BERLIN — As funding for Berlin’s stormwater utility continues to grow, the Mayor and Council is looking to implement one of the most requested features this year — credits for eligible property owners.
At this time, only non-residential, non-profit organizations would qualify for the proposed credits, which could cover up to half of the individual property’s stormwater fee.
“Essentially, the way the ordinance works is you would be able to, if you are a non-residential, non-profit property owner, you’d be entitled to a credit on your stormwater utility fee if you meet certain conditions,” said Laura Allen, town administrator.
Currently, there are two such conditions proposed that would allow a qualified property to receive some form of credit against their stormwater fee. The first would be if a non-residential, non-profit property owner took the stormwater management system on their property that already met existing standards and then enhanced that system above current standards.
The second condition would be if the property has an old or outdated system that doesn’t meet current standards but the property owner wants to enhance it, it would also be eligible for a credit. Once approved, then a judgment call would have to be made as to how large of a credit is appropriate. No one will qualify for a complete waiving of fees.
“The key thing is that all of this would have to be approved by the town, which means that our stormwater engineer would make sure that the enhancements are truly beneficial,” said Mayor Gee Williams. “And the maximum credit you can earn is a 50-percent reduction in your annual stormwater fee. So it doesn’t go completely away but you can reduce it by less than 50 percent or the maximum is 50 percent of what you currently pay.”
An additional incentive is included in with the proposed credit for non-residential, non-profit properties located in priority stormwater improvement areas. If those properties wish to enhance their management systems, the town could pay the lesser cost of either 50 percent of the price tag or up to $5,000.
Any qualified property that wants to apply for the credit, should the town adopt the program, would have to submit an application before May of that year. If the application is approved, the property owner would receive a credit against a bill for the following fiscal year.
The credit program should be a win-win for everyone, according to the mayor.
“The idea here is to be an incentive for two things. One is to reduce costs to non-profits … and the other thing is that we obviously don’t expect many people are going to suddenly run out and make all of these improvements,” said Williams. “But there’s not a stormwater system out there that won’t need improvements or won’t need some major maintenance. What this will do is give non-profit organizations a financial incentive to make those improvements.”
The intent is more to encourage people with old systems to bring them up-to-date, said Councilwoman Lisa Hall. But the program should have a lot of longevity in that standards are always changing and a credit takes some of the sting out of needing to upgrade down the road.
Some kind of stormwater credit for non-profits has been on many residents’ wish list since the council voted to establish a new utility dedicated to stormwater management more than a year ago. Notably, Atlantic General Hospital (AGH), the largest non-profit property in the town, voiced a desire to be exempt from the town’s stormwater fee due to the fact it has its own, frequently updated, stormwater management system. AGH went so far as to look for aid from the courts this winter to receive that exemption. While that situation has not been resolved, Williams said this week that the town is optimistic about reaching some resolution with the hospital outside of court.
Another area non-profit, the Faith Baptist Church, complained to the council last fall about being forced to pay a utility fee despite having a stormwater management system in place on their property. The town fee wasn’t fair to level on a non-profit church, according to Reverend John Abent, because it was akin to a property tax, something that religious organizations are traditionally exempted from.
The council disagreed with the reverend’s characterization of the stormwater fee as a property tax, however, and the church has been subject to the fees like every other property.
The credit program could sooth some of the discontent felt by AGH, Faith Baptist Church and other area non-profits such as public schools, according to Hall, who pointed out that the program is designed to be easy to understand.
“It’s all transparent in the way that it’s set up because they have to get permitting beforehand to do these changes so they know right away what they’re spending and what their credit is going to be,” she said.
A public hearing on the stormwater fee credit program is scheduled to be held on July 14 at Town Hall.