Local cities planning to impose new storm water taxes this year are hitting a solid brick wall of opposition from business owners.
Business people are speaking out, because the new taxes in both Auburn and Winder would be based on each parcel’s square footage of “impervious surfaces” such as buildings, driveways and parking lots that create runoff.
A week after leading businessmen appeared at an Aug. 2 Winder City Council meeting to oppose the tax, several more affected business owners gave the same message to Auburn officials at a public hearing Monday evening.
They questioned why their local government would impose a new tax in the middle of a recession.
And just as their Winder counterparts requested last week, the Auburn business owners called on their city leaders to continue using general operating funds rather than establishing a new tax to maintain the storm water system of ditches, culverts and ponds. Jeff Bohon, a resident of Hoschton who owns two warehouses in Auburn, said his stormwater tax would amount to $520 annually even though he’s been forced to cut back by 25 percent the rents he charges his tenants.
Though city staff noted that business properties could receive credits for private stormwater management efforts, Phillip Blackstock and others questioned the hoops that property owners would have to go through in order to qualify for the credits.
“If you have to hire a professional and give you a hydrology study, a location plat and all this stuff, you are not talking $100-200,” he said. “I was a professional land surveyor, and you are talking about $1,500… and possibly up to $5,000 to have this done.
“How many people here in this community who are on fixed incomes that own a little bit of property with a few buildings on it – how are they going to be able to afford to do this, much less pay the fee?”
The Auburn property owners also raised questions about the accuracy of their personal assessments, which they received as part of the city’s public awareness campaign about the proposed tax.
City officials answered a few technical questions during the public hearing but did not respond to most of the complaints.
The strong turnout in Auburn was due in part to the steps that city government has taken to inform property owners who would be most affected by the tax.
After the meeting, city planner Larry Lucas said the city had sent personal letters to the 195 owners of properties developed with structures other than single-family homes.
The city also paid for a newspaper ad about the new tax and has scheduled two public hearings, including a second one Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. in the city council’s chambers.
WINDER’S SITUATION UNCLEAR
Winder’s city administration, on the other hand, made little effort to inform either its council or its business owners about the proposed tax.
No public hearings were scheduled or public notices published prior to the discussion and planned vote last week.
Business leaders nevertheless learned about the city’s plans through the media and showed up at the council’s regular meetings Aug. 2-3.
So when the issue came up at the voting session Tuesday night, it was tabled and referred to a committee for further study. In Winder, it was a paid consultant who conducted the study to determine the city’s needs for stormwater improvements and also created the proposed rate structure.
However, the city council did not receive copies of the proposed stormwater ordinance until the Friday before the meetings, and some council members raised questions about the necessity of the ordinance and its new stormwater utility tax.
Mayor Chip Thompson following the tabling of the measure Tuesday night said the council’s study committee would determine exactly which stormwater services are currently mandated by the state or federal governments.
A spokesman for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division told the
Barrow Journal late last week that Winder does not currently operate under the same “general permit” that places service requirements on Auburn and Barrow County.
The EPD spokesman said her agency would evaluate the final 2010 census results next year and then determine Winder’s status based on population density. That process could take until 2012 or even 2013, she said.
