A proposed hike in Fishers storm water fees is headed to the full City Council after the council’s Finance Committee passed the proposal with a positive recommendation. The Board of Public Works and Safety also voted a positive recommendation on July 9 for this fee increase.
If enacted, most residential customers would see a $1.71 increase in their monthly storm water charge. Since residents are billed annually for this fee, homeowners would see an increase of $20.52 in their yearly billing.
Many commercial users would see much larger increases, with the Hamilton Southeastern Schools facing an annual increase of roughly $63,000 per year under this proposal.
Mayor Scott Fadness told the committee that the Board of Works has held sessions with Rick Farnham, Director of Water Quality for the city’s Department of Public Works, and his staff about policy decisions related to how any fee recommendation must be planned.
For example, Fadness said one policy decision was whether the city should be responsible for all retention ponds, which would be an expensive proposition. The decision was made to have city staff work with homeowners associations and educate them on how to conduct preventive maintenance, avoiding expensive work on their ponds.
“I’m fully supportive of Rick (Farnham) and his team’s recommendations moving forward,” Fadness told the Finance Committee. This issue will be considered with the city’s 2019 budget proposal.
Farnham told the committee this fee increase will allow his department to begin work on a long list of capital projects, totaling $8.3 million, including work to prevent flooding along 106th Street when the city experiences heavy rain.
According to Farnham, the local storm water utility has been working with the same rate structure for 10 years, going back to when the storm water district was first established. The mayor said the city cannot handle the storm water financial needs through growth in the city.
Without this rate increase, the operation will be in a structural financial deficit beginning next year. The city would need to pick up the slack from its budget, and services would likely be cut.