Marion property owners argue against stormwater fee change

MARION - The city council on Thursday told a standing-room-only crowd that it will wait until at least March 17 before deciding whether to institute a graduated stormwater utility fee on all property owners.

Residents would continue to pay a nominal $4 monthly fee. However, commercial, industrial and non-profit property owners' fees would reflect the amount of stormwater runoff caused by such things as parking lots, sidewalks and buildings.

The proposal has been in the works since late 2008. A committee of city representatives, residents and business owners has been working with MSA Professional Services of Madison, Wis., to formulate the new rates, which must be approved by the council before they go into effect.

After a 40-minute presentation by MSA engineer Eric Thomson, developers, business owners and non-profit representatives, as well as spokesmen from the Marion Chamber of Commerce and MEDCO, told the council that more study was needed before rates were approved. More than a dozen of the 120 people on hand spoke against the ordinance. They pleaded for the city to find other ways to finance federal EPA mandates to reduce stormwater runoff and improve the quality of what does exist.

City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said that the 874 non-residential properties in the city make up nearly half of the land, yet the 11,200 residential property owners contribute 92 percent of the utility's $339,000 budget. Under the new plan, their burden would change to 39 percent with non-profits contributing 10 percent and business properties making up the remaining 51 percent.

Linn-Mar Community School District, the largest landholder in Marion, would see yearly fees of $31,674 before credits for stormwater management reduced its bill, while Walmart would see a bill of $10,873, up from the $48 it now pays yearly. TKJ Limited LC, developer of Eagle Ridge and other properties, would face a yearly fee of $19,751.

Eagle Ridge developer Jim Dyer said the fee should really be called a tax “because it will be billed year after year.” Eagle Ridge is a manufactured home park with 320 residences.

Tamara Mitchell, also an Eagle Ridge developer, called the fee an “economic disincentive” for businesses in Marion. She and others encouraged the council to find alternate funding for the stormwater mandates.

Ann Wilson, an attorney in Marion and member of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, said that businesses would be unable to budget for the utility fee if it were enacted in July, and called for the fees to be phased in. Many asked why the utility wasn't being funded through local-option sales tax dollars or by bonding.

While developers and other large land holders would have to pay much larger bills, smaller businesses might not feel the pinch as much. Zoey's Pizza, on 10th Street, would have to pay $52 annually, while Marion Brush, another small business, would pay $112 yearly.

- By Cathleen Beke, Correspondent