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HomeMy WebLinkAbout168 - 12/16/1980 - ESTABLISHING A STORM DRAINAGE UTILITY FEE FOR ADMINISTRATION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE STORM ORDINANCE NO 168 , 1980 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS ESTABLISHING A STORM DRAINAGE UTILITY FEE FOR ADMINISTRATION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM, A METHOD OF DETERMINING SAID FEE, A METHOD OF COLLECTING AND ACCOUNTING FOR SAID FEE AND ESTABLISHING A HEARING PROCEDURE FOR THE PURPOSE OF REVIEWING FEE DETERMINATIONS WHEREAS, there exists in the City of Fort Collins an extensive storm drainage system which system has been established to promote the general public health, safety and welfare by attempting to assure that the movement of emergency vehicles is not prohibited or inhibited during storm or flooding periods and by minimizing storm and flood losses and incon- venience and damage resulting from uncontrolled storm runoff in the City of Fort Collins, and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Fort Collins finds that it is in the best interest of the citizens of the City that said storm drainage facilities be diligently operated and maintained on a regular basis and kept in good condition and repair in order to better serve the health, safety and general welfare needs of the citizens of the City of Fort Collins, and WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Fort Collins has accordingly determined that it is necessary to establish and collect a storm drainage utility fee for the purpose of administration, operation and maintenance of the City' s storm drainage system NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows Section 1 That Section 93-5 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be, and the same hereby is, amended by the addition thereto of an addition- al subsection (E) to read as follows "E The Storm Drainage Board shall also hear the petition of any owner or owners of property in the City of Fort Collins who dispute the amount of the storm drainage utility fee made against such owner's property, or who dispute any determination made by or on behalf of the City pursuant to and by authority of this Chapter, and shall make such revision or modification of such charge or determination as it shall deem appropriate in accordance with subsequent provisions of this Chapter entitled 'Administrative Review and Court Proceed- ings' 11 Section 2 That Section 93-9 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as follows "§93-9 Storm Drainage Fund All storm drainage fees and storm drainage utility fees collected by the City and such other moneys as might be available to the City for the purposes of this chapter, shall be paid into a special fund which is hereby created, to be known as the Storm Drainage Fund Such fund shall be used for the purpose of paying the cost of Storm Water Facilities to be constructed in the various Storm Drainage Basins and paying the cost of operation, administration and maintenance of the Storm Drainage Facilities of the City of Fort Collins, but it shall not be necessary that expenditures from the funds relate to the particular basin from which the fees were collected To the extent that the Storm Drainage Basin Fees collected are insufficient to construct the needed Storm Water Facilities, the cost of the same may be paid from the General Funa of the City but the City Council may order the reimbursement of the General Fund if additional fees are thereafter collected All amounts on hand in such fund from time to time shall be invested by the Director of Finance in investments proper for City funds All funds collected pursuant to the Storm Drainage Utility Fee provisions of this Chapter shall be separately designated as such and shall be used solely for the purposes established for the Storm Drainage Utility Fee All Storm Drainage Fees collected pursuant to Section 93-7 of this Chapter shall be separately designated and used solely for the purposes established for said Storm Drainage Fees." Section 3 That Chapter 93 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be, and the same hereby is, amended by the addition thereto of an addi- tional Section 93-15 to read as follows "§93-15 Storm Drainage Fees Established - (Basin Fees) Reserved " Section 4 That Chapter 93 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins be, and the same hereby is, amended by the addition thereto of additional Sections 93-16 through 93-27 to read as follows -2- "§93-16 Storm Drainage Utility Fee Subject to the provisions of Section 93-20 hereof, there is hereby imposed on each and every developed lot or parcel of land within the City, and the owners thereof, a Storm Drainage Utility gee This fee is deemed reasonable and is necessary to pay for the operation , maintenance, administration and routine functions of the existing City Storm Drainage Facili- ties, and the operation, maintenance and administration of such future Storm Drainage Facilities as may be established within the City All of the proceeds of this fee are deemed to be in payment for use of the City Storm Drainage System by the real property on, and with respect to, which the charge is imposed, and the owners thereof §93-17 City Maintenance of Storm Drainage Facilities The City shall maintain all accepted public Storm Drainage Facilities located within City owned land, City right-of-way, and City easements and may maintain other accepted public Storm Drainage Facilities located within or adjacent to the City Such public facil- ities include, but are not limited to, open drainage ways and piped drainage ways constructed expressly for use by the general public and as a part of the City drainage facilities, bridges, roadside drainage ditches and gutters , flood control facilities including detention and retention basins, dikes, overflow chan- nels, pump stations, etc , that have been designed and constructed expressly for use by the general public Such public Storm Drainage Facilities do not include facilities not accepted by the City for maintenance §93-18 Establishment of Storm Drainage Utility Fee The Storm Drainage Utility Fee established herein shall be based upon the area of each lot or parcel of land and the land use designation of said lot or parcel The Director of Public Works shall deter- mine what rates shall apply to each specific lot or parcel of land within the guidelines herein set forth, and a charge resulting from that determination and application of the other factors set forth, as follows -3- A Each lot or parcel of land shall be placed in one of five specific categories hereinafter referred to as "Basic Categories of Development" based upon the land use characteristics for said lot or parcel The runoff coefficient as used in the Engineering formula known as the Rational Method shall be used as the basis for assigning Basic Categories of Development as follows Basic Category Very Light Light Moderate Heavy Very Heavy of Development Runoff 0 - 0 30 31- 50 51- 70 71- 90 91-1 0 Coefficient The Director shall determine the Bask Category of Development for each lot or parcel of land based on the runoff coefficient typical for the particular land use and/or zoning for that lot or parcel B The Base Rate shall be $0 000285 per square foot per month The Rate Factor for each Bask Category of Devel- opment shall e as follows Basic Category Very Light Light Moderate Heavy Very Heavy of Development Rate Factor 0 25 0 4 0 6 0 8 0 95 C The monthly fee for each lot or parcel of land (except single family residential parcels larger than 12 ,000 square feet) shall be based on the following formula (with all area calculations in square feet) Monthly Fee = (Lot Area) X (Rate Factor) X (Base Rate) D Single family residential parcels larger than 12,000 square feet shall be assessed on the basis of the first 12 ,000 square feet in accordance with the formula described in paragraph C above, and the remainder shall be assessed in accordance with the following formula Remainder of Monthly Fee = (Remaining Area) X (Rate Factor) X (Base Rate) X (1/4) E The minimum charge for any lot or parcel shall be 620 per lot or parcel per month -4- §93-19 Billing for Storm Drainage Utility Fee The Storm Drainage Utility Fee shall be billed and collected with the monthly utility bill for those lots or parcels of land utilizing City utilities, and billed and collected separately as Storm Drainage Utility Fees for those lots or parcels of land and owners thereof, not utilizing other City utilities All such bills for Storm Drainage Utility Fees shall be rendered monthly by the Department of Finance and shall become due and payable in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Finance pertaining to the collection of utility fees, and the Director of Finance shall place all such fees so collected into the Storm Drainage Fund to be deposited and separately kept as a fund to be used only for the purposes stated herein §93-20 Exclusions of Certain Properties From Storm Drainage Utility Fee The Storm Drainage Utility Fees shall not be collected in connection with any City street, road, alley or right-of-way or any railroad or irrigation right-of- way §93-21 Enforcement Provisions Any charge due hereunder which shall not be paid when due may be recovered in an action at law by the City of Fort Collins In addition to any other remedies or penalties provided by this or any other ordinance of the City of Fort Collins, failure of any user of City utilities within the City of Fort Collins to pay said charges promptly when due shall subject such user to discontinuance of such utility services and the City Manager of the City is hereby empowered and directed to enforce this provision as to any and all delinquent users The employees of the City shall at all reasonable times have access to any premises served by the City for inspection , repair, or the enforcement of the provisions of this Chapter §93-22 Unpaid Charges a Lien All Storm Drainage Utility Fees made pursuant to this Chapter shall be a lien upon the property to which such fee is associated from the date said fee becomes due -5- i until such fee is paid the owner of every building, premise, lot or house shall be obligated to pay the fee for all service provided for his premises, which obligation may be enforced by the City by action at law or suit to enforce the lien In the case that a tenant in possession of any premises or buildings shall pay said charges , it shall relieve the landowner from such obligation and lien, but the City shall not be required to look to any person whatsoever other than the owner for the payment of such charges No changes of ownership or occupation shall affect the application of this Article, and the failure of any owner to learn that he purchased property against which a lien for Storm Drainage Utility Fees exists shall in no way affect his responsibility for such payment Any delinquent amount may be enforced by assessment upon the property and premises so served and certification thereof to the County Treasurer for collection under and in pursuance of the authority and procedure pro- vided in Chapter 16, Improvements, Local Public, of this Code " §93-23 Administrative Review and Court Proceedings A Any owner or owners who dispute the amount of the Storm Drainage Utility Fee made against such owners property, or who dispute any determination made by or on behalf of the City pursuant to and by autho- rity of this Chapter, may petition the Director of Pt,hlir Wnrkc (nirartnr) for a heArino on a revision or modification of such charge or determination no later than thirty (30) days after having been billed for such charge or after having been noti- fied of such determination The Director may hold such hear,rgs himself, or, at his sole discretion, may designate an officer or employee of the Depart- ment of Public Works as a hearing officer with authority to hold such hearing or such hearings Such petitions may be filed only once in connection with any such charge or determination except upon a showing of changed circumstances sufficient to justify the filing of such additional petition B Such petitions shall be in writing, filed with the City Clerk, and the facts and figures submitted shall be submitted under oath either in writing or orally at a hearing scheduled by the Director or the Hearing Officer The hearing, if any, shall -6- take place in the City of Fort Collins and notice thereof and the proceedings shall otherwise be in accordance with the rules and regulations issued by the Director The petitioner shall have the burden of proof C Within thirty (30) days of filing, the Director shall make findings of fact based upon all relevant information, shall make a determination based upon such findings, and, if appropriate, modify such charge or determination accordingly Such deter- mination shall be considered a final order of the Director, which order may, within thirty days of its issuance, be appealed to the Storm Drainage Board for a hearing on a revision or modification of such charge Any such appeal to the Storm Drainage Board shall be in writing, filed with the City Clerk, setting forth the specific errors and omissions of the Director in his determination and such hearing shall take place in the City of Fort Collins and notice thereof and the proceedings shall otherwise be in accordance with the by-laws, rules and regulations of the Storm Drainage Board The appellant shall have the burden of proof D Within thirty (30) days of filing, the Storm Drain- age Board shall make its final determination and, if appropriate, modify such charge or determination of the Director in accordance with the facts submitted, to the extent that the Board finds such facts to be true §93-24 Administration of Chapter by Director of Public Works The administration of the provisions of this Chapter is hereby vested in and shall be exercised by the Director of the Department of Public Works of the City of Fort Collins who may prescribe forms and rules and regula- tions in conformity with this Chapter or for the ascertainment, computation and collection of the fees and charges imposed hereunder, and for the proper administration and enforcement hereof The Director may delegate the administration of this Chapter, or any part thereof, subject to the limitations of the Charter and Code of the City, to duly qualified deputies and agents of the Director -7- z r §93-25 Notice Every decision or determination of the Director or the Storm Drainage Board shall be in writing and notice thereof shall be mailed to or served upon the petitioner within a reasonable time from the date of such action Service by certified mail , return receipt requested , shall be conclusive evidence of service for the purpose of this Chapter §93-26 Fiscal Matters The fees and charges paid and collected by virtue of this Chapter shall not be used for general or other governmental or proprietary purposes of the City, except to pay for the equitable share of the cost of accounting, management, and government thereof Other than as described above, the fees and charges shall be used solely to pay for the cost of operation, repair, maintenance, improvements, renewal , replacement and reconstruction of public Storm Drainage Facilities and costs incidental thereto §93-27 Floods Floods from storm water runoff may occasionally occur which exceed the capacity of Storm Drainage Facilities constructed and maintained by funds made available under this Chapter This Chapter does not imply that property liable for the fees and charges established herein will always be free from storm water flooding or flood damage This section does not purport to reduce the need or the necessity for the owner obtaining flood insurance §93-28 Severability In the event that any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Chapter or application thereof is for any reason held or decided to be unconstitutional or unlawful , such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Chapter The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Chapter and each section , subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause or phrase or application thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, -8- subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clause or phrase or application tnereof, might be declared unconstitu- tional or unlawful Introduced, considered favorably on fir At reading, and ordered pub- lished this 18th day of November _, 1980 n o be presented for final passage on tFie of—l6thday o -December� , Mayor ATTEST 4 -City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading s 16th day of D mber 1980 Mayor ATTEST ,ty cieAF -9-