Chapter 13.28
STORMWATER UTILITY
Sections:
Article I. Stormwater Utility
13.28.020 Creation of stormwater utility.
13.28.030 Administrator of utility.
13.28.040 Stormwater utility fund.
13.28.050 Authority to establish rates and charges.
13.28.060 Limitation of liability.
Article II. Rate Structure Policy
13.28.130 Service charge rates.
13.28.140 Rate adjustments and appeals.
13.28.150 Billing procedure and collection.
13.28.160 Annual review of charges and fees.
13.28.170 Effective date of service charge.
Article I. Stormwater Utility
13.28.010 Definitions.
The following words when used herein shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
“Comprehensive stormwater plan” means a plan, developed for the purposes of mapping and analyzing the city’s surface and stormwater drainage system, identifying problem areas, and providing recommendations for capital improvements, best management practices, policy changes, and funding.
“General facility charge” means that fee authorized by the council and charged by the utility to property which is developed after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this article, which charge reflects a proportionate share of the utility’s capital costs attributable to the newly developed property.
“Service charge” means the monthly fee levied by the utility upon all developed real property within the boundaries of the utility as authorized by NPMC 13.28.020 and 13.28.030.
“Storm drainage system” means constructed drainage facilities and any natural surface water drainage features that do any combination of collecting, storing, controlling, treating or conveying surface and stormwater.
“Stormwater” means water originating from rainfall and other precipitation that is found in drainage facilities, rivers, streams, springs, seeps, ponds, lakes, and wetlands, as well as shallow groundwater.
“Utility” means the city of Normandy Park, Washington, stormwater utility, a utility which operates and maintains the surface and stormwater drains, channels and facilities, outfalls for storm drainage and the rights and interests in property relating to the system. The boundaries of the utility are the corporate limits of the city. (Ord. 718 § 1, 2003).
13.28.020 Creation of stormwater utility.
(1) There is hereby created and established a surface and stormwater utility which shall be known as the “city of Normandy Park, Washington, stormwater utility” (the “utility”), for the purposes set forth in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The city shall exercise, through the utility where possible, all the lawful powers necessary and appropriate to the construction, condemnation and purchase, acquisition, addition to, maintenance, conduct and operation, management, regulation and control of the surface and stormwater within the boundaries of the city, as necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the city; including, without limitation, all the lawful powers to fix, alter, regulate and control the rates, charges and conditions for the use thereof, to purchase and condemn property on behalf of the utility, to regulate actions taken with respect to public and private property which affect the flow of surface and stormwater and the use of drainage facilities, and to adopt, alter, and amend a plan adopted as necessary to implement the policies of the city pertaining to surface and stormwater drainage.
(3) It is not the purpose of this article to create a duty of the city or its utility to insure or protect individual persons or property against water drainage. (Ord. 718 § 2, 2003).
13.28.030 Administrator of utility.
The city manager or the official designated by the city manager shall be administrator of the utility and shall report directly to the city manager. (Ord. 718 § 3, 2003).
13.28.040 Stormwater utility fund.
(1) There is hereby created a fund which shall be known as the “stormwater utility fund.” All revenues, assessments, and other charges collected by the utility, or otherwise received for drainage purposes or attributable to the operation and maintenance of the utility, and all loans to or grants or funds received for its construction, improvement and operation, shall be deposited in the stormwater utility fund. All disbursements for costs of data collection, planning, designing, constructing, acquiring, maintaining, operating, and improving the drainage utility facilities, whether such facilities are natural, constructed or both, and administering the utility shall be made from the stormwater utility fund.
(2) The city may create, at such time or times as it deems appropriate, any other funds necessary to the administration of the stormwater utility and may designate the revenues to be placed therein and the purpose or purposes of such funds which may be the same as one, some or all of the purposes designated in this section as the purposes of the stormwater utility fund created herein, and such purposes shall then be transferred to such newly created fund. (Ord. 718 § 4, 2003).
13.28.050 Authority to establish rates and charges.
The city shall establish by ordinance rate classifications, service charges, general facilities charges, inspection, permitting, application, and such other fees and charges necessary and sufficient in the opinion of the city council to pay for the following:
(1) The costs associated with the development and adoption of a comprehensive stormwater plan;
(2) The costs, including debt service and related financing expenses, for the construction, and reconstruction of storm drainage facilities necessary or useful for the handling of surface and stormwater within the city, but not presently in existence;
(3) The operation, repair, maintenance, improvement, replacement and reconstruction of storm drainage facilities within the city which presently exist;
(4) The acquisition of real property interests, which may be useful or necessary for the storm drainage system in the city including but not limited to land necessary for the installation and construction of storm drainage facilities, and all other facilities, including retention and detention facilities, which are reasonably required for proper and adequate handling of stormwater within the city;
(5) The costs of monitoring, inspection, enforcement and administration of the utility including but not limited to water quality surveillance, private drainage facility maintenance inspection, construction inspection and other activities which are reasonably required for the proper and adequate implementation of the city’s surface and stormwater policies;
(6) The construction and subsequent maintenance of those future facilities as required by the utility; and
(7) Creation and implementation of ordinances, policies, standards, and procedures for the purposes of gaining compliance with state or federal rules and regulations.
The fees and charges to be paid and collected pursuant hereto shall not be used for general or other governmental or proprietary purposes of the city, except to pay for the equitable share of the costs of accounting, management and government thereof incurred on behalf of the utility. (Ord. 718 § 5, 2003).
13.28.060 Limitation of liability.
This article, any drainage code to be adopted by the city council to implement this article, and any guidelines, rules, standards, specifications, requirements, regulations and procedures established pursuant to any section of such code are intended to provide the authority and processes to achieve cost-effective surface and stormwater management in accordance with reasonable standards for such management in the city as necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens and of the city. No city liability shall be inferred, implied, or interpreted by the adoption and application of this article for damages to individual persons or properties which result from existing conditions or which occur subsequent to the date of the ordinance codified in this article. There shall be no liability associated with the utility’s approval of any privately constructed portion of the storm drainage system and/or privately maintained portion of the storm drainage system unless the city accepts the same as part of its publicly owned and/or maintained system. (Ord. 718 § 6, 2003).
Article II. Rate Structure Policy
13.28.110 Definitions.
The following words when used herein shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
“Best management practices” (“BMPs”) means the best available and reasonable physical, structural, managerial, or behavioral activities that, when used singly or in combination, eliminate or reduce the contamination of surface and/or ground water.
“City manager” means the city manager or the official designated by the city manager.
“Developed” means that condition of real property altered from its natural state by the addition to or construction on such property of impervious ground surface or other manmade physical improvements such that the drainage characteristics of the property or portion thereof is affected.
“Duplex” means a multifamily structure comprised of two dwelling units.
“Dwelling unit – single-family” means a structure consisting of one detached building in which there are facilities for the living accommodations of one family.
“Equivalent residential unit” (“ERU”) means and shall be equal to 3,100 square feet of impervious surface and is the measure of impervious surface to be used by the utility in assessing service charges and general facility charges against each parcel of property.
“General facility charge” means that fee authorized by the council and charged by the utility to property which is developed after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this article, which charge reflects a proportionate share of the utility’s capital costs attributable to the newly developed property.
“Impervious surface” means a hard surface area which either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle as it entered under natural conditions prior to development, or a hard surface area which causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from the flow present under natural conditions prior to development. Common impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, roofs, sidewalks, walkways, patios, concrete or asphalt paving, driveways, parking lots, storage areas, areas which are paved, graveled, or made of packed earthen materials and other surfaces which similarly impede the natural infiltration of surface and stormwater. Open, uncovered flow control or water quality treatment facilities shall not be considered as impervious surfaces.
“Manual” means the most recently adopted technical drainage manual that describes the requirements for drainage review, drainage plan and report submittal, hydrologic analysis and design, flow control design, water quality design, and other technical requirements.
“Natural surface water drainage system” means such landscape features as rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands.
“Parcel” means the smallest separately segregated unit or plot of land having an identified owner, boundaries and surface area which is documented for property tax purposes and given a tax lot number by the King County assessor.
“Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, corporation or governmental agency.
“Program” means the stormwater management program.
“Service charge” means the monthly fee levied by the utility upon all developed real property within the boundaries of the utility as authorized by NPMC 13.28.120 and 13.28.130.
“Storm drainage system” means constructed drainage facilities and any natural surface water drainage features that do any combination of collecting, storing, controlling, treating or conveying surface and stormwater.
“Stormwater” means water originating from rainfall and other precipitation that is found in drainage facilities, rivers, streams, springs, seeps, ponds, lakes, and wetlands, as well as shallow groundwater.
“Stormwater management program” means the services provided by the city relating to surface and stormwater drainage, including, but not limited to, basin planning, facilities operations and maintenance, regulation, financial administration, public involvement, drainage investigation and enforcement, aquatic resource restoration, surface and stormwater quality and environmental monitoring, natural surface water drainage system planning, intergovernmental relations and facility design and construction.
“Undeveloped parcel” means any parcel which has not been altered from its natural state by the construction, creation or addition of impervious surface.
“Utility” means the city of Normandy Park, Washington, stormwater utility, a utility which operates and maintains the surface and stormwater drains, channels and facilities, outfalls for storm drainage and the rights and interests in property relating to the system. The boundaries of the utility are the corporate limits of the city.
“Water quality treatment facility” means a drainage facility designed to reduce pollutants once they are already contained in surface and stormwater runoff. Water quality treatment facilities are the structural component of BMPs. When used singly or in combination, water quality treatment facilities reduce the potential for contamination of surface and/or ground water. (Ord. 719 § 1, 2003).
13.28.120 Rate structure.
(1) It shall be the policy of the city that the rate structure to be applied in establishing the amount of service charges and general facility charges assessed against each parcel of developed real property within the boundaries of the utility shall be based upon the amount of impervious surface contained within each parcel of property as set forth in this section.
(2) The city shall determine the service charge for each parcel within the service area by the following methodology:
(a) All single-family dwelling units and accessory uses thereof and mobile homes are deemed to contain one equivalent residential unit.
(b) All other developed real properties within the utility boundaries, the utility shall determine the number of equivalent residential units by dividing the number of square feet of impervious surface on each property by 3,100 square feet per ERU; the total thus obtained will be rounded to the nearest half, representing the equivalent residential units contained on such property. Each developed parcel of property shall be deemed to comprise a minimum of one equivalent residential unit.
(3) Property Exempt from Service Charges. The following special categories of property are exempt from service charges and general facility charges:
(a) City street rights-of-way;
(b) Washington State rights-of-way; and
(c) Undeveloped parcels that have not been altered from a natural state. (Ord. 779 § 1, 2008; Ord. 761 § 1, 2005; Ord. 719 § 2, 2003).
13.28.130 Service charge rates.
(1) In accordance with the rate structure set forth in NPMC 13.28.120, there is hereby levied upon all developed real property within the boundaries of the utility the following service charges which shall be collected from the owners of such properties:
(a) Effective January 1, 2023, for all single-family dwelling units and accessory uses thereof, mobile homes, and each duplex unit, and each condominium unit (one equivalent residential unit), the monthly service charge shall be $23.35 per month.
(b) Effective January 1, 2023, for all other developed property within the boundaries of the utility, unless exempt as set forth above, the monthly service charge shall be $23.35 per month per ERU multiplied by the number of equivalent residential units determined by the utility to be contained in such parcel.
(c) Effective January 1, 2024, for all single-family dwelling units and accessory uses thereof, mobile homes, and each duplex unit, and each condominium unit (one equivalent residential unit), the monthly service charge shall be $30.36 per month.
(d) Effective January 1, 2024, for all other developed property within the boundaries of the utility, unless exempt as set forth above, the monthly service charge shall be $30.36 per month per ERU multiplied by the number of equivalent residential units determined by the utility to be contained in such parcel.
(2) The City Council will review the surface water utility service charges annually to ensure the long-term fiscal viability of the program and to guarantee that debt covenants are met. The program will use equitable and efficient methods to determine service charges. (Ord. 1046 § 2, 2022).
13.28.140 Rate adjustments and appeals.
(1) Any person billed for service charges may file a request for rate adjustment with the city within two years of the date from which the bill was sent. Rate adjustment request forms shall be available at the city clerk’s office. However, filing of such request does not extend the period for payment of the charge.
(2) Requests for rate adjustment may be granted or approved by the city manager only when at least one of the following conditions exists:
(a) The parcel is owned and is the personal residence of a person or persons determined by the county assessor as qualified for a low income senior citizen or low income disabled citizen property tax exemption authorized under RCW 84.36.381. Parcels qualifying under this subsection may be exempt from all charges;
(b) The parcel is owned or leased by a public school district, which provides activities which directly benefit the stormwater management program. The activities may include curriculum specific to the issues and problems of surface and stormwater management, and student activities in the community to expose students to the efforts required to restore, monitor or enhance the storm drainage system. Pursuant to RCW 35.92.021, the amount of the rate adjustment shall be determined by the city based upon the cost of the activities to the school district but not to exceed the value of the activity to the stormwater management program. Determination of which activities qualify for the service charge reduction will be made by the city. Reductions in service charges will only be granted to public school districts which provide programs that have been evaluated by the city. The rate adjustment for the school district activity may be applied to any parcel in the service area which is owned or operated by the school district; or
(c) The service charge bill was otherwise not calculated in accordance with this article.
(3) Single-family residential parcels owned by a public benefit nonprofit corporation authorized under RCW 24.03.490 which provide activities or services directly benefiting the public shall be capped at not more than six equivalent residential units; provided, that a request for rate adjustment has been submitted to the city manager.
(4) Appeal of Impervious Surface Area Determination. If a property owner feels that the city erred in classifying a portion of the parcel’s land area as impervious surface, the landowner may submit test data or other information that shows the land area in question is in fact pervious.
(5) The property owner shall have the burden of proving that the rate adjustment sought should be granted.
(6) Decisions on requests for rate adjustments shall be made by the city manager based on information submitted by the applicant within 30 days of the adjustment request except when additional information is needed. The applicant shall be notified in writing of the city’s decision. If an adjustment is granted which reduces the charge for the current year, the applicant shall be refunded the amount overpaid in the current year. Prior to refund, all outstanding fees to the city must be paid in full.
(7) If the city manager finds that a service charge bill has been undercharged, then an amended bill shall be issued which reflects the increase in the service charge. The city may include in the bill the amount undercharged for two previous billing years in addition to the current bill.
(8) Appeals. Any customer or property owner who feels that the surface water drainage service charge for their property has been incorrectly calculated or applied, and/or that credits have not been properly granted may petition, in writing to the city manager, for a review of said calculations, application or credit. If not satisfied with the determination of the city manager, the petitioner may appeal to the city council. Any credits authorized by the appeal process shall only be against billings subsequent to the date the appeal is filed. (Ord. 779 § 3, 2008; Ord. 719 § 4, 2003).
13.28.150 Billing procedure and collection.
(1) Repealed by Ord. 733.
(2) All service charges, general facility charges and all other fees or charges hereafter established by the city council by ordinance shall be deemed to be levied upon real property.
(3) The city shall have a lien for all delinquent and unpaid charges and fees for storm drainage purposes, including without limitation service charges and general facility charges, assessed against all parcels to which service was furnished, which lien shall have the superiority established by RCW 35.67.200 and may be foreclosed in the manner provided in RCW 35.67.220 et seq.
(4) Service charges shall be deemed delinquent if not paid within 60 days following the billing date. A late charge equal to five percent of the delinquent service charge shall be imposed at the time of such delinquency and interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum shall be charged on all delinquent service charges and late charges. If the delinquent service charge or imposed interest is usurious under Washington law, then the maximum charge and/or interest rate allowable by law will be imposed. (Ord. 779 § 4, 2008; Ord. 761 § 3, 2005; Ord. 733 § 1, 2004; Ord. 719 § 5, 2003).
13.28.160 Annual review of charges and fees.
The charges and fees established by this article and any other ordinances of the city council establishing charges and fees for the utility may be reviewed annually by the city council. (Ord. 779 § 5, 2008; Ord. 719 § 6, 2003).
13.28.170 Effective date of service charge.
The service charge herein established shall apply on or after January 1, 2004, and shall be billed by the city for 2004, and by King County on behalf of the city, beginning in February 2005. (Ord. 761 § 4, 2005; Ord. 733 § 2, 2004; Ord. 719 § 7, 2003).