Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cascade council discusses storm‑sewer utility fee, asks staff to return with options
Summary
Council members debated a proposed storm‑sewer utility fee to fund stormwater repairs, weighing per-account flat fees against charging by impervious surface; members asked staff to prepare rate scenarios and implementation options for later consideration.
At their Aug. 25 meeting, the Cascade City Council held an extended discussion about a possible storm‑sewer utility fee intended to generate revenue for stormwater repairs and improvements.
Speaker 3 presented example approaches and rates, noting larger cities commonly base fees on impervious surface or square footage while smaller municipalities sometimes use flat per-account units. The speaker cited Monticello as a point of comparison and offered sample numbers for starting discussion.
Council members questioned how a 'unit' would be defined and raised equity concerns for institutions and large commercial properties, including schools and businesses with extensive roofs and parking lots. One council member said a single residential customer should not pay a disproportionately low share compared with large properties, while another noted the example fee would be "a start" and could be banked and reassessed in the future.
Financial scale and next steps: speakers referenced a rough revenue estimate under the example scenario of about $34,000–$35,000 annually; council members said the amount "doesn't go very far" but could seed a fund for stormwater projects. No ordinance or fee was adopted at the meeting. Speaker 3 asked whether the council would like staff to develop detailed rate options (per-account unit vs. square-foot/impervious-surface methods) and return with recommendations; council members agreed to pursue further study.
The council's direction was limited to instructing staff to research implementation approaches and to prepare sample rate scenarios and legal/administrative steps for a future meeting.
Provenance: discussion of the stormwater utility fee began under "Number 9" and continued through the meeting record; the transcript records multiple exchanges about rate structure, equity, and revenue estimates.
