Council maintains NPDES stormwater fee and approves liens for unpaid rental taxes and sidewalk repairs

Daly City Council on June 24 voted to re-adopt the city’s existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES/MPDS) local stormwater regulatory fee at current levels and authorized the county to collect the fee on property tax bills. Staff estimated FY2025 stormwater program costs at about $527,180 and projected fee revenues at about $470,000, leaving an approximate $57,000 shortfall the city currently subsidizes from other funds.

Director Chu and senior analyst Sabeli Calles explained that the fee was originally established in 1995 and that, under state law, raising the fee would require additional outreach and voter approval. Councilmembers discussed the prospect of a future ballot measure and noted that other jurisdictions have had mixed results when seeking voter approval for stormwater fees; staff pointed to San Mateo as a recent successful example following storm damage.

On separate, administrative actions, the council conducted public hearings and adopted resolutions to place notices of lien and special assessments on the property-tax rolls for rental properties with unpaid business license rental taxes (per the city’s 2012 agreement with San Mateo County and a Daly City municipal-code requirement) and for properties with unpaid sidewalk repair invoices. Staff said notices were mailed to affected property owners and that unpaid amounts will be assessed on the 2024–25 property tax bill if not paid by July 8, 2024. Councilmembers requested minor corrections to staff reports (a misspelled street name) before approving the sidewalk lien action.