The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) says if it gets county approval, its proposed impervious surface fee pilot program could begin implementation as early as next year.
The pilot program would charge property owners who currently don't pay for sewer services a new fee for the amount of stormwater runoff they put into the combined sewer system. Impervious surfaces, typically parking lots and industrial sites, can overwhelm the sewer system because they cannot absorb water that would otherwise go into the ground.
MSD says the cost of this strain on the combined sewer system gets passed on to residents who may see higher bills. The new fee would help cover the cost, but would also incentivize owners of impervious surfaces to plant trees or other plants to naturally absorb excess water and alleviate the issue.
On Tuesday, MSD presented details of the plan to Hamilton County's Board of Commissioners. The sewer district says it identified around 500 large non-residential properties contributing to the excess runoff that also would qualify for mitigation credits.
MSD's proposal breaks properties into four different classes based on surface area. Each property owner would be given five years to evaluate and mitigate stormwater runoff before paying the full surcharge. The five-year cycle would impose a 33% surcharge after three years, which would increase 67% the next year. After five years, the full surcharge would be imposed on the property owner.
What did commissioners say?
Commissioners were skeptical of the proposal. Commission President Stephanie Summerow Dumas said the five-year cycle gave property owners too much time to find a way out of paying the fee. Commissioner Alicia Reece added that MSD's plan seemed to focus too much on providing relief to owners of impervious surface properties instead of residents who will still be stuck with higher bills.
"It sounds great. Everybody pays their fair share, and your bill's going to go down, and I don't think it will," Reece said.
Neal Frink, MSD legal counsel, told commissioners the plan would financially benefit these property owners but would ultimately be better for the combined sewer system long term.
"It is to their benefit — and that's one of the things we're pointing out — but it's also to our benefit," Frink said. "Each gallon of wet weather flow that we reduce is a gallon during peak flow that doesn't go out as CSO [combined sewer overflow] or back up into somebody's basement."
Commissioner Denise Driehaus argued in favor of the plan, saying the relationship MSD can create with property owners during the five-year cycle will eventually pay off for residents.
"The idea here is to create a relationship with entities that are discharging a lot of water into the system. They may or may not know the impact of what is happening there, so you create this relationship and say to them, 'Hey, you're going to start paying for this, because the rest of us are paying for it right now,' " Driehaus said.
Commissioners have not yet voted to approve the program.
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