HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdmin Order 58-06-12-F
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 58-06-12-F
of the City Manager
AMENDMENT OF STORMWATER SERVICE
ADMINISTRATIVE RULE R-6.451 AND
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 58-95-02-F.
METHODOLOGY
REPEAL OF
The City Manager finds that:
A. Section 2.019 of the Eugene Code, 1971, authorizes the City Manager to adopt
rules for administration of provisions of the Eugene Code, 1971. Section 6.451 of the Eugene
Code, 1971, specifically authorizes the City Manager to adopt rules, regulations and
methodologies as are necessary for the administration of the duties required by sections 6.401
through 6.610 as provided in section 2.019.
B. Pursuant to that authority, on November 1, 2006, I issued Administrative Order
No. 58-06-12 proposing the amendment of Stormwater Service Methodology Administrative
Rule R-6.451 and repeal of Administrative Order No. 58-95-12-F.
C. Notice of the proposed amendment was published in the Register-Guard, a
newspaper of general circulation within the City, on November 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, 2006, and made
available to any person who had requested such notice. The Notice provided that written
comments would be received for a period of 15 days from the first publication date. No
comments were received within the time or in the manner set forth in the Notice.
Based on the above findings and the findings contained in Administrative Order No.58-
06-12, which are adopted, and pursuant to the authority of EC 2.019 and 6.451, as of the
effective date of this Order, Administrative Order No. 58-95-12-F is repealed and Stormwater
Service Methodology Administrative Rule R-6.451 is amended to provide as follows:
STORMW ATER SERVICE CHARGE METHODOLOGY
1.0 Introduction
This methodology document provides an overview of the steps and methods used to establish the
stormwater service charges, also referred to as stormwater user fees, for the City of Eugene. The
document begins by providing background on the basis for and purpose of the service charge.
Later sections go into detail on the basic method used to calculate a customer's charge and a
process for seeking charge adjustments.
This methodology is adopted under the administrative rule making authority of the City Manager
as provided in section 6.451 and 2.019 of the Eugene. Code. Bracketed comments are intend.ed
for explanation but are not officially adopted as part of this document.
2.0 Historical Origins of the Charge
The City of Eugene has collected funds to support stormwater capital and operational needs as
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part of the City's sewer service charge since the 1960s. Originally a combined charge, in 1983,
the City separated the sewer service charge into sanitary and stormwater service charge
components. The basis of the charge was water meter size, with residential properties paying a
flat fee and commercial/industrial customers paying based on the size of their water meter. The
concept behind the fee is that a customer pays for the stormwater services provided by the City
of Eugene in general proportion to the amount of service provided to the customer. When based
on water meter size, everything else being equal, the greater the water usage, the greater the size
of premises which is correlated with amount of stormwater runoff, the greater the fee.
Several adopted goals and policies support the use of stormwater service charges. These goals
and policies are listed in the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan.
3.0 Revised Service Charge Practices
Prior to January 1, 1994 the City of Eugene charged a stormwater service charge to all sanitary
sewer customers. Any person who occupied property that was connected to the sanitary sewer
system was charged a stormwater service charge based on the size of their water meter. In
general, service charges were set by allocating the cost of a program to the customers based on
their relative use of the system. A customer's water meter size, though, has, at best, an indirect
relationship to the customer's relative effect on the stormwater system.
The amount of impervious surface (hard surfaces such as roof tops and driveways) is a much
better measurement of the customer's demand on the public stormwater system. Impervious
surfaces increase both the amount and rate of stormwater runoff compared to natural conditions.
The more impervious surface, the greater will be the need for the community to provide
stormwater service and thus the greater the impact the customer will have on the system.
Changing the basis for the service charge changes the customer base. Except as provided in
Section 6 of this methodology, it is presumed that stormwater services are used whenever there is
an improved premises. Rather than charge all people who are sanitary sewer customers, the
stormwater service charge is now charged to all customers with impervious surface, the runoff
from which directly or indirectly discharges to a public storm drainage facility.
The revenues collected from service charges are currently used to fund a variety of stormwater
services including but not limited to: maintaining channels, such as Amazon Creek, and catch
basins, repairing and replacing the existing- conveyance system, picking up leaves, sweeping and
flushing streets, preventing and cleaning up spills, mapping and information management,
administration, central service allocation. Due to federal stormwater quality regulations,
customer fees are also used to cover some of the stormwater-related components of Eugene's
commitment to the West Eugene Wetlands Program, related natural resources protection and the
best management practices outlined in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
stormwater discharge permit issued to the City.
4.0 General Approach and Definitions
To determine the total revenue requirements to be collected from stormwater service charges, the
annual cost of the stormwater program is determined by assimilating four cost centers: quantity,
quality, street-related, and administration. Administrative costs are divided proportionately
between residential and general stormwater customers, quantity and quality costs are allocated to
customers based on the amount of impervious surface they have or the residential category they
represent, and street-related costs are allocated between residential and commercial/industrial
customers by category based on street usage.
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After revenue requirements are identified for the complete stormwater program, revenues other
than the stormwater service charge are determined. These other revenues may include systems
development charges, assessments, federal and state grants, bond proceeds, permit fees and other
City funds, such as the road fund. The other revenues would be deducted from the total program
requirements to determine the service charge revenue requirements.
For the purposes of this document, the following terms are defined as:
· Customer -- any person responsible who is authorized to request stormwater service, or who is
receiving stormwater service from the City, or who is responsible for the payment
of the charge for stormwater service.
· Building Foot Print -- as applied to residential customers, means first floor area of a
residential building including the floor area of an attached or detached
garage/carport as measured along the exterior walls of the building(s).
· Small Residential Category -- the group of residential customers who have 1,000 or less
square feet of estimated building foot print. Duplexes with a total
foot print of 2,000 square feet or less will be treated as two small
residential properties.
· Medium Residential Category -- the group of residential customers who have more than 1,000
and less than 3,000 square feet of estimated building foot print.
Duplexes with a total foot print of more than 2,000 and less than
6,000 square feet will be treated as two medium residential
properties.
· Vertical Duplex -- a multi-story two dwelling-unit building with an upstairs dwelling unit and
a downstairs unit with a majority of area of the upstairs unit
positioned above the downstairs unit. For purposes of determining
ESUs of the stormwater service charge, duplexes of this
configuration are treated as a single small or medium residence as
determined by building footprint.
· Stormwater -- water from precipitation, surface or subterranean water from any source which
does not contain wastewater; drainage.
· General Stormwater Customers -- all customers who are not In the Small or Medium
Residential Categories.
· Impervious Surface -- any hard surface area that causes water to run off the surface in
greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from conditions pre-
existing to development. Common impervious surfaces include, but
are not limited to, rooftops, walkways, driveways, parking lots and
concrete surface or asphalt paving. Note: Slatted decks placed over
pervious surfaces are considered pervious. Gravel surfaces are
considered pervious unless they cover impervious surfaces or are
compacted to a degree that causes their runoff coefficient to exceed
0.8.
· Administrative Costs -- stormwater system costs that do not vary by the amount of impervious
surface belonging to a customer. These costs are customer or account
driven as opposed to stormwater discharge based. An example is
billing costs.
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. Direct or Indirect Discharge to the Stormwater System -- movement of stormwater from
private property to a public storm drainage facility. This includes,
but is not limited to, pipe connections, ditches, and sheet flow (i.e.
runoff from impervious surfaces which is not contained on site and
which may flow on or over the surface of the ground, does not
contain wastewater, and ultimately discharges to a public storm
drainage facility).
. Equivalent Service Unit (ESU) -- defined as 1,000 square feet of impervious area and used as
the basis for calculating the stormwater service charge for a
customer.
. Reduction -- a decrease in, or the elimination of, the quantity and quality components of
customers' fees. The amount of the reduction is based on the amount customers
reduce their discharge to the public stormwater system and reduce pollutants
contained in their discharge.
. Street-related Costs -- stormwater system costs attributable to the impervious areas of public
streets not considered storm drainage facilities. All stormwater
customers benefit from the public street network and share these
costs.
5.0 Method For Determining Stormwater Service Charges
The method for determining an individual customer's charge is based on a rate structure that
applies to all customers. This section explains the basic rate structure and then shows how that
structure relates to individual customers.
5.1 The Basic Rate Structure
The service charge formula has four components, a quantity component, a quality
component, a street-related component, and an administrative component. This means
that the fees can be broken into and attributed to those four components. Most of the
variables needed to calculate the amount of a component are single values that are
determined once for the entire utility. The values falling under this calculate-once
category, and the abbreviations used for each in the rate calculation examples, are:
1. fiscal year revenue requirements for the quantity component (Revenuequantity);
2. fiscal year revenue requirements for the quality component (Revenuequality);
3. fiscal year revenue requirements for the administrative component (Revenueadmin) for
two customer categories, small/medium residential and general (Revenueadminres and
Revenueadmingen) ;
4. fiscal year revenue requirements for the street-related component (Revenuestreet) for
two customer categories, residential and commercial/industrial (Revenuestreetres and
Revenuestreetcomind) ;
5. the total number of customers in the utility in each of three customer categories,
small/medium residential (Number.Small/Med.Customers), all residential
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(Number.Residential.Customers), and general (Number. General. Customers); and
6. the total number of ESUs (ESUtotal) and the total number of ESUs for customers in
the commercial/industrial category (ESUcomind).
The amount of the revenue requirements is generally related to the size of the program.
The larger the annual budget, the more revenue the utility will need to collect from its
customers if all other revenue sources remain constant (e.g. Systems Development
Charges, assessments, permit fees). The total number of customers is basically the
number of premises in the Eugene city limits with impervious surface on them. The total
number of ESUs is calculated by adding up all the individual customers' ESUs.
The above six values are calculated once every time a new rate is set which can occur as
frequently as required, typically yearly. The only information that will vary by individual
customer is the customer's rate category and the number of ESUs belonging to that
customer. Supported with all seven of these values and knowing a customer's rate
category, the utility can calculate any individual customer's fee.
5.2 Individual Fees*
To calculate the quantity and quality components, the quantity and quality revenue
requirements are each divided by the total number of ESUs. The administrative
component is calculated by allocating the administrative revenue requirements over the
total number of customers in each major customer category in the utility. The street-
related component is calculated by allocating costs attributable to the impervious area of
public streets to customer categories proportionate to the categories' use of the street
network. The following sections provide more detail on this process.
[Note, the following footnote provides simplified formulas; these formulae differ from the
previous methodology document only in formatting.]
* The formulas in the body of the text are simplified from the complete formula. The formula
can be simplified because of the way that Eugene is currently handling water quality allocations-
certain terms drop out of the equation. Below are a complete set of equations for each major
customer category and an explanation of those terms which are not defined above.
Monthly Fee for Small/Medium Residential Customer
= Quantity Component + Quality Component + Administrative Component + Street Component
where,
Quantity Component = (((Revenue quantity/12) / ESU total) * ESU customer)
Quality Component = (((Revenue quality/12) / ESU weighted) * ESU customer * Quality.Factor)
Administrative Component + ((Revenue adminres /12) / Number.Small/Med.Customers)
Street Component = + (Revenue streetres /12) / Number.Residential.Customers)
Monthly Fee for General Residential Customer
= Quantity Component + Quality Component + Administrative Component + Street Component
where,
Quantity Component = (((Revenue quantity/12) / ESU total) * ESU customer)
Quality Component = (((Revenue quality/12) / ESU weighted) * ESU customer * Quality.Factor)
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Administrative Component + ((Revenue admingen /12) / Number.General.Customers)
Street Component = + (Revenue streetres /12) / Number.Residential.Customers)
Monthly Fee for General Commercial/Industrial Customer
= Quantity Component + Quality Component + Administrative Component + Street Component
where,
Quantity Component = (((Revenue quantity/12) / ESU total) * ESU customer)
Quality Component = (((Revenue quality/12) / ESU weighted) * ESU customer * Quality.Factor)
Administrative Component + ((Revenue admingen /12) / Number.General.Customers)
Street Component = + (Revenue streetcomind /12) / ESU comind)
Where:
Quality.Factor = a function of one or more attributes such as land use, lot size, basin, etc. This
function is equal to 1 under the current method for allocating water quality costs since the water
quality-related programs are provided for all customer categories.
ESU weighted = Sum of all customers' (ESU customer * Quality.Factor) = ESU total
when Quality.Factor = 1
5.2.1 Calculating The Number Of ESUs Belonging To A Customer
ESUs are calculated differently for general stormwater customers than for small and
medium residential customers. To calculate the number of ESUs belonging to a
general stormwater customer, divide the amount of the customer's impervious
surface area by 1,000, the resultant being the number of ESUs. If the result is a
number with a decimal or fractional element, truncate to the whole number. For
example, if a restaurant has 15,670 square feet of impervious surface, then the
restaurant has 15,670/1,000 = 15.67 = 15 ESUs.
Thus, every additional 1,000 square feet of impervious surface represents an
additional ESU. A customer with 1,000 to 1,999 square feet of impervious surface
has 1 ESU; a customer with 2,000 to 2,999 square feet of impervious surface has
2 ESUs, etc. The minimum number of ESUs a customer can have is 1. So,
customers with 1 to 1,999 square feet of impervious surface are automatically
assigned an ESU of 1. See Figure 3.
The number of ESUs for the two residential categories is calculated differently than
ESUs for general stormwater customers. Most residential customers fall into the
small or medium residential category depending on the size of their estimated
building foot print. If the customer's building footprint plus garage/carport area is
1,000 square feet or less, the customer falls into the small residential category. If the
customer's building footprint plus garage/carport area is between 1,000 and 3,000
square feet, the customer falls into the medium residential category. See Figures 1
and 2.
While building foot print determines which category a residential customer belongs
in, the amount of the fee will be based on the amount of total impervious surface on
a typical property within a category. Driveways, sheds and cement porches are
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examples of impervious surfaces that are not included in the building foot print
measurement but do figure into the calculation of the total impervious surface for
that category. Based on sample data, and the adjustment factor referenced in section
5.3.2, the ESU measurement for a small residential account is set at 1.8. Medium
residential accounts are set at 2.9 ESDs.
When multiple customers share in the use of a site's impervious surface, the ESUs
for the site are divided amongst the customers. This may result in charges for
fractional ESUs added to charges for the ESUs of an individual customer's site. For
example, if five customers share access over and responsibility for a 8,678 square
foot impervious area private street, each customer is billed for one fifth the private
street's 8 ESUs, or 1.6 ESUs per customer, in addition to the charges for each
customer's individual premises.
The utility determines impervious area and building foot print information from
Assessment and Taxation records, aerial photos, building permit data, and other
sources as appropriate.
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User Type Categories and Calculation of Monthly Bill
Figure 1
Patio
Walk
Driveway
Figure 2
Patio
Walk
Driveway
Figure 3
Entryway
& Patio
Walk
Driveway
& Parking
I..... Small Residential. konthiy.BiIl
Building Footprint < 1,000 sq. ft.
(Average sq. ft. of impervious surface for
category in 1,000s)
= 1.8 ESUs
X $ rate per 1,000 square feet of
impervious surface
+ Street-related fee
+ Administrative fee
Customer bill
I Medium Residentlat MontblyBil1
Building Footprint> 1,000 sq. ft. and
< 3,000 sq. ft.
(Average sq. ft. of impervious surface for
category in 1,000s)
= 2.9 ESUs
X $ rate per 1,000 square feet of
impervious surface
+ Street-related fee
+ Administrative fee
------------------------------------
Customer bill
IGenetaICU$tOmer~Onth!y.lill
Residential with Building Footprint> 3,000
sq. ft. AND ALL non-residential, Commercial
and Industrial
(Measured sq. ft. of site impervious surface
in 1,000s)
= Site ESUs
X $ rate per 1,000 square feet of
impervious surface
+ Street-related fee.
+ Administrative fee
Administrative Order - Page 8 of 1 7
Customer bill
5.2.2 Quantity Component
The annual rate per ESU for the quantity component is calculated by dividing the
quantity revenue requirements by the total number of ESU s. The monthly rate is
calculated by dividing the formula by 12.
MonthlyRate quantity = (Revenue quantity! ESU total) ! 12
Once this constant is determined, the quantity charge is calculated by multiplying the
quantity rate by the number of ESUs belonging to a customer.
Fee quantity = MonthlyRate quantity * ESU customer
5.2.3 Quality Component
Until development of specific water quality programs are identified by the utility as
benefiting customer categories differently, the water quality revenue requirements
will be allocated only by ESU since the programs are provided to all customer
categories. For this period, the annual rate per ESU for the quality component is
calculated by dividing the quality revenue requirements by the total number ofESUs.
The monthly rate is calculated by dividing the formula by 12.
MonthlyRate quality = ( Revenue quality! ESU total) ! 12
Once this constant is determined, the quality charge is calculated by multiplying the quality rate
by the number of ESUs belonging to a customer.
Fee quality = MonthlyRate quality * ESU customer
[Comment: The rate methodology is structured to allow for the potential for water
quality costs to be a function of a customer class, land use, lot size, soil
characteristics, basin location, specific customer activities, pollutant loadings, and
other characteristics that affect water quality impacts. This will not happen until
more information regarding water quality impacts is available and water quality
programs are identified by the utility as benefiting customer categories differently.
As an alternative, due to the variability of customers' individual quality impacts, a
discharge permit system may ultimately be used by Eugene. Currently, certain
industrial developments are required to secure a stormwater quality discharge permit
from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).]
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5.2.4 Administrative Component
The administrative component is a set amount of money that every customer in a
customer category pays regardless of the amount of impervious surface belonging to
the customer. The annual administrative fee is calculated by dividing the amount of
anticipated administrative cost attributable to a customer category (revenue
requirements) by the total number of stormwater customers within the category.
Because analysis of administrative costs for customer groups shows that general
customer accounts require a proportionately higher level of evaluation, review and
account maintenance, two stormwater customer categories, small/medium residential
and general, are considered for the purpose of establishing the administrative
component. As part of the process for implementing rate changes, the utility will
establish proportionate administrative costs for customer categories. The monthly
fee for each category is calculated by dividing the formula by 12.
Small/Medium Residential Customer:
Fee adminres = ( Revenue adminresl Number.Small/Medium.Customers) 112
General Customer:
Fee admingen = (Revenue admingen I Number. General. Customers ) 112
5.2.5 Street-related Component
The street-related component is the amount of money that every customer pays as
their share of the street-related costs attributable to the impervious surface area of the
public street network. These costs are proportionately allocated between two
customer groups, residential and commercial/industrial, based on street usage.
Proportionate usage of the public street network by each of these customer categories
is established by examining data in the Lane Council of Government's "Travel
Forecasting Model" to determine the number of total trip ends generated by
residential uses and commercial/industrial uses. The annual street-related fee for
residential customers is calculated by dividing the amount of anticipated street-
related cost for the category (revenue requirements) by the total number of
stormwater customers within the category. The annual street-related fee for
commercial/industrial customers is calculated by dividing the amount of anticipated
street-related cost for the category (revenue requirements) by the total number of
ESUs for the category. The monthly fee for each customer category is calculated by
dividing the formula by 12.
Residential Customer:
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Fee streetres = ( Revenue streetres / Number.Residential.Customers) / 12
Commercial/Industrial Customer:
Fee streetcomind = (( Revenue streetcomind / ESU comind ) * ESU customer) / 12
5.2.6 Total Fee For The Customer
To determine the total service charge for a customer, add the four components.
Monthly.Fee customer = Fee quantity + Fee quality + Fee admin + Fee street
See Figures 1,2, and 3.
5.3 Rate Model Details
Sections 5.1 and 5.2 give the basic methodology for calculating the rates. This section
provides more detail on how the rate model handles certain issues -- adjustments to the
revenue requirements, general customer ESU truncation, and inactive accounts.
5.3.1 Adjustments To The Revenue Requirements
As explained above, the service charge is calculated using the fiscal year revenue
requirements for the quantity, quality, street-related and administrative components.
The total revenue requirements for any fiscal year (Revenuereqs) are the sum of each
of the component's revenue requirements.
Revenuereqs = Revenuequantity + RevenuequaIity + Revenuestreet + ReVenUeadmin
Revenue requirements represent the total amount the City must collect from its
service charges to pay for the stormwater programs funded by service charges. As
such, the revenue requirements are made up of two types of costs, 1) direct
stormwater program costs and 2) adjustments for the following:
· revenue lag
· reductions
· operating interest income
· billing write-offs.
Whenever there is a rate increase, the revenue lag affects collected revenues at the
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beginning and end of the fiscal year. For example, the City received revenue that
was generated at the end of FY1993-94 in the beginning of FY1994-95. Similarly,
the revenue generated at the end ofFY1994-95 was received by the City in FY1995-
96.
Thus, in anyone fiscal year, the City will receive revenue that was generated with
the rates of the previous year and will not collect all of the revenue that was
generated with the rates of the current fiscal year. All else being equal, an increase
in rates from one year to the next would mean that the cash received during the first
year the rates are increased would be less than the revenue requirements for the year.
The rate model adjusts for the revenue lag by increasing the revenue requirements so
that the City will collect all of the revenues that it needs to cover program costs.
Accounting for reductions (see section 6.0) is another adjustment that the rate model
makes to assure the revenue requirements are met. Reductions mean that fewer
customers are paying the quantity and quality components of stormwater service
charges. When a reduction is given to those customers who have contained all or a
portion of their runoff on site, the budgeted service charge revenue requirements for
the stormwater program do not change. Most of the City's stormwater system
capacity to serve existing development is already in place. To maintain the existing
system, there are on-going costs that will not be affected by individual properties'
efforts to reduce or remove their runoff from the public system. The rate model
adjusts the revenue requirements to make up for the lost revenue due to reductions.
When calculating revenue requirements, the rate model also takes into account the
effect of interest income and billing write-offs on the amount of service charges
revenue collected over the year. Interest income is a source of revenue just like the
service charges. The more interest that the City earns, the less that it has to collect
from service charges to cover program costs. Billing write-offs are the amount of
revenue that the City does not collect because of non- or under-payment of bills.
Revenue requirements not collected due to billing write-offs must be collected from
other customers to cover program costs.
5.3.2 General Customer ESU Truncation
As explained above, general customers' ESUs are calculated by dividing their
impervious surface by 1000 and truncating the result. In effect, the number of billed
general customer ESUs used by the rate model is less than the aggregate total
number of general customer ESUs existing in Eugene. To maintain equality between
customer categories, typical residential ESUs are adjusted by the same factor as the
decrease in the total number of general customer ESUs.
5.3.3 Inactive Accounts
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The City is using Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) to bill the stormwater
service charges. When a tenant moves out of a house, apartment or commercial unit,
the owner of the building may request that the water and electric services be turned
off. EWEB considers this an inactive account and will not send out stormwater bills
for that property until the water and electric services are requested again. The
stormwater rate model adjusts for inactive accounts by reducing the billable
impervious surface area based on EWEB account history.
6.0 Adjustments To A Customer's Fee
The stormwater service charge will be reduced if the customer shows to the City engineer's
satisfaction one or more of the following:
(1) The customer has permanently reduced their quantity discharge to the public
system,
(2) The customer has a different number ofESUs than is calculated by the City, or
(3) The customer has permanently reduced their quality impact to the public system by
constructing and operating a private stormwater facility meeting City standards.
Customers may request an informal resolution of errors or discrepancies in their charges.
Customers who wish an adjustment to their fee not resolved informally may seek resolution
through one of the processes explained below (sections 6.1 and 6.2).
6.1 Application Process for Reduced Impact to Stormwater System
Customers who can document an existing or planned reduction or elimination (as
described below) of their discharge to the public stormwater system or a private water
quality facility which reduces pollutants discharged to the public stormwater system will
receive a reduction of their stormwater service charge. A customer who receives a fee
reduction will pay a portion of the total fee. The total fee is calculated as described in
sections 5.2.1 through 5.2.6. Fee reductions are applied only to the quantity and quality
components (impervious surface charge) of the fee. Because all customers share in the
benefits of the public street network and administrative costs are independent of the
amount of impervious surface belonging to a customer, fee reductions are not applied to
the administrative and street-related components.
Reductions will not be granted automatically to either existing or future customers. To
be consistent with other City policies, the utility will not grant reductions for social goals.
Customers may apply for a reduction based on the criteria listed below.
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· Elimination of the quantity and quality components of the fee will be granted only
to those customers who can show that no runoff from the site is directly or indirectly
entering the City's public stormwater system based on the following criteria:
1. all their runoff discharges into an area that does not ultimately enter into the City's
drainage system (e.g. directly to the Willamette River, to non-City-owned
facilities only), or
2. all their runoff is retained on-site through a constructed containment system, such
as a dry well.
· Reductions to the quantity and quality components of the fee (impervious surface
charge) will be granted to those customers who can show that a quantifiable portion
of their runoff is not directly or indirectly entering the public system based on the
following criteria:
1. part of their runoff discharges into an area that does not ultimately enter the City's
public stormwater system -- in accepting a reduction for this reason, the customer
must also assume responsibility for compliance with any state or federal
regulations that apply to the body of water that the customer is draining into, or
2. part of their runoff is retained on-site through a constructed containment system,
such as a dry well.
An on-going monthly stormwater user fee credit is provided for existing sites and new
development which implement approved private water quality treatment facilities that
either meet or exceed the minimum requirements of the standards for pollution reduction.
A single-level stormwater user fee credit is provided which reduces by 10% the quantity
and quality components of the fee (impervious surface charge) at a customer's site.
Customers who treat runoff from a minimum of 20% of the impervious area of their site
in a manner which meets the standards for stormwater pollution reduction of section
9.6792 of the Eugene Code will qualify for this credit.
The design and sizing of treatment provided, and demonstration of conformance to
minimum requirements, will be based on the design methodology and standards in the
City's adopted Stormwater Management Manual.
When the monthly stormwater. charge is adjusted for both approved on-site stormwater
retention and approved private water quality treatment facilities the total on-going
monthly stormwater adjustment available to a premises is additive but shall in no case
exceed the total quantity and quality components (impervious area charge) of the
stormwater user fee.
· Reductions may be applied only to the quantity and quality components. General
customers who meet the criteria for a quantity reduction will be eligible for a
reduction of their stormwater charge in proportion to the amount of stormwater
runoff that has been reduced. Small and medium residential customers who meet the
criteria for a quantity reduction will be eligible for a 50% reduction of the quantity
Administrative Order - Page 14 of 17
and quality components of their service charge. As the customer service charge for
these two residential categories is based on an average amount of impervious surface
for all customers within a category, there is no specific relationship between changes
in runoff from a specific site and the category average. The granting of a uniform
reduction amount provides residential customers an incentive to reduce runoff on site
while maintaining the philosophical approach of averaged rates. The administrative
and street-related components, which are not based on impervious surface area or
runoff volume from a customer's site, will not be reduced.
Except for the case of pre-existing conditions for single family residential properties
where dry wells or other similar facilities contain the flow on-site and for which the City
engineer may require less documentation, all customers must submit an engineer's study
with their application for a reduction. In all cases, the customer is responsible for
covering the cost of obtaining such a study. For properties, copies of approved building
permit site plans or other similar documentation will be considered minimal
documentation. In some cases, site inspection is required to verify submitted
documentation.
If an applicant provides a previously performed engineer's study that is approved by the
City Engineer and can be verified through as-built information, the reduced impact
indicated in that study may be used to calculate the reduction. The study must meet the
standards listed in the City's adopted Stormwater Management Manual and must reflect
current site conditions.
Customers will be charged an application fee for a reduction application. The fee is
intended to recover the utility's typical cost to review and verify the contents of an
application.
The City Engineer may approve, approve with conditions or reject the study's conclusions
about reduced or eliminated impacts to the public stormwater system. The City Engineer
may also find that a premise no longer qualifies for a reduction in stormwater charges.
The findings of the City Engineer to revoke a previously-granted reduction can be
appealed as described in section 6.3. In the event that the study's conclusions are
approved, the customer will receive a credit for any excessive impervious area-based
charges paid during all or part of the 12 months preceding the application.
Any reduction given shall continue until the property is further developed or until the
City engineer determines the property no longer qualifies for the reduction given. If the
property is developed further, the customer must submit another application for another
reduction. The City engineer may waive the requirement to reapply when the impact of
development is less than the cost of processing the application and enforcing this section.
Administrative Order - Page 15 of 17
6.2 Application Process For Reduction of ESUs
If a customer disagrees with the City's calculation of ESUs, then the customer may apply
for a change in the number ofESUs by showing that the amount of impervious surface or
building foot print is different from that determined by the City. The number ofESUs for
general stormwater customers is based on impervious surface data. As discussed above,
residential customers' ESUs are determined by the customer class in which they fall. The
customer class in which residential customers fall is determined by their building foot
print.
Customers who demonstrate that no impervious area exists on their property will have
stormwater charges removed from the utility account for that property. As in the process
for customers who request a reduction, customers with impervious area applying for a
change in ESUs must submit a site plan documenting the actual building foot print and/or
impervious surface of the property. The customer is responsible for covering the cost of
obtaining such a plan.
If an applicant provides a previously prepared site plan that is approved by the City
Engineer, the impervious surface or building foot print indicated in that plan may be used
to calculate the number of ESUs. The study must meet the standards listed below and
must reflect current site conditions.
Except for properties with no impervious area, customers will be charged an application
fee. The fee is intended to recover the utility's typical cost to review and verify the
contents of an application.
Customers who appeal the building foot print size for their property must complete an
application which includes a sketch of their house and garage/carport with accurate
dimensions of buildings from which the total building foot print can be calculated. (See
Figures 1 and 2) The measurements and resultant building foot print may require
verification by a site inspection by City staff. For residential customers, no reductions
will occur if the change is less than that necessary to cause the customer's building foot
print to fall within a different customer category.
The following is a list of standards that must be met by a site plan submitted for review of
. .
ImpervIOUS area:
1. The plan must be prepared by an architect, engineer, or comparable professional.
2. The plan must be a drawing to a measurable scale with dimensions included and must
show the total calculated area for each impervious area on the site. The quality shall
be consistent with that expected for building permit submittals.
3. For general customers, given that an ESU is based on 1000 square feet of impervious
area increments, no reductions will occur if the change is less than that necessary to
cause the customer's ESUs to fall within a different range.
4. The plan will show the locations of private and public storm sewer facilities currently
in use, within and adjacent to the site.
Administrative Order - Page 16 of 17
5. A site visit may be required to verify the information submitted.
The City Engineer may approve, approve with conditions or reject the plan's conclusions
on the amount of impervious surface or building foot print. In the event that the
conclusions are approved, the customer will receive a credit for any excessive impervious
area-based charges paid during all or part of the 12 months preceding the application.
The number of ESUs will continue until the property is further developed or until the
City engineer determines the property no longer qualifies for the adjustment given. If the
property is developed further, the customer may submit an application for another
evaluation of the number of ESUs if the customer is not satisfied with the City's
calculation.
6.3 Formal Appeals Process
If a customer disagrees with a finding of the City Engineer that a premise no longer
qualifies for a reduction in stormwater charges and no agreement is reached with an
informal resolution process, then the customer may institute the formal appeals process as
provided in 6.416 and 2.0210fthe Eugene Code.
Dated and effective thiS~Y of November, 2006.
-b~ .. k
l~~TaYIOr
City Manager
If
Administrative Order - Page 17 of 17