HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-06-12 - RESOLUTIONS - STORMDRN UTILITY FEES (2)RESOLUTION NO. 01-57
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA ESTABLISHING
FEES AND CHARGES FOR STORM DRAINAGE
UTILITY SERVICES
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Clarita has had a study conducted by an outside consultant of the
options available for funding the City's storm drainage program in light of the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the City by the California Regional
Water Quality Control Board; and
WHEREAS, the Consultant's report identifies a need for average annual expenditures to meet the
NPDES permit requirements of $2,170,000; and
WHEREAS, funds in this amount are not available to the City without drastically curtailing
current City services for parks, public safety and other vital public services; and
WHEREAS, the Consultant's report indicated the feasibility and equity of funding the City's storm
. ,drainage program by the formation of a storm drainage utility supported by user charges against .
s1I property in the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council, after careful study of the Consultant's report, did hold hearings as
required by Government.Code Section 66018 and did, after due process, adopt Ordinance No. 94-7,
establishing the storm drainage activity of the City as a utility enterprise as Chapter 15.50 of the
SCMC; and
WHEREAS, Section 15.50.040 of the SCMC directs that the user charges for storm drainage
service be enacted by City Council resolution; and
WHEREAS, the City Council intends that storm drainage user charges be in effect for fiscal year
2001-2002; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to have the storm drainage user charge included on the 2001-
2002 Los Angeles County tax statement; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 54354.5, the specific fees to be charged for
services must be adopted by the City Council by resolution, after providing notice and holding a
public hearing; and
WHEREAS, notice of public, hearing has been provided per Government Code Section 54354.5, oral
and written presentations made and received, and the required public hearing held; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to California Government Code Section 54354.5 the notice of hearing
contained a proposed copy of this resolution and was published as required; and
WHEREAS, all applicable requirements of California Government Code Seddon 54354;5 ars
hereby found to have been complied with; and ,_
WHEREAS, the City intends by the enactment of the fees and charges set forth herein to fund
compliance with the stormwater NPDES requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act
therefore, the storm drainage user charge shall herein and henceforth be known as the "Storm
Drainage Pollution Abatement Charge'; and
WHEREAS, the charges proposed herein are not discriminatory or excessive and comply with
the provisions of the State Revenue Bond Law of 1941 (Government Code Section 54300 et sea.)
and the laws of the State of California.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA DOES
RESOLVE, DETERMINE, AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: Storm Drainage Pollution Abatement Charge Adopted. A storm drainage
pollution abatement charge shall be billed to all parcels of property in the City in accordance
with the computation formulas set forth in this resolution.
SECTION 2: Definitions. In addition to the definitions set forth in SCMC, Section
15.50.020, incorporated herein by reference, the following definitions of terms shall apply:
A. "Base Charge". The annual storm drainage pollution abatement charge to be paid
by the average single-family residential parcel, hereinafter known as the Equivalent Drainage
Residential Unit (I DRU).
B. `Basic Assessment Unit". The Equivalent Drainage Residential Unit is the Basic
Assessment Unit for purposes of computing the Storm Drainage Pollution Abatement Charge
for each parcel in the City. The Equivalent Drainage Residential Unit is defined as an
impervious area per parcel of 2,777 square feet.
SECTION 3: Computation of User Charges. All properties in the City are assumed to
be responsible for paying their fair and equitable share of the cost of storm drainage pollution
abatement based on the following formulas and computations:
A. DRU Computation. The DRU on a parcel shall be computed by the following
formula:
DRU Count = [(Parcel Area in Square Feet) x (Parcel Runoff Factor)] / 2777
B. Parcel Area. The gross area of each parcel shall be determined from the data
contained in the records of the Los Angeles County Assessor or by direct measurement, or by
such other means as the City Engineer may select.
Q; Parcel Runoff Factor:` To the bxtent practicable the runoff factor for each parcel shall
or be the same factor as determined by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District for the type
of land use code listed for each parcel in the records of the Los Angeles County Assessor,
provided that, the City Engineer shall determine the appropriate runoff factor for all tax
exempt properties or other properties not listed by the Flood Control District. The City
Engineer may adjust any parcel's runoff factor annually if said runoff factor is determined to
not accurately represent the contribution of a specific parcel to stormwater runoff.
D. After annual review of User Charges, as specified in Section 10, the City Council has
determined a fee revision is warranted. The annual charge per DRU shall be reduced to $21.
F. Computation of User Charge. The annual storm drainage pollution abatement
charge to be billed to each parcel shall be based on the following formula:
1. Annual charge per DRU shall be $21.00.
2. Annual user charge per parcel shall be:
Annual Charge = $21.00 x Number of DRU for Parcel
SECTION 4: Billing of User Charge. The Storm Drainage Pollution Abatement Charge
shall be billed on the property tax statement billed annually by the Los Angeles County
Assessor. The Charge shall appear as a separate listing on the tax statement.
SECTION 5: Collection and Enforcement.
r
ri1 A. The Stormwater Pollution Abatement Charge for each parcel she,U�e collected,by
and be payable to the Los Angeles County Treasurer -Tax Collector for the 2001-2002 tax year
along with the general taxes levied for City and County purposes and shall be subject to the
"same penalties and enforcement provision relating to general taxes.'
B. If any portion of the levy, collection or expenditure of the Stormwater Pollution
Abatement Charge provided for herein is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining
levy, collection or expenditure of the Stormwater Pollution Abatement Charge shall not be
affected, but remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 6: User Charge Limitation. The Storm Drainage Pollution Abatement
Charge shall not exceed the reasonable cost of providing the services, facilities or regulatory
activity for which the fee is charged.
SECTION 7: User and Occupant Responsibility. In order to reduce the burden on the
public regarding storm water pollution and disposal, each user and occupant is required to
assume responsibility for preventing the discharge of toxic or hazardous substances and other
unnecessary debris from their property to the stormwater drainage system. Violation of this
policy will result in warnings being issued to the applicable property owner or occupant.
Repeated violations will result in a surcharge being made against the offending property owner
or occupant, as determined by the City Engineer of the City, consistent with the reasonable cost
to the City of necessary clean up of such materials.
SECTION 8: Postponement for Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens," The Storm
Drainage Pollution Abatement Charge shall be postponed for residential Users who possess a
certificate of eligibility issued pursuant to the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property
Tax Postponement Law (commencing at Revenue and Taxation Code Section 20581) contained
in Part 10.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code and shall become a lien against
the User's property following the procedure contained in Government Code Section 16182,
except that the lien shall be issued in favor of the City of Santa Clarita instead of the State of
California and shall be executed and administered by the Director of Finance, instead of the
Controller. To obtain the postponement provided for in this section, the User must file the
certificate of eligibility with the Director of Finance and the Director of Finance shall arrange
to have the User Charge not appear on the tax bill and instead be made a line against the
User's Property.
SECTION 9: Adjustments and Appeals. If the owner of any parcel shall have reason
to feel that the computation of the DRU count for his/her parcel is not correct, that person may
file an appeal with the City Engineer in the manner prescribed by the City Engineer. The City
Engineer will consider all data provided by the appellant and shall render a decision in writing.
The decision of the City Engineer will be final with respect to City action on the appeal.
SECTION 10: Annual Review of User Charges. It is the intention of the City Council
to review the fees and charges as determined and set out herein based on the City's next
Annual Budget and all storm drainage costs and, as and if warranted, to revise such fees and
charges based thereon.
SECTION 11: Constitutionality. If any portion of this Resolution is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, then it is the intention of the City Council to have passed the entire resolution
and all its component parts, and all other sections of this resolution shall remain in full force
and affect.
SECTION 12: Repealer. All resolutions and other actions of the City Council in conflict
with the contents of this resolution are hereby repealed.
SECTION 13: This resolution shall go into full force and effect upon its adoption, and
shall be subject to the terms and conditions of Chapter 15.50 of the SCMC.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 12th day of June, 2001.
•
ATTEST:
A
CITY CLERK
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES )as
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA )
I, Sharon L. Dawson, City Clerk of the City of Santa Clarita, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita at
a regular meeting thereof, held on the 12th day of June, 2001 by the following vote of Council:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Smyth, Darcy, Kellar, Ferry, Weste
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: None
MO)WROMM M