Some Pa. municipalities are turning to fees to cover rising stormwater costs

[FakeNoose]

Full headline: Some Pa. municipalities are turning to fees to cover rising stormwater costs, but pushback and a lawsuit threaten that revenue



Spotlight PA link: https://www.spotlightpa.org/statecollege/2024/04/pennsylvania-stormwater-fee-runoff-water-quality-local-government-rural/

FERGUSON TOWNSHIP — A small but growing subset of Pennsylvania municipalities are turning to stormwater fees as they face the burden of maintaining aging infrastructure that is being tested by climate change.

The model is facing pushback from farmers who employ separate mitigation practices and large property owners confronted by pricey bills. The latter group includes West Chester University, which won a judgment in state court last year that found the fee was actually a tax that nonprofits like the school don’t have to pay.

Municipal entities say the case, currently on appeal to the state Supreme Court, threatens a multimillion-dollar revenue source and their ability to keep pollution out of local waterways. The pipes, drains, and gutters that make up stormwater systems are largely invisible to most people until something goes wrong, but they are critical to prevent flooding, property damage, and pollution.

As Pennsylvania’s stormwater infrastructure — graded a “D” by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2022 — gets older and heavy rain becomes more frequent, maintaining deteriorating pipes and drains is getting harder and more expensive.

- more at link -

This is a tough situation and it calls for mitigation by the state leadership. Some farming communities are getting hit with heavy costs, but maybe it should be equally shared by all PA residents and taxpayers - including so-called nonprofits.

[gab13by13]

1. I live in a small rural Pa. town.

We have a big stream flow through our borough that would flood. Back in the 60's our small town partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge our creek and create flood protection. That's right, our small, rural town worked with big government. The past couple of days we had a lot of rain and flooding in towns all around my town, but our town didn't flood.

[enough]

2. Thanks for this post. Is there a live link?

[FakeNoose]

4. Yes I just added it on the OP

Thanks

[twodogsbarking]

3. Just like that they added a tax.

[Martin68]

5. I worked in the field of stormwater management and watershed management for many years. Localities desperately

need funding to pay for these practices to prevent water pollution caused by stormwater runoff on impervious surfaces. A stormwater utility fee does not unfairly affect farmers because it is based on impervious surface, which is not something farmland has a lot of in spite of what this article claims. In Albamarle County, Virginia, one of the localities with which I worked, a similar proposal was defeated due to lies and distortions the Farm Bureau spread among the farming community in a tea-party style knee-jerk reaction to a perceived tax. A stormwater utility is just as important as the water, sewer, and electrical utilities we depend on. The fees we pay for those services are not called a tax. The same should be said of vitally needed stormwater utilities. One of the lies the Farm Bureau spread was that the tax would pay for an expansion of city government, which was false. It was primarily needed to maintain and improve the existing stormwater management systems in urban areas where most impervious surface exists.

[FakeNoose]

6. Thank you, this is excellent info