IV. Stormwater Management Utility
Chapter 13.50
REGULATIONS AND RATES
Sections:
13.50.010 Stormwater management utility plan.
13.50.020 Purpose/creation of stormwater management utility.
13.50.040 Administrator of utility.
13.50.050 Stormwater management utility fund.
13.50.060 Authority to establish fees, rates, and charges.
13.50.070 Limitation of liability.
13.50.090 Classification of property.
13.50.100 Undeveloped real property.
13.50.110 Service charge rates.
13.50.120 Property exempt from service charges.
13.50.130 Delinquent accounts – Late charges, liens, and appeals.
13.50.150 Violation – Returned check – Utility shut-off.
13.50.160 Annual review of charges and fees.
Prior legislation: Ord. 1516 NS.
13.50.010 Stormwater management utility plan.
Reserved. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.020 Purpose/creation of stormwater management utility.
A. There is hereby created and established a storm and surface water utility which shall be known as the “city of Colville, Washington, stormwater management utility.”
B. The city shall exercise, throughout the stormwater management utility where possible, all the lawful powers necessary and appropriate to the construction, condemnation and purchase, acquisition, addition to, maintenance, conduct, operation, management, regulation, and control of the storm and surface water within the boundaries of the city as necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city including all the lawful powers:
1. To fix, alter, regulate, and control the fees, rates, charges, and conditions for the use thereof;
2. To purchase and condemn property on behalf of the stormwater management utility;
3. To regulate actions taken with respect to public and private property which affect the flow of storm and surface water and the use of drainage facilities; and
4. To adopt, alter, and amend a plan as necessary to implement the policies of the city pertaining to storm and surface water drainage.
C. It is not the purpose of this chapter to create a duty of the city or the stormwater management utility to insure or protect individual persons or property against storm or surface water drainage. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.030 Definitions.
The following words when used herein shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A. The “city” shall mean the city of Colville, Washington, a municipal corporation created and existing under the laws of the state of Washington.
B. “Commercial units” shall mean all developed real property not containing residential living quarters. This includes firms, businesses, corporations, hotels, motels, and industrial users.
C. “Developed” shall mean that condition of real property altered from its natural state by the addition to or construction on such property of impervious ground cover or other manmade physical improvements such that the hydrology of the property or portion thereof is affected.
D. One “equivalent residential unit (ERU)” shall mean and be equal to 2,500 square feet of impervious ground cover and is the measure of impervious ground cover to be used by the utility in assessing service charges and system development fees against each parcel of property.
E. “Impervious ground cover” shall mean those hard surfaced areas either which prevent or retard the entry of water into the soil in the manner that such water entered the soil under natural conditions preexistent to development, or which cause water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow than that present under natural conditions preexistent to development, including such surfaces as roof tops; storage areas; gravel, asphalt, oiled macadam, or concrete sidewalks, pavement, driveways, parking lots, walkways, or patio areas; or other surfaces which similarly affect the natural infiltration or runoff patterns existing prior to development.
F. “Multi-unit residential” shall mean developed real property with two or more dwelling units. This includes apartments, assisted living facilities, and mobile home parks.
G. “Service charge” shall mean the monthly fee levied by the utility upon all developed real property within the boundaries of the utility as authorized by CMC 13.50.110 (Service charge rates).
H. A “single residential unit” shall mean developed real property with one residential living quarters.
I. “Stormwater” shall mean rain and snow melt that runs off surfaces such as rooftops, paved streets, highways, and parking lots. As water runs off these surfaces, it can pick up pollution such as: oil, fertilizers, pesticides, soil, trash, and animal waste. From here, the water might flow directly into a local stream, bay, or lake. Or, it may go into a storm drain and continue through storm pipes until it is released untreated into a local waterway.
J. “Surface water” shall mean water collecting on the ground or in a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean.
K. The “system” shall mean the entire system of storm drainage facilities owned by the utility or over which the utility has control or right of use for the movement and retention of storm and surface waters, including both naturally occurring and manmade facilities.
L. The “system development fee” shall mean the fee authorized by CMC 13.60.020 (System development fee) and charged by the utility to property which is developed and joined to the system subsequent to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
M. “Undeveloped” shall mean that condition of real property unaltered by the construction or addition to such property of impervious ground cover or physical manmade improvements of any kind that change the hydrology of the property from its natural state.
N. “The utility” shall mean the city of Colville, Washington, stormwater management utility, a utility which operates and maintains the storm or surface water drains, channels and facilities, outfalls for storm drainage, and the rights and interests in property relating to the system. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.040 Administrator of utility.
The street superintendent shall be the administrator of the utility. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.050 Stormwater management utility fund.
A. There is hereby created a fund known as the “stormwater management utility fund.”
1. The following funds shall be deposited in the stormwater management utility fund:
a. All revenues, assessments, fees, and other charges collected by the utility, otherwise received for drainage purposes, or attributable to the operation and maintenance of the utility; and
b. All loans to, grants, or funds received for the utility’s construction, improvement, and operation.
2. The following expenses will be made from the stormwater management utility fund:
a. All disbursements for costs of data collection;
b. Applicable drainage and flood control district assessments;
c. Planning, designing, constructing, acquiring, maintaining, operating, and improving the utility facilities, whether such facilities are natural, constructed, or both; and
d. Administering the utility.
B. The city may create, at such time(s) it deems appropriate, any other funds necessary to the administration of the stormwater management utility. The city may designate the revenues to be placed in the stormwater management utility fund and may designate the purpose(s) of such funds. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.060 Authority to establish fees, rates, and charges.
The city shall establish, by periodic ordinance, rate classifications, service charges, system development fees, inspection and permitting fees, application and connection fees, and such other fees and charges necessary and sufficient in the opinion of the city council to pay for the following:
A. The operation, repair, maintenance, improvement, replacement, and reconstruction of storm drainage facilities within the service area that presently exists;
B. The costs, including debt service and related financing expenses, for the construction and reconstruction of storm drainage facilities necessary and required for the handling of storm and surface waters within the service area but not presently in existence;
C. The costs associated with the development and adoption of a stormwater management plan;
D. The purchase of a fee or lesser interest, including easements, in land which may be necessary for the storm and surface water drainage system in the service area including, but not limited to, land necessary for the installation and construction of storm drainage facilities, and all other facilities, including retention and detention facilities, which are reasonably required for proper and adequate handling of stormwaters within the service area;
E. The costs of monitoring, inspection, enforcement, and administration of the utility including water quality surveillance, private maintenance inspection, construction inspection, and other activities which are reasonably required for the proper and adequate implementation of the city’s storm and surface water policies; and
F. The construction and subsequent maintenance of those future facilities as required by the utility.
The fees and charges to be paid and collected pursuant hereto shall not be used for general or other governmental or proprietary purposes of the city, except to pay for the equitable share of the costs of accounting, management and government thereof incurred on behalf of the utility. (Ord. 1515 NS § 1, 2014; Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.070 Limitation of liability.
A. The ordinance codified in this chapter, any drainage code to be adopted by the city council to implement the ordinance codified in this chapter, and any guidelines, rules, standards, specifications, requirements, regulations, and procedures established pursuant to any section of such code are intended to provide the authority and processes to achieve cost-effective storm and surface water management in accordance with reasonable standards for such management in the Colville area to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens and of the city.
B. Such reasonable standards shall be recommended by the administrator and approved by the city council.
C. No city liability shall be inferred, implied, or interpreted by the adoption and application of this chapter for damages to individual persons or properties which result from existing conditions or which occur subsequent to the date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
D. There shall be no liability associated with the utility’s approval of any privately constructed portion of the storm and surface water system and/or privately maintained portion of the storm and surface water system, unless the city accepts the same as part of its publicly owned and/or maintained system and is negligent in its administration of such a system. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.080 Rate policy.
It shall be the policy of the city that the rate structure to be applied in establishing the amount of service charge and system development fees assessed against each parcel of developed real property within the boundaries of the utility shall be based upon the amount of impervious ground cover contained within each parcel of property as determined by CMC 13.50.090 (Classification of property), except for those properties set forth in CMC 13.50.100 (Undeveloped real property). The actual rate structure and establishment of actual rates and fees is reserved upon the initial adoption of the storm and surface water ordinance and may be adopted in the future. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.090 Classification of property.
A. The utility shall calculate the impervious ground cover of each parcel of developed real property within the boundaries of the utility to determine the number of equivalent residential units (ERU) contained therein.
B. All single residential units within the utility boundaries are deemed to contain exactly one ERU.
C. For multi-unit residential and commercial units within the utility boundaries, the administrator of the utility shall determine the number of ERUs contained thereon by dividing the number of square feet of impervious ground cover on the property by one ERU (2,500 square feet). The total thus obtained will be rounded to the nearest tenth, representing the ERUs contained on such property. Each developed parcel of property shall be deemed to contain a minimum of one ERU. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.100 Undeveloped real property.
At the time of the initial adoption of the storm and surface water ordinance, the actual rate structure and actual rates and fees are reserved for a future date. When the actual rates are established, the following shall apply to undeveloped real property. In accordance with the policy established in CMC 13.50.080 (Rate policy), that the service charges be determined by the amount of impervious ground cover contained on each parcel of real property, those properties remaining in an undeveloped condition are deemed not to make use of the services of the utility or of the facilities of the system beyond that used by such property in the natural state. Therefore, no service charge shall be imposed upon that real property within the boundaries of the utility which is undeveloped. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.110 Service charge rates.
In accordance with the rate structure established by the city council, there is hereby levied upon all developed real property, within the boundaries of the utility service, monthly charges which shall be collected from the owners of such properties:
A. Single residential units shall be charged for exactly one ERU (equivalent residential unit) per unit.
B. Multi-unit residential and commercial units shall be charged for one ERU per unit multiplied by the number of ERUs determined by the utility to be contained in such parcel pursuant to CMC 13.50.090 (Classification of property).
C. The rates for the stormwater management utility, referred to in this section, shall be the following:
The monthly stormwater charge is based on a parcel’s number of equivalent residential units (ERU), with each ERU equal to 2,500 square feet of impervious property surface.
All single-family residential units shall be charged for exactly one ERU per unit.
All multi-unit residential and commercial units: The monthly service charge is calculated by the total number of ERUs determined by the utility to be contained in such parcel, then grouped into one of rate categories 2 through 4.
|
All Single-Family Residential Homes |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Rate Category |
Impervious Surface # of ERUs |
Monthly Service Charge |
|
1. Residential: Single-Family Home |
1 |
$4.24 |
|
All Multi-Unit Residential and Commercial Units |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Rate Category |
Impervious Surface # of ERUs |
Monthly Service Charge |
|
2. Medium |
1 to 20 |
$10.87 |
|
3. Heavy |
21 to 100 |
$15.64 |
|
4. Very Heavy |
Greater than 100 |
$17.76 |
D. Monthly Base Rate. The monthly stormwater utility rates shall be set at the amounts above, which includes the six percent utility tax. (Ord. 1699 NS § 1, 2022; Ord. 1515 NS § 1, 2014; Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.120 Property exempt from service charges.
The following special categories of property are exempt from service charges and system development charges:
A. City street rights-of-way, all of which are a part of the system pursuant to the plan.
B. Stevens County highway rights-of-way.
C. State of Washington highway rights-of-way. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.130 Delinquent accounts – Late charges, liens, and appeals.
A. All utility service charges shall be due immediately upon billing and be delinquent if not paid in full on or before the fifteenth day following the month in which services are rendered. All service charges, system development fees, and all other fees, rates, or charges established by the city council shall be deemed to be levied upon the premises themselves.
B. Utility bills, including the storm drainage service charge, are mailed by the last working day of each month for which the services were rendered and are due on or before the fifteenth day of the following month and will be delinquent if payment is not received in the city treasurer’s office by 3:00 p.m. on that day or the first business day thereafter. A $5.00 per month late charge will be added to all past due accounts with balances over $5.00.
When utility bill charges become delinquent, they shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent per year from the date of delinquency until paid, and the charges and interest shall be and remain a permanent charge against the property owner, notwithstanding the fact that such premises may be occupied by a tenant at that time.
C. The city shall have a lien for all delinquent and unpaid charges and fees for storm drainage purposes, including service charges and system development fees assessed against all premises to which service was furnished, which lien shall have the superiority established by RCW 35.67.200 and shall be foreclosed in the manner provided in RCW 35.67.220 et seq.
D. If any utility account has an unpaid balance 30 days past the due date, a shut-off notice will be mailed on the thirty-first day stating water/sewer/storm services will be terminated in seven calendar days. If a utility account is a rental and the bill is addressed to the landlord only, and the city has not been notified of the tenant’s name and mailing address, a shut-off notice will be attached to the front door of the residence stating water/sewer/storm services will be terminated for nonpay in seven calendar days from date posted on the door.
Before water/sewer/storm services will be reinstated, the account holder must pay the full amount in utility charges in arrears and all assessments before service is restored to the premises.
Whenever water/sewer/storm services are in the name of a renter, tenant, or lessee, and is subject to turn-off for delinquency, the utility billing department shall send a duplicate notice of delinquency to the owner of record.
Failure to receive mail will not be recognized as a valid reason for failure to pay rates when due.
If a multi-residential rental unit has an unpaid balance of 30 days past the due date, a shut-off notice will be mailed to the owner and individual notices of the shut off will be attached to the front door of each unit stating water/sewer/storm services will be terminated for nonpay in seven calendar days from date posted on doors.
If a landlord fails to pay for water/sewer/storm services, any tenant who requests that the services be placed in his/her name may deduct from their rent due all reasonable charges paid by the tenant to the city for such services to the extent that this deduction is allowed by RCW 59.18.240.
E. In case of nonpayment of fees and charges for water/sewer/storm services within seven days after the date such fees and charges become delinquent and after compliance with the city’s notice procedures, the water/sewer/storm services shall be shut off. A one-time charge of $50.00 shall be added to cover administrative, clerical, and other employee or employee-related expenses. The water/sewer/storm services shall remain shut off until the account is paid in full.
F. When a utility service has been disconnected for nonpayment, the payments must be received before 2:30 p.m. for same-day reconnections and must include all of the charges stated in subsection (D) of this section. There will be an additional fee of $100.00 for any same-day connections on payments received after 2:30 p.m. There will be no reconnections for nonpay utility accounts over a weekend or holiday.
G. Water/Sewer/Storm Service Shut-Off Notice – Appeal Process. Pursuant to state law (RCW 35.21.290 through 35.21.300), the city may terminate water utility service to a customer who is delinquent in paying the water/sewer/storm bill. Prior to termination of service, the city shall send the customer, at least seven days prior to disconnection, a water/sewer/storm shut-off notice, stating the customer may dispute the correctness of that billing by contacting the city treasurer’s office.
1. Customer Dispute.
a. At any time before the date of termination of water service for nonpayment of the amount shown on a utility bill, or a notice of termination, a customer may dispute the correctness of all or part of the amount shown in accordance with the provisions of this section if one of the following conditions exists:
i. The amount of impervious ground cover of the parcel charged is in error.
ii. The service charge bill was otherwise not calculated in accordance with the terms of this chapter.
2. The procedure for customer disputes shall be as follows:
a. Before the date of termination, the customer shall notify the city treasurer’s office in writing that the customer disputes all or part of the amount shown on a utility bill or a notice of termination, stating as completely as possible the basis for the dispute.
b. If the city treasurer, or the city treasurer’s designee, determines that the present dispute is untimely or that the customer previously disputed the correctness of all or part of the amount shown, the city treasurer’s office shall mail to the customer a notice stating that the present dispute is untimely or invalid. The city shall then proceed as if the customer had not notified the city of the present dispute.
c. If the city treasurer, or the city treasurer’s designee, determines that the present dispute is not untimely or invalid under this section, the city, within three days after receipt of the customer’s notice, shall arrange an informal meeting between the customer and the treasurer, or the treasurer’s designee.
d. Based on the city’s records, the customer’s allegations, and all other relevant materials available, the city treasurer, or the city treasurer’s designee, shall resolve the dispute, attempting to do so in a manner satisfactory to both the city and the customer.
e. Within five days of completion of the meeting, the city treasurer’s office shall mail to the customer a copy of its decision resolving the dispute.
f. That decision shall be final and binding on the customer.
3. Utilization of this dispute procedure shall not relieve a customer of his obligations to timely and completely pay all other undisputed charges and/or installments, and the undisputed portion of the amount which is the subject of the present dispute. Notwithstanding this section, failure to timely and completely pay all such undisputed amounts shall subject the customer to termination of water/sewer/storm service in accordance with the provisions of this section.
4. Until the date of the decision of the city treasurer’s office, the city shall not terminate the water/sewer/storm service of this customer and shall not issue a notice of termination to this customer solely for nonpayment of the disputed amount. If it is determined that the customer must pay some or all of the disputed amount, the city shall promptly mail to, or personally serve upon, the customer a notice of termination, which shall contain the following:
a. The amount to be paid;
b. The date of the notice of termination;
c. The date of termination, which shall be at least 10 days after the date of the notice of termination is issued;
d. Notice that unless the city receives complete payment of the past due amount shown prior to the date of termination, water/sewer/storm services shall be terminated;
e. An informational telephone number. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.140 Person billed.
The utilities shall stay in the property owner’s name, and the city shall bill the owner of the served property for the payment of utility rates and charges specified in this title; however, the owner may have the bills mailed in care of a tenant or agent with a signed utility update form, but this shall not relieve the owner from liability for utility rates and charges. When a utility account is in a tenant’s name, the owner or the owner’s designee shall notify the city in writing within 14 days of the termination of the rental agreement and vacation of the premises. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.150 Violation – Returned check – Utility shut-off.
In the event the city receives notice from the bank of nonsufficient funds or other reason for returned check which was tendered to the city for utility payment, the city shall notify the owner or tenant of the premises of such violation. The owner or tenant shall be required to provide sufficient funds to the city for the amount of the returned check plus a return check fee of $30.00, in the form of cash, cashier’s check, or money order, within 48 hours of notification. In the event the owner or tenant of the premises does not respond, the city may turn off water/sewer/storm services to such premises and they shall in no case be turned on until the charges have been paid in full. (Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).
13.50.160 Annual review of charges and fees.
The charges and fees established by ordinance of the city council establishing rates, charges, and fees for the utility shall be reviewed periodically by the utility. Subsequent to such review, the utility administrator shall present to the city council a yearly budget for the utility and proposed amendments to any rates, charges, and fees necessary to enable the city to pay all costs to be incurred by the utility. (Ord. 1515 NS § 1, 2014; Ord. 1505 NS § 1, 2013).