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Tampa might ramp up stormwater fees over time

 
Adam Hoge of Sarasota wades through the intersection of W Kennedy Boulevard and N Fremont Avenue on Saturday in Tampa. Hoge came up for the first day of the Buccaneers' training camp, though it was rained out. He was headed for Amalie Arena when he saw the water rising and crawled out of the window of his Jeep.
Adam Hoge of Sarasota wades through the intersection of W Kennedy Boulevard and N Fremont Avenue on Saturday in Tampa. Hoge came up for the first day of the Buccaneers' training camp, though it was rained out. He was headed for Amalie Arena when he saw the water rising and crawled out of the window of his Jeep.
Published Aug. 11, 2015

TAMPA — Surely, Pete Montero said, "There's some kind of error."

Montero went to City Hall with a notice he received last week outlining Tampa's proposed stormwater fees for his house in the V.M. Ybor neighborhood.

On the front, the notice listed a fee of $82.

On the back, it listed a fee of $98.

No, officials said, that's not a misprint. The city will hold a public hearing Aug. 27 on a proposal for two different stormwater assessments.

A "service assessment" would expand the city's program of street-sweeping, ditch-cleaning and the unplugging of outfalls where stormwater pours from pipes into Tampa Bay.

A new, second "improvement assessment" would pay to build culverts, pumps, ponds and other projects to make water drain faster.

"That even makes it worse," said Montero, telling the City Council his income consists of Social Security and rent from a property he owns next door to his home. "I live on a very frugal budget. I can ill-afford an increase in my property assessment."

Tampa currently charges property owners one assessment to pay for stormwater services. It's $36 a year for a medium-sized home, one where the house, decks and other paved areas cover from 1,301 to 2,200 square feet.

The fee hasn't gone up since 2005, and as last week's record rain showed, Tampa drains poorly.

So City Hall is looking at increasing its existing stormwater service assessment and creating the new improvement assessment to increase capacity.

Combined, both fees could go up to $180 for those medium-sized homes (smaller properties would pay less; larger ones, more).

But the council has indicated it wants to soften the blow by ramping up the fees over seven years.

Instead of getting hit with the full $180 right away, those medium-sized homeowners would pay $82 next year, $135 the year after, with the fee eventually rising to $180 by the city's 2021-22 budget year.

"It will be a burden on some of our residents," council member Lisa Montelione said. "I've already received emails from several people saying, 'Why are we getting taxed again?' and 'We can't afford this.' "

Council members also have considered two options for the improvement program:

• $251.3 million would pay for a comprehensive program consisting of basin-wide improvements costing from $5 million to $75 million in five areas (two in South Tampa, one each in Southeast Seminole Heights, University Square and along Cypress Street). It also would include smaller projects such as new or bigger culverts in flood-prone spots.

• $61.3 million would pay for just the smaller projects. This would allow the city to impose a lower improvement assessment.

Each offered trade-offs between costs and benefits, said Brad Baird, the city's administrator of public works and utility services. But with the lower-cost program, the city might not have the funding to match grants for stormwater improvements.

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It also might run the risk of raising expectations while only solving small to medium problems.

"With that funding, cars will still float," Baird said.

So the council leaned toward the bigger program.

"You either do it right or not do it at all," council member Guido Maniscalco said.

The service assessment would be charged citywide, but the improvement assessment would be charged in most of the city. It would not be charged in areas — Harbour Island, MacDill Air Force Base and the community development districts of New Tampa — that have been planned and developed to treat their own stormwater on-site.

Early last week, when much of the city was underwater, council member Harry Cohen asked Baird how Harbour Island fared in the storms.

The answer: much better than the rest of South Tampa.

"What that says to all of us," Cohen said, "is that these are solvable problems — if you actually put in a system to deal with it and control the water."

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times