Chapter 15.10
STORM DRAINAGE FEE
Sections:
15.10.040 Levy of charge for storm drainage services.
15.10.050 Reduction in charge.
15.10.080 Collection of fee with general taxes.
15.10.090 Administration and enforcement.
15.10.100 Administrative appeal.
15.10.110 Deposit of collections.
15.10.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish a mechanism for funding the operation and maintenance of the city storm drainage system in order that storm and surface waters may be properly drained and controlled so that the health, safety and welfare of the city and its inhabitants may be safeguarded and protected. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.020 Findings.
The city council hereby finds as follows:
A. The city maintains a system of storm and surface water management facilities within the city, including but not limited to inlets, conduits, manholes, channels, ditches, drainage easements, retention and detention basins, infiltration facilities, overland release corridors, pump stations, and other components as well as natural waterways.
B. Those elements of the city’s storm and surface water management system that provide for the collection, storage, treatment, and conveyance of storm drainage are of benefit and provide services to all developed property within the city.
C. The cost of operating and maintaining the storm drainage management system, including necessary repairs, should, to the extent practicable, be allocated in relationship to the benefits enjoyed and services received therefrom.
D. Erosion and the discharge of nutrients, metals, oil, grease, and other substances into and through the storm drainage system results in a degradation in water quality if not properly managed.
E. The public health, safety and welfare are adversely affected by poor water quality and flooding resulting from inadequate storm drainage management practices.
F. The storm drainage management practices necessary to protect water quality are largely established by federal and state statutes, regulations and permitting requirements.
G. Real property either uses or benefits from the presence and operation of the storm drainage management system.
H. The use of the storm drainage system is dependent on factors that influence runoff, including land use and impervious area.
I. The city has the authority under Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code to prescribe, revise and collect fees, tolls, rates, rentals and other charges for facilities and services furnished by it in connection with its storm drainage system.
J. The Legislature, through the adoption of Section 5471 of the Health and Safety Code, has specifically authorized the city to provide storm drainage services as a utility function for which service charges may be levied.
K. Storm drainage services are currently provided by the city and funded through a combination of property tax revenue and benefit assessments.
L. Benefit assessments are an undesirable revenue mechanism because of the significant lag-time between the time that the assessments are approved and the time that they are received as part of the real property tax collection and allocation process. This lag-time creates the need to include a component in the assessment to provide a reserve for dry period financing purposes.
M. A fee to fund storm drainage services offers a reliable and consistent source of revenue that is locally controlled and independent of the vagaries of the state of California’s budget process. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.030 Definitions.
The meanings ascribed to the terms set forth in this section shall govern the interpretation of this chapter.
“Administrative charge” means the charge imposed by the city’s consolidated utility billing service for the actual cost of billing for, and collection of, storm drainage service fees.
“City” means the city of Rancho Cordova.
“City storm drainage system” means the system of storm and surface water management facilities, including but not limited to inlets, conduits, manholes, channels, ditches, drainage easements, retention and detention basins, infiltration facilities, overland release corridors, pump stations and other components as well as natural waterways within the city that are either owned or operated by the city.
“Commercial/office use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: offices, wholesale or retail sales, establishments, or the provision of personal, professional or business services, including, but not limited to, retail stores, shopping centers, restaurants, service stations, car washes, vehicle, boat and trailer sales lots, parking lots, automobile repair and service facilities, auction yards, advertising offices, nurseries, general offices, financial service facilities, medical and dental offices, clinics and laboratories, and veterinary offices, clinics and hospitals.
“Developed parcel” means any parcel of land altered from its natural state by the construction, creation, or addition of impervious area.
“Engineer” means the city’s public works director or their designee.
“Equivalent contributing parcel area” means the calculated area which, when multiplied by the impervious factor for the parcel’s use classification, yields the parcel’s measured impervious area.
“Exempt use” means the use of any public or undeveloped property and the use of any other parcel for any of the following purposes: agricultural land used for crops or pasture, aquatic farms, orchards, city-maintained drainage ditches, property within a floodplain recognized by the city on which improvements are prohibited, and levees.
“Fiscal year” means the annual period beginning July 1st and ending June 30th.
“Impervious area” means the total area of a parcel of property covered by an impervious surface.
“Impervious factor (IF)” means a factor which represents the percentage of impervious area on a parcel which consists of a numerical value that is calculated on the basis of generally accepted engineering standards, review and application of such standards to local conditions, and statistics compiled by measuring impervious areas depicted on aerial photographs of real property.
“Impervious surface” means a surface covering or pavement of a developed parcel of land that prevents the land’s natural ability to absorb and infiltrate rainfall/storm water. Impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to: rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots, storage areas, impervious concrete and asphalt, and any other continuous watertight pavement or covering.
Landscaped soil and pervious pavement, including pavers with pervious openings and seams, underlain with pervious soil or pervious storage material, such as a gravel layer sufficient to hold the specified volume of rainfall runoff are not impervious surfaces.
“Industrial use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: to manufacture, fabricate, process or package products, to process or store food or chemical products, or for storage or warehousing purposes, including, but not limited to, processing, fabrication and assembly plants, warehouses, wrecking yards, aerospace facilities, truck and other transportation terminals, building materials storage, bakeries, canneries, wineries, creameries, meat and frozen food processing facilities, meat packing plants, slaughter yards, inspection and weighing stations, airports, railroads and railroad spurs, wells, electrical substations, water or sewage treatment plants, and ministorage facilities.
“Institutional use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: hospitals, nursing facilities, residential care facilities, retirement homes, day nurseries, mortuaries, churches, and schools.
“Low impervious development use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: golf courses, surface mines, cemeteries, marinas, and sports fields.
“Multifamily residential use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: triplexes, fourplexes, apartments, mobile home parks, hotels, boarding and rooming houses, fraternity and sorority houses, motels, the common areas of condominiums and planned unit developments, and bed and breakfast inns.
“Parcel” means the smallest separately segregated lot, unit or plot of real property having an identified owner, boundaries, and surface area which is documented for property tax purposes and given a tax lot number by the county assessor.
“Parcel area” means the square footage of a parcel measured or estimated using the outside boundary dimensions in feet in order to obtain the total square footage without regard for any topographic features of the enclosed surface.
“Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, society, partnership, corporation, organization, group or public agency.
“Public agency” means the United States or any department or agency thereof, the state of California or any department or agency thereof, a city, a county, and any district or other local authority or public body of or within this state.
“Public property” means any property owned by a public agency.
“Residential dwelling unit” means any residential premises designed to house a single family.
“Single-family residential use” means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: single-family residences, condominiums and planned unit developments, row houses, halfplexes, duplexes, and mobile homes located on individually owned parcels.
“Street” means any public highway, road, street, avenue, way, alley or right-of-way.
“Undeveloped use” means any parcel that has not been altered from its natural state, as evidenced by a complete lack of impervious surface.
“Unit service charge (USC)” means the cost of storm drainage services attributable to storm drainage from one square foot of impervious area.
“Use code” means the six-digit alphanumeric code assigned by the county assessor’s office to every parcel within the city.
“User” means the owner of a parcel of real property that is charged for storm drainage services. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); revised during 2008 codification; Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.040 Levy of charge for storm drainage services.
A. There is hereby levied by the city on all parcels in the storm water utility zone 1 and storm water utility zone 2 areas, other than those classified as an exempt use, a storm drainage service fee to be calculated as set forth in this section.
B. Any parcel classified as a single-family residential use shall pay a monthly charge which shall be calculated as follows: the administrative charge + (USC × 3,500 × phase-in multiplier × each residential dwelling unit) = monthly charge.
C. All parcels other than those parcels classified as an exempt or single-family residential use shall pay a monthly charge that shall be calculated as follows: the administrative charge + (parcel area × USC × IF × phase-in multiplier) = monthly charge.
D. The impervious factors (IF) to be used in the calculation set forth in subsection (C) of this section shall be based on the following table:
|
Bill Category |
Impervious Factor |
|---|---|
|
Commercial/office |
0.80 |
|
Industrial |
0.70 |
|
Multifamily residential |
0.60 |
|
Institutional |
0.50 |
|
Low impervious development |
0.10 |
E. The phase-in multiplier for all parcels to be used in the calculations in subsections (B) and (C) of this section shall be:
|
Phase-In Multiplier, Effective: |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Oct. 1, 1996 |
Oct. 1, 1997 |
Oct. 1, 1998 |
|
0.50 |
0.75 |
1.0 |
F. The unit service charge (USC) to be used in the calculation set forth in subsections (B) and (C) of this section shall be as follows: effective October 1, 1996, it shall be $0.001583 per square foot of impervious area. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 1046 § 1, 1996; SCC 1026 § 1, 1996; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.050 Reduction in charge.
A. The owner of any parcel subject to the storm drainage fee, other than parcels classified as a single-family residential use, may file an application with the public works director to have the fee levied on such parcel reduced by means of one of the following mechanisms:
1. By designing, constructing and maintaining at the owner’s expense storm drainage detention facilities approved by the public works director; or
2. Demonstrating to the satisfaction of the public works director that less than five percent of the parcel area drains into a city storm drainage system.
B. After receipt and review of the application, the public works director shall either deny any reduction in the fee or approve a reduced fee calculated pursuant to subsection (C) of this section. The public works director, in approving any reduction in the otherwise applicable fee, may attach reasonable conditions to any such approval. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the action of the public works director, he may file a petition pursuant to RCMC 15.10.100.
C. Any storm drainage facilities constructed by a parcel owner pursuant to this section shall meet the standards set forth in the city’s improvement standards. Upon approval of any reduction in the otherwise applicable fee pursuant to this section, the revised fee shall be calculated on the basis of the equivalent contributing parcel area. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.060 Billing procedure.
A. The storm drainage fee shall be billed to all users no less frequently than a bimonthly basis. The bill is due and payable on presentation and shall become delinquent 45 days after for a bimonthly billing, or 21 days after for a monthly billing after the date of billing. The storm drainage fee shall be billed as part of the city’s consolidated utility billing service.
B. The storm drainage service fee billing shall be based on the use of the parcel as determined by the public works director. For each parcel of property there shall be only one unit for purposes of billing for storm drainage services. In no case shall a parcel be divided into smaller units for billing purposes.
C. The storm drainage service fee shall be billed to the owner of record of the parcel, to the successor in interest of such person, or to such person’s single designee if approved by the public works director. All requests to bill a party other than the owner of record must be made in writing to the public works director by both the owner of record and the party to be billed. The public works director may approve or deny such requests at his sole discretion. The public works director shall notify the owner of record if the billing is changed to comply with such a request and the owner of record shall remain liable for any delinquent fees.
D. The opening bills shall be based on current parcel numbers, square footage and use codes on record in the county assessor’s office, unless the public works director determines that the actual use of the parcel is different than the use reflected in the use codes in which case the billing shall be based on the actual use of the parcel.
E. Any adjustment of charges may be initiated by either the public works director or by the owner of a parcel subject to the storm drainage service fee. If the public works director denies any adjustment proposed by an owner or an owner objects to an adjustment proposed by the public works director, any adjustment shall be made pursuant to the procedure set forth in RCMC 15.10.100. Any debit adjustments shall be added to the charge in the succeeding billing period. Any credit adjustments shall first be credited against the previous balance and then any remaining credit shall be applied to subsequent bimonthly charges. No debits or credits shall be made for any period more than three years prior to the date that an adjustment is proposed by the public works director or requested by the owner of record pursuant to RCMC 15.10.100.
F. Any delinquent storm drainage fee shall incur an added penalty charge of 10 percent of the amount that is delinquent. The delinquent amount, including the 10 percent penalty charge, shall thereafter incur an added penalty charge of one and one-half percent per month until paid or placed on the annual property tax bill. If collected with property taxes, the total amount delinquent, plus all penalties, shall incur an additional 10 percent lien penalty. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 1214 § 1, 2002; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.070 Lien.
A. The city shall notify the assessee shown on the latest equalized assessment roll whenever delinquent and unpaid fees which would become a lien on the parcel pursuant to subsection (B) of this section remain delinquent and unpaid for 60 days.
B. The storm drainage service fee and any penalties levied pursuant to this chapter shall constitute a lien upon the parcel subject to the fee, as provided for in Section 5473.11 of the Health and Safety Code, if the fee remains delinquent for a period of 60 days and the city has notified the assessee of the parcel shown on the latest equalized assessment roll of the delinquent fees and the lien provided by this section.
C. The lien provided herein shall have no force or effect until a certificate specifying the amount of the unpaid fees is recorded with the county recorder. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.080 Collection of fee with general taxes.
Any delinquent storm drainage service fees and penalties may be collected on the tax roll in the same manner and at the same time as the county’s ad valorem property taxes. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.090 Administration and enforcement.
The engineer shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this chapter. The engineer shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter for purposes of carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection and remittance of the fee herein levied. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.100 Administrative appeal.
A. Any owner who disputes the amount of the storm drainage service fee charged to his parcel, the classification of the property in terms of its use, any adjustment proposed by the public works director, or any other determination affecting the property made by or on behalf of the city pursuant to this chapter may petition the engineer for a hearing with regard to any such issue. The engineer may conduct such hearing himself or may designate an employee of the public works agency to conduct such hearing on his behalf. Any such petition may only be filed once in connection with the issue or issues presented in the petition, except upon a showing of changed circumstances sufficient to justify the filing of such additional petition.
B. Any such petition shall be in writing, signed by the owner under penalty of perjury and filed with the engineer. The petition shall include the following information:
1. A complete description of the factual basis for the appeal;
2. The legal basis for the appeal; and
3. The remedy sought by the appellant.
Within 10 days after receipt of the petition, the engineer shall mail written notice to the appellant of the date, time and place of the scheduled hearing.
C. At the hearing, the engineer or designated hearing officer may hear any oral or documentary evidence that the appellant may offer in addition to the information in the petition, together with any oral or written information that may be submitted by city representatives in support of the determination that is the subject of the appeal. Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the engineer or the designated hearing officer shall make and serve by mail written findings of fact based upon all relevant information presented in the petition or at the hearing, shall make a determination of issues based upon such findings and, if appropriate, an order setting forth an appropriate remedy subject to the limitations set forth in RCMC 15.10.060(E). The determination of the engineer or designated hearing officer shall be final. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.110 Deposit of collections.
There is hereby created in the city treasury a special revenue fund to be known as the “city storm drainage service fee fund.” All storm drainage service fee revenue collected by the city shall be deposited in such fund. The revenue deposited in such fund shall be used only for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, permitting, and operation of city storm drainage facilities. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.120 Operative date.
Notwithstanding the effective date of this chapter, the storm drainage service fee levied in RCMC 15.10.040 shall be operative as of July 1, 1995. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].
15.10.130 Severability.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter or any part thereof is for any reason held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this chapter or any part thereof. The city council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid. [Ord. 11-2023 § 3 (Exh. A); Ord. 21-2003 §§ 2, 4; Ord. 20-2003 §§ 2, 4; SCC 0985 § 1, 1995].