Proposed amendments to Anne Arundel County?s stormwater bill would charge an annual fee to all properties, make the fund more accountable and raise twice as much as originally proposed.
But the County Councilman pushing for the changes to County Executive John R. Leopold?s Stormwater Management and Restoration of Tributaries Fund is concerned he may not have the fourth vote to alter the bill.
“We?re trying hard, but so far, we don?t have the fourth committed,” said Councilman Josh Cohen, D-District 6, who is leading the charge to refashion the SMART fund bill along with Council Chairman Ronald Dillon, R-District 3, and Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-District 4.
The proposed changes include:
>> A flat annual $30 fee on residential property, with a waiver for families making less than $35,000,
>> A $30 fee per 2,500 square feet for commercial property, capped at $25,000 a year
>> A public meeting before the Department Public Works on how to spend the money, and a report from DPW on the fund?s budget.
The fee would exclude residents of the City of Annapolis.
The fees would generate $10 million, twice the amount currently suggested in Leopold?s bill, which only charges for new impervious surfaces, such as parking lots and rooftops.
Though an impervious surface fee was a critical election issue, the councilmen said the amount is half of what was proposed a year ago, and the money is needed to solve a $1.3 billion stream restoration backlog.
“We recognize the issue won?t be fixed from money out of the general fund ? we need to have a dedicated funding source,” Dillon said.
The councilmen unveiled the new amendments Friday during a press conference at a damaged creek in Pasadena.
They, along with environmental activists, stood in front of a gully 10 feet deep by 12 feet wide eminating from a storm drain. They sited the highly eroded gully as an example of what stormwater runoff can do the local landscape.
The idea behind the fee structure is that all development ? mainly impervious surfaces such as parking lots and roofs ? contribute to the stormwater problem plaguing the Chesapeake Bay. Rainwater drives pollution and excess sediment into the Bay, killing fish and causing devastating erosion.
“Over the summer, I spent a lot of time in the waterways, and I?ve seen the degradation,” Dillon said. “We need to do something
Leopold, along with others on the council, has strongly opposed a fee on new development and called the amendments “inequitable.”
“The amendment, unfortunately, does not differentiate between a million dollar mansion or a town homes,” Leopold said. “I would like to do more in the bill, but I?m compelled to work within the parameters of fiscal reality.” But Cohen and others said the amendments must pass now that the state?s stormwater bill, which on the verge of passage, no longer includes giving a matching amount to local funds, suchas the SMART fund.
“We can?t count on any state dollars, because the current form of the green fund has a vast majority of the dollars doing straight to state agencies,” Cohen said.
The trio has the backing of the Anne Arundel County Home Builders Association.
“We all have to pay for this effort, and this all-payer system is a valid one,” said Eliot Powell, the association?s president.
Leopold said the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has issued a letter saying they would support the bill with or without the amendments.
Even though the fourth vote remains uncertain, Dillon and Benoit are somewhat optimistic the amendments will find favor on the dais.
“I feel pretty good about this, and I think it will happen,” Benoit said.
The councilmen would not comment if they would support the bill if their amendments fail, but others at the Pasadena press conference said the public will speak for them.
“We would rather there not be a bill at all than a bill that is flawed,” said Ann Pearson, director of the Alliance for Sustainable Communities.
