Council hears legal, technical briefings on stormwater fees and possible credits or homestead-style discounts

Council received extended follow-up analysis on the city's stormwater fee and community concerns about bills for nonresidential parcels.

Law director Jim reviewed the ordinance adopted in 2022 and said the residential credit system in the ordinance was drafted with an engineering data basis; he cautioned that creating a nonresidential fee cap without objective, data-driven justification could be challenged as arbitrary. "I would have legal concerns about that," Jim said, noting equal-protection and assessment principles that shape how credits or caps may be applied.

Staff reported comparative research showing Riverside's nonresidential bills fall in a mid-to-high regional range and are similar to those in nearby Troy. Staff also reported that national practice rarely exempts churches and nonprofits entirely from stormwater charges and that gravel driveways are typically treated as impermeable surfaces for fee purposes.

City staff recommended two near-term policy paths: explore a homestead-type discount for residential parcels that already qualify for a homestead property-tax exemption (which could reduce administrative burden), and examine extending a credit framework to nonresidential parcels that deploy mitigation measures (for example, retention ponds or on-site stormwater treatment), once the city has additional billing and performance data to design uniform criteria.

Council asked the law director to investigate legal pathways and asked staff to continue collecting operational data and present options for credits or targeted discounts for future council consideration. No change to the ordinance or fee structure was adopted at the meeting.