UPDATE (12/5/23): The commission has delayed a decision on raising the stormwater fee for a month.
UPDATE (1/2/24): The commission increased the stormwater fee as recommended by ACC staff in a 9-1 vote, with Commissioner Ovita Thornton voting no.
It seems commissioners are finally ready to approve a stormwater fee increase next month.
Athens’ stormwater utility helps control flooding and improve the quality of our drinking water. Its activities are funded primarily through a stormwater fee levied on all property owners, including nonprofits, churches and institutions like the University of Georgia. But the fee hasn’t changed since 2005, meaning it’s only raising 64% of the real revenue it did previously due to inflation. Even in the best of times, the fee never covered the stormwater utility’s capital or infrastructure needs. Those have generally been covered out of sales tax revenue from SPLOST or TSPLOST.
After expanding the stormwater utility service in September, the commission is now considering raising the fee for the average homeowner from $3.50 to $4.73 a month, starting in July. The upcoming vote would also approve 3.75% yearly fee increases over the next five years and 2% yearly increases for another three years after that.
Sadly, none of this fully covers what’s needed to replace the culverts and pipes that are failing underneath our roads all over Athens. We can look forward to a big chunk of our next TSPLOST taken up by live stream pipe replacement unless commissioners decide to fund this needed infrastructure through another means.
Commissioner Ovita Thornton has spoken out against raising the stormwater fee in the past, but she was surprisingly quiet on the issue at the agenda-setting meeting last Thursday. The fee is perhaps the best way for Athens homeowners to fund the stormwater utility, as it allows for collecting funds from UGA and other tax-exempt institutions.
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