Wilson County staff proposes stormwater fee increases to recapture engineering-review costs; TDEC audit scheduled

Wilson County stormwater staff outlined a proposed package of fee adjustments designed to help the county recover engineering-review costs and support ongoing MS4 permit obligations.

The presenter (stormwater staff) told commissioners the residential application fee would remain unchanged at $214 but proposed several changes to recapture external engineering-review costs. He summarized the proposed "critical lot" fees as $3.50 for stream‑crossing engineering review and $3.50 for flood‑study review, with a $7.50 maximum per critical lot. "So if you had a critical lot that had all the above, the total would be $7.50, and that would be the max for that critical lot," the presenter said. The proposal also included a $100 minimum for land‑disturbance plan-review applications (the county currently charges $0 for some under‑one‑acre reviews), an increase to maximum plan-review caps (from $4,200 currently to $5,000 proposed), and an adjustment to subdivision per‑lot charges (staff said the current per‑lot charge is $37.75 and the proposal would add $12.25 per lot).

Staff said Wilson County remains below neighboring jurisdictions' fee levels, and that stormwater work is currently subsidized by the general fund. When commissioners asked how the revenue would be used, staff said the fee revenue would fund the stormwater program and offset costs tied to permit compliance and engineering review. Staff gave an approximate program figure during the discussion, saying the county "spends more in stormwater than we take in" and mentioning program expenditures in the range of several hundred thousand dollars per year; staff later referenced a stormwater budget figure given in the meeting as approximately $856,935.

Commissioners repeatedly asked for more detail. They asked staff to return next month with a clear breakdown of the stormwater fund balance and annual program expenditures, plus an explanation of why the county uses an independent engineering review in addition to private engineers who submit plans. Staff explained that independent reviews are used to verify compliance with county standards and to reduce the county's exposure to later challenges when plans have gaps.

Staff also notified commissioners that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) will conduct an audit onsite on Nov. 13 focused on illicit-discharge detection and elimination (Minimum Control Measure 3) and explained the items TDEC will inspect (mapping, outfall inventory, dry‑weather screening, inspections, and staff education). Commissioners asked for the fee-breakdown and fund figures in the next meeting to inform any decision on the proposed fee package.

No fee changes were adopted at the meeting; staff will return with the requested financial breakdown.