HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 10/17/2017 - Memorandum From Lance Smith Re: Council Follow Up: Blehm-Homestead Subdivision AnnexationUtilities
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700 Wood Street
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6700
970.221.6619 – fax
V/TDD 711
utilities@fcgov.com
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M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: October 6, 2017
TO: Mayor Troxell and City Councilmembers
FROM: Lance Smith, Utilities Strategic Finance Director
THROUGH: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Kevin R. Gertig, Utilities Executive Director
Matt Fater, Water Engineering & Field Services Manager (Interim)
RE: Council Follow-up - Blehm-Homestead Subdivision Annexation
Request:
At the October 3, 2017 City Council meeting, a citizen raised a question regarding the
stormwater fees being assessed to homeowners in the Blehm Subdivision which was recently
annexed into the City. The issue of assessing stormwater fees for these newly annexed
residences was discussed at the First and Second Readings of the annexation ordinance
(Ordinance No. 098, 2017) on July 18
th
and August 15
th
, respectively. City Council requested
staff to provide additional information on how the stormwater fee is being determined for
annexed properties.
Response:
Staff met with the citizen on October 5, 2017 to discuss his concern with how the stormwater fee
is assessed and explain how the reduced fee was determined. The citizen believes that no
residence should be charged more than the fee for a residence on a ½ acre lot. Staff explained
that the calculation recognizes the lower runoff coefficient of larger lots. Further conversations
are expected with this citizen over the next few weeks.
The specific annexed subdivision consists of single family residences on parcels that are well
above the average size. As such, these residences are assessed a stormwater fee that recognizes
the larger amount of pervious land which reduces the fee by 72% from the standard residential
calculation. The Utilities Executive Director has further recognized that much of the land on
such large lots is completely undeveloped and has excluded that portion of the property from the
assessment. The final monthly assessed stormwater fee for such properties is approximately
10% of what it would be without these reductions but varies by property, depending on how
much of the parcel shows development (landscaping or structures).
In future annexations, more effort will be put into communicating that the purpose of the
stormwater fees is to provide for the operations and maintenance of the city-wide stormwater
system and also to pay for Capital Improvement Projects to the benefit of large areas of the City.
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And, as stated in Code Sec. 26-513 all citizens benefit from these services, allowing them to
continue to access all areas of the City even during major events.
Background:
Prior to the First Reading of the Ordinance, a letter was received on April 20
th
from six
residences expecting to be annexed into the City requesting that the stormwater utility fee be
waived for them. The letter outlined the basis for the stormwater utility fee waiver as:
“We believe this fee is not applicable to our properties. Our properties have less than 2% of
impervious surfaces. The run-off, from the impervious surfaces, does not enter a storm
drainage system and is absorbed back into our lands. For these reasons the storm water fee
is not relevant to our acreages. We are requesting this fee be waived.”
The attached memo from Kevin R. Gertig dated June 19, 2017 recommended that the stormwater
utility fee not be waived for these properties for two reasons:
1. While these properties, at almost 300,000 square feet, are much larger than most
residential properties in the City, per City Code Section 26-514(a), a significant discount
(72%) in the fee assessment would be applied to these properties because of their unusual
size recognizing the lower ratio of impervious soil on such properties.
2. Like all other properties within the City, these properties will benefit from stormwater
facilities.
Following the First Reading, the attached memo dated July 20, 2017 answered two specific
questions from Councilman Cunniff on the fee assessment for single family residences on larger
lots. That memo showed that for a 7.5 acre lot being annexed into the City, the Stormwater
Enterprise would not receive the one-time $14,992 in the development plant investment fee and
would receive at most $98.67 per month which represented a 72% discount from the standard
residential calculation for homes on lots of less than ½ acre.
Following the Second Reading, the attached memo dated August 22, 2017 was provided to
Council to further explain the actual fee that would be assessed for these newly annexed
residents. Recognizing the large portion of such lots that is not developed at all, there is a further
adjustment that has been applied to these properties based on the discretion available to the
Utilities Executive Director from City Code Sec. 26-514 a(7) which reads as follows:
“Single-family residential or agricultural lots or parcels larger than one-half (1/2) acre
shall be assessed using the methods set forth in (5) and (6) above, except that the Utilities
Executive Director may assess a reduced fee or no fee for all or any portion of the lot or
parcel in excess of one-half (1/2) acre if the Utilities Executive Director determines that
such fee reduction is warranted by the land use characteristics and runoff characteristics
of the remainder of the lot or parcel.”
Attachments:
1. June 19, 2017 Memorandum to the Mayor and City Councilmembers
2. July 20, 2017 Memorandum to the Mayor and City Councilmembers
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
3. August 22, 2017 Memorandum to the Mayor and City Councilmembers
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
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DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976
DocuSign Envelope ID: 33AD5656-FDE8-4F86-9B94-8A8C12EC0976