Source: https://www.ecode360.com/32483125
Timestamp: 2020-04-05 11:15:34
Document Index: 471134289

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 61', '§ 66', '§ 19', '§ 19', '§ 19']

Village of Whitefish Bay, WI Stormwater Utility Code
§ 19-1 Operation and Director.
§ 19-4 Applicability.
§ 19-5 Customer classification.
§ 19-6 Charge methodology.
§ 19-7 Adjustments, rebates and credits.
§ 19-8 Appeals.
§ 19-9 Budget excess revenues.
§ 19-10 Severability.
Village of Whitefish Bay, WI / Municipal Code
Chapter 19 Stormwater Utility Code
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village President and the Board of the Village of Whitefish Bay as Secs. 19.01 through 19.10 of the Codification. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Village Stormwater Utility is hereby created to be operated under the administrative direction of the Village Engineer. The overall operation of the Stormwater Utility shall be under the supervision and control of the Village Board.
The Village, acting through the Stormwater Utility, may under the authority of Chapters 61 and 66 of the Wisconsin Statutes, including, but not limited to §§ 61.34(5), 61.36, 61.39, 66.0621, 66.0627, 66.0809, 66.0811, and 66.0821, do all those acts permitted to a stormwater utility under Wisconsin Statutes, including, but not limited to, the following:
Acquire, construct, lease, own, operate, maintain, extend, expand, replace, clean, dredge, repair, manage and finance such facilities as are deemed by the Village to be proper and necessary for storm and surface water management. These facilities may include, without limitation due to enumeration, surface and underground drainage facilities, sewers, watercourse, retaining walls, ponds, streets, roads, ditches and such other natural or man-made facilities as will support a stormwater management system;
Undertake operations or activities, or provide any services deemed by the Village to be proper and necessary for storm and surface water management; and
Any or all of the fee components as established by the Village Board.
A parcel shall be considered developed pursuant to this chapter if it has measurable impervious surfaces of at least 153 square feet.
The average horizontal impervious area of single-family properties within the Village, based on the "Village Zoning District 2 Single-Family Residence" zoning classification.
A horizontal surface that has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by rainwater. This includes, but is not limited to, streets, roofs, sidewalks, parking lots and other similar surfaces as well as semi-impervious surfaces such as compacted gravel, stone or clay.
PARCEL (OR TAX) KEY
An identifying number to relate ownership (unique or shared) in a parcel.
Any lot or parcel that has less than 153 square feet of impervious surfaces.
This chapter is applicable to all lands, lots or parcels within the Village; and
This chapter is applicable to lands outside the Village by written agreement approved by the Village Board, which include the acceptance of stormwater utility fees as established from time to time pursuant to the terms of this chapter and subject to all other legal requirements.
For purposes of imposing the stormwater charges, all applicable lands, lots and parcels shall be assigned a customer classification by the Director.
Customer classification establishment. The following two customer classifications are established:
Customer classification modification. The Village Board may, by ordinance, modify the aforementioned customer classifications or establish additional customer classifications to provide a fair and reasonable distribution of the costs of the Stormwater Utility.
The following charge methodology is established for the purpose of imposing stormwater charges:
Charge component establishment. There shall be three charge components that may be used to share the costs of the Stormwater Utility. These charge components are:
Base charge (BC). The BC may be imposed on all lands, lots and parcels in the Village. The base charge will be designed to reflect the fact that all parcels benefit from the stormwater management activities of the Village and/or that all parcels contribute stormwater runoff (quantity burden) and pollution (quality burden) that must be managed by the Village. The BC may be designed to collect the administrative costs and other appropriate expenses of the stormwater utility operations and maintenance. The BC may be based on the size of a parcel, impervious area (ERU basis), or other method.
Equivalency charge (EC). The EC may be imposed on all parcels with impervious area. The EC will be designed on an ERU comparative basis.
Special charge (SC). The SC may be imposed on parcels that are in an area specially benefited and served by a particular stormwater management facility or service. This charge will be developed to reflect the relative burden of each parcel in a particular area that may not be appropriate to allocate to all parcels throughout the Village. The SC will be calculated on an ERU comparative basis unless dictated otherwise by resolution or ordinance.
Charge component modification. The Village Board may, by ordinance or resolution, modify the aforementioned charge components or establish additional charge components to provide a fair and reasonable distribution of the costs of the Stormwater Utility.
ERU establishment. The value 1.0 ERU is established to be equivalent to 3,045 square feet of impervious area.
Impervious area determination. The Director shall be responsible for determining the impervious area of parcels as necessary to establish and maintain this stormwater utility, based on the best available information, including, but not limited to, data supplied by the Village Assessor, aerial photography, the parcel owner, tenant or developer. The Director may require additional information as necessary to make the determination.
Parcel ERU determination. The number of ERUs on an individual parcel is determined as follows:
Developed parcels. All parcels determined to be developed are classified as such and are assigned an impervious area square footage and corresponding ERU value rounded to the nearest 0.1 ERU.
Undeveloped parcels. All parcels determined to be undeveloped (less than 153 square feet of impervious surfaces) are classified as such and assigned an impervious area square footage (if any) and an ERU value of zero for the purposes of this Utility.
Stormwater fees. The Village Board may, by resolution, set or adjust the base charge, equivalency charge and the special charge fees to recover the cost of the stormwater management program. Stormwater fees will be kept on file with the Village Clerk-Treasurer and the Director. The fee for any individual parcel shall be the sum of all applicable charge components.
Billing methodology. The fee applicable to a parcel as established hereunder shall be billed to the parcel owner in the same manner as the water and sewer utility fees. The parcel owner shall be responsible for payment of the Stormwater Utility fee. A bill may be sent to a parcel that is not receiving other services from the Village. Late payment, failure to pay, and checks returned for insufficient funds shall be subject to the same penalties as established and documented by the Village for water and sewer utility fees. Unpaid charges may be assessed as a lien against the parcel pursuant to §§ 66.0809 and 66.0821(4)(d), Wis. Stats.
The Village Board shall from time to time adopt the criteria for providing adjustments, rebates, and credits.
The application fee schedule for adjustments, rebates, and credits will be established by the Village Board through resolution.
Adjustments. Adjustments may be considered at the request of parcel owners to correct the amount of impervious area upon which the bill is based, correct or update the parcel customer classification or other items of consequence, upon the presentation of site-specific information.
Adjustment procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for an adjustment to update or correct the information assigned to the parcel if the parcel owner believes there to be some information that is inaccurate. The following procedure for applying for an adjustment is established:
A request for an adjustment may be submitted at any time. All such requests shall be submitted to the Director on forms provided by the Village, together with all supporting information and any application fees.
The Director may require the parcel owner, at parcel owner's expense, to provide supplemental information.
Granting of adjustments.
When an application for an adjustment is deemed complete by the Director, the Director shall have 60 days from the date that the complete application is accepted to:
Grant the adjustment in whole;
Grant the adjustment in part; or
Deny the adjustment.
Adjustments applied for and granted in whole or in part shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the adjustment has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the adjustment as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
Rebates. Parcel owners that install and properly maintain applicable devices/practices may be eligible for a one-time rebate. A rebate is not a long-term reduction (credit) in the stormwater utility charge. Rebates may be updated or amended from time to time by the Director.
Technical and procedural criteria. The Director shall establish specified technical and procedural criteria by which rebates will be granted. Copies of such technical and procedural criteria will be maintained by and be available from the Engineering Department.
Rebate procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for a rebate if, based on a review of available technical and procedural criteria, the parcel owner believes there to be grounds for receiving a rebate. The following procedure for applying for a rebate is established:
Parcel owners must make application to the Director on forms provided by the Director for such purpose.
The application for any rebates must be in writing and must include the information necessary to document the eligibility for the rebate, accompanied by any application fee, and be in the format established by the Director. Incomplete applications will not be accepted by the Director.
Where applicable as a condition for granting rebate, applicants must have an approved maintenance agreement on file with the Director.
Granting of rebates.
When an application for a rebate is deemed complete by the Director, the Director shall have 60 days from the date that the complete application is accepted to:
Grant the rebate in whole;
Grant the rebate in part; or
Deny the rebate.
Rebates applied for and granted, in whole or in part, shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the rebate has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the rebate as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
Credits. Parcel owners may be eligible for credits (reduction) to their stormwater utility charge. A credit may be considered for parcels that either receive a reduced level of stormwater management service or result from privately owned and properly constructed and maintained stormwater-mitigating measures that allow the Village to realize a cost savings in some portion of their stormwater management program.
Credit policy. The Director shall establish a credit policy and procedural criteria by which credits will be granted. Copies of such credit policy and procedural criteria will be maintained by and be available from the Engineering Department.
Credit procedure. Any parcel owner may apply for credit if, based on a review of available credit policy, the parcel owner believes there to be grounds for receiving credit to their stormwater fee. The following procedure for applying for credit is established:
The application for any credit must be in writing and must include the information necessary to document the eligibility for the credit, accompanied by any application fee, and be in the format established by the Director. Incomplete applications will not be accepted by the Director.
Where applicable as a condition for granting credits, applicants must have an approved maintenance agreement on file with the Director.
When an application for a credit is deemed complete by the Director, the Director shall have 60 days from the date that the complete application is accepted to:
Credits applied for and granted, in whole or in part, shall be applied to the next billing cycle following the date on which a complete application for the credit has been filed with the Village. The Director shall provide a letter to the owner documenting the award or denial of the adjustment as well as the grounds upon which the decision was based. The applicants may appeal such determination following the appeals process described in § 19-8.
Regular review of credit. The Director may review the credit and the basis thereof periodically and may terminate the credit if grounds are found to do so. If such credit is terminated, the parcel owner will be notified in writing of the grounds for revoking the credit. The owner may appeal such determination following the appeals process or may, if possible, correct the deficiencies that caused the termination and reapply for the credit.
Appeals regarding the stormwater utility charges levied herein or any adjustment, rebate, or credit requests shall be made to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The Board of Appeals shall make the determination of the charges within the scope of this chapter after considering all the facts in each case. If the finding of the Zoning Board of Appeals is not acceptable, the appeal may be elevated to the Village Board.
The Village shall separately account for the Stormwater Utility finances. The Stormwater Utility shall prepare an annual budget, which is to include all operation and maintenance costs, costs of borrowing, capital costs and other costs related to the operation of the stormwater utility. The budget is subject to approval by the Village Board. Any excess stormwater revenues over expenditures in a year will be retained by the fund for subsequent years' needs of the stormwater utility.
In the event that any provision of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portions of this chapter shall be deemed separate, distinct and independent provisions of the chapter and all remaining portions of this chapter shall remain in full force and effect.