§ 5.03.126. Utility fee established.

(a)

Subject to the provisions of this article, there is hereby imposed on each and every developed lot or parcel of land within the city a stormwater utility fee. This fee is deemed reasonable and is necessary to pay for the operation, maintenance, administration and capital improvements of the existing city stormwater drainage facilities and the operation, maintenance, administration and capital improvements of such future stormwater discharge facilities as may be established within the city and to pay for the design, right-of-way acquisition and construction or reconstruction of stormwater drainage facilities to the extent that such costs have been determined to be the responsibility of developed properties and outlined in Section 5.03.129. All of the proceeds of this fee are deemed to be in payment for use of the city stormwater drainage system. Future fees shall be established by resolution of the city commission. The initial fee shall be set as four dollars ($4.00) per single-family unit.

(b)

Monthly service charges for commercial units are based on the square footage of impervious area. The total square footage of impervious area shall be divided by two thousand forty-nine (2,049) square feet. The result shall be rounded to the nearest whole number. (Examples: 0—2,049 sq. ft equals one ERU; 2,049.1—3,073.5 sq. ft equals one ERU; 3,073.6—5,122.5 sq. ft equals two ERU; 5,122.6—7,171.5 equals three ERU, etc.)

(c)

The utility fee for nonresidential developed property may be reduced by a credit of twenty (20) percent if the property is serviced by a privately operated and maintained stormwater management system for which a permit has been issued by the St. Johns River Water Management District ("district"), pursuant to Florida Administrative Code Chapter 40C-42.

(1)

Initial eligibility for the credit must be demonstrated by the property owner or non-owner user by providing the director with a copy of the operation permit issued by the district, as-built construction drawings and drainage calculations of the permitted system sealed by a state registered professional engineer, and documentation that the stormwater management system meets the legal operation and maintenance entity requirements of the district.

(2)

A credit established and granted hereunder shall be effective for a period of five (5) years. The credit may be renewed every five (5) years by submission to the director of an inspection report certified by a state registered professional engineer certifying that the stormwater management system is operating as designed and a statement of what operational maintenance has been performed on the system. Failure of the property owner or non-owner user to submit the report every five (5) years, as required herein, shall automatically result in the loss of the twenty (20) percent credit provided hereunder.

(3)

The city manager or designee shall be responsible for verifying or disallowing any credit for on-site stormwater management system. The city manager or designee's decision shall be in writing. The decision of the city manager or designee disallowing the fee credit may be appealed to the city commission within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision. The decision of the city commission on the appeal shall be final.

(4)

Any utility customer found by the city to be entitled to a credit under this section, who has paid any stormwater fees under protest prior to April 22, 2010, shall be entitled to a refund consistent with this section.

(Ord. No. 2004-35, § 1, 12-16-04; Ord. No. 2010-05, § 2, 5-13-10)