities, or provide any services deemed
by the City 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.
For the purpose of this Ordinance, the following definitions
shall apply: words used in the singular shall include the plural;
words used in the present tense shall include the future tense; the
word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary; the word "may" is
permissive. Words not defined herein shall be construed to have the
meaning given by common and ordinary use as defined in the latest
edition of Webster's Dictionary.
Any or all of the fee components as established by the Common
Council.
A parcel shall be considered developed pursuant to this Ordinance
if it has measurable impervious surfaces and:
The City Engineer or his/her designee.
Any residential space identified for habitation by the City
Building Code.
The statistical average horizontal impervious area of a representative
sample of developed "single family" and "two family" properties within
the City of South Milwaukee.
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, semi-impervious
surfaces such as compacted gravel, stone or clay, as well as streets,
roofs, sidewalks, parking lots and other similar surfaces.
Any residential lot or parcel identified for habitation with
three or more dwelling units under single ownership including manufactured
home parks and apartments.
Any developed lot or parcel not exclusively residential as
defined herein, including, but not limited to, transient rentals (such
as hotels and motels), commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental
property, parking lots, and other properties containing impervious
surfaces.
Any developed lot or parcel exclusively for residential purposes
including, but not limited to, single family homes, two family homes,
manufactured homes, condominiums, and multifamily apartment buildings.
Any residential lot or parcel identified for habitation with
exactly one dwelling unit.
Any residential lot or parcel identified for habitation with
exactly two dwelling units.
Any lot or parcel that has not been altered from its natural
state by the addition of any impervious surfaces.
This ordinance is applicable to all lands, lots or parcels within
the City of South Milwaukee and lands outside the City of South Milwaukee
by written agreement approved by the Common Council which include
the acceptance of storm water utility fees as established from time
to time pursuant to the terms of this ordinance.
For purposes of imposing the storm water 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 storm water charges:
A.
Charge component establishment. There shall be three charge components
that may be used to share the costs of the Storm Water Utility. These
charge components are:
(1)
Base Charge (BC). The BC may be imposed on all lands, lots and parcels
in the City. The Base Charge will be designed to reflect the fact
that all property benefits from the storm water management activities
of the City and/or that all property contributes storm water runoff
(quantity burden) and pollution (quality burden) that must be managed
by the City (unless otherwise demonstrated by the parcel owner). The
BC may be designed to collect the administrative costs and other appropriate
expenses of the storm water utility operations and maintenance. The
BC may be based on the size of a parcel of property, impervious area,
or other method.
(2)
Equivalent 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 storm water
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 City. The
SC will be calculated on an ERU comparative basis unless dictated
otherwise by resolution or ordinance.
B.
Charge component modification. The City Common Council may, by ordinance,
modify the aforementioned charge components or establish additional
charge components to provide a fair and reasonable distribution of
the costs of the Storm Water Utility.
C.
ERU establishment. The value one ERU is established to be equivalent
to 2,964 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 storm water utility, based on the best available
information, including, but not limited to, data supplied by the City
Assessor, aerial photography, the property owner, tenant or developer.
The Director may require additional information as necessary to make
the determination.
E.
Storm water fees. The City Common Council may, by resolution, set
or adjust the Base Charge, Equivalent Charge and the Special Charge
fees to recover the cost of the storm water management program. Storm
water fees will be kept on file with the City Clerk and the Director.
The fee for any individual parcel shall be the sum of all applicable
charge components.
F.
Billing methodology. The fee applicable to a parcel as established
hereunder shall be billed to the parcel owner in the same manner as
other fees placed on the property tax bill. The property owner shall
be responsible for payment of the Storm Water Utility fee. A bill
may be sent to a property that is not receiving other services from
the City of South Milwaukee. Late payment, failure to pay, and checks
returned for insufficient funds, shall be subject to the same penalties
as established and documented by the City of South Milwaukee for other
fees. Unpaid charges may be assessed as a lien against the property
pursuant to §§ 66.0821(4)(d) and 66.0809, Wis. Stats.
The City Common Council shall adopt, by resolution, the criteria
for providing adjustments and credits.
A.
Adjustments. Adjustments may be considered at the request of property
owners to correct the amount of impervious area upon which the bill
is based, correct or update the parcel customer classifications, or
other items of consequence, upon the presentation of better information.
(1)
Adjustment procedure. Any property owner may apply for an adjustment
to update or correct the information assigned to the property. If
the property owner believes there to be some information that is inaccurate.
The following procedure for applying for an adjustment is established.
(a)
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 City, together with all supporting information and an application
fee.
(b)
The Director may require the property owner, at property owner's
expense, to provide supplemental information.
(2)
Granting of adjustments.
(b)
Adjustments applied for and granted in whole or in part, shall apply from the first day of the calendar month immediately following the date on which a complete application for the adjustment has been filed with the City of South Milwaukee. 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 § 34.08.
B.
Credits. Credits may be considered for parcels that either receive
a reduced level of storm water management service or result from privately
owned and properly constructed and maintained storm water mitigating
measures that allow the City of South Milwaukee to realize a cost
savings in some portion of their storm water management program.
(1)
Technical and procedural criteria. The Director shall establish specified
technical and procedural criteria by which credits will be granted.
Copies of such technical and procedural criteria will be maintained
by and be available from the Engineering Department.
(2)
Credit procedure. Any property owner may apply for credit if, based
on a review of available Technical and Procedural Criteria, the property
owner believes there to be ground for receiving credit to their storm
water fee. The following procedure for applying for credit is established:
(a)
Property owners must make application to the Director on forms
provided by the Director for such purpose.
(b)
Property owners must apply for any credits that they believe
are applicable.
(c)
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.
(d)
Storm Water Utility fees may be adjusted retroactively to the
date the completed application is received.
(e)
Where applicable as a condition for granting credits, applicants
must have an approved maintenance agreement on file with the Director.
(3)
Granting of credits.
(b)
Credits applied for and granted in whole or in part, shall apply
from the first day of the calendar month immediately following the
date on which a complete application for the credit has been filed
with the City of South Milwaukee. 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.
(4)
Annual review of credit. The Director shall review the credit and
the basis thereof each year, and may terminate the credit if grounds
are found. If such credit is terminated, the property owner will be
notified in writing of the grounds for revoking the credit by first
class mail. 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.
C.
Application fees. The application fee schedule for Adjustments and
Credits will be established by the City Common Council through resolution.
The following procedure for appealing Adjustment and Credit
determinations is established.
A.
Appeal to the Public Works and Public Property Committee (hereinafter
referred to as Board). Within 30 calendar days after the date of the
mailing of the Director's decision, the property owner may file
a written appeal to the Board together with an application fee, with
the City Clerk. The written appeal shall specify the grounds for the
challenge and state the amount of storm water charge that the appellant
considers to be appropriate. The appeal must specifically address
the Director's conclusions and not merely repeat the basis for
the initial request. Failure to timely and properly appeal shall deprive
the Board of jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The Application Fee
Schedule shall be established by resolution of the City Common Council.
B.
Hearing. The Board shall conduct a hearing at such time and place
as designated in a hearing notice to the appellant, providing a minimum
of five business days' notice to the appellant. In considering
an appeal, the Board shall determine whether the fee determined by
the Director is fair and equitable based upon the evidence presented
at the hearing and the criteria applicable to fees. The Board shall
notify the appellant in writing of its determination by first class
mail addressed to the individual at the address listed within the
appeal. Service is conclusive upon mailing.
C.
Appeal to the Common Council. Within 30 calendar days after the date
of the mailing of the Board's decision, the property owner may
file a written appeal to the Common Council. Such appeal must specifically
address the Board's conclusion and not merely repeat the basis
for the initial request.
D.
Consideration by City Common Council. The Common Council shall consider
the appeal pursuant to its rules in existence at the time of consideration.
The City Clerk shall provide written notice to the owner of the time
and place of the Common Council's consideration of the appeal
at least five business days prior to the date on which the Common
Council will consider the matter. Notice shall be provided by first
class mail to the address provided by the owner on the application.
Service is conclusive upon mailing. In considering an appeal, the
Common Council shall determine whether decision of the Public Works
Committee is based on the appropriate criteria. The Common Council
shall base its decision upon the written decision of the Public Works
Committee and the appeal filed by the appellant. The City Clerk shall
notify the appellant in writing of the Common Council's determination
by first class mail.
E.
Payment of charges. As a condition precedent to any adjustment or
credit request, or any appeal, a property owner must pay in full all
storm water charges currently due to the City.
F.
Application of adjustment or credit. If an adjustment or credit request
is granted, Storm Water Utility charges shall be adjusted on a retroactive
basis to the date of the receipt of the completed application.
The City shall separately account for the Storm Water Utility
finances. The Storm Water 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 sewer utility. The budget is subject to approval by the City
Common Council. Any excess storm water revenues over expenditures
in a year will be retained by the Fund for subsequent years'
needs of the storm water utility.
This ordinance shall be interpreted liberally to secure the
ends sought hereby.
If any provision of this ordinance is found to be unlawful or
unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in effect.
