[Durham INC] Durham Begins Annual Stormwater Billing & New Rate Tier

[Blalock, Amy]

CITY OF DURHAM

Office of Public Affairs

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, NC 27701

 

 

News Release

 

For Details, Contact:

Amy Blalock

Sr. Public Affairs Specialist

(919) 560-4123 x 11253

(919) 475-7735 (cell)

Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov <mailto:Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov> 

 

For Immediate Release:  July 7, 2009

 

Durham Begins Annual Residential Stormwater Billing and New Third Tier
Rate

Residential Stormwater Customers to Now Receive Annual Bills; Additional
Tier Rate Effective as of July 1

 

DURHAM, N.C. - Effective July 1, 2009, residential stormwater customers
will now receive their stormwater bill only once a year and a third
billing rate tier is in effect for residential properties with 4,000
square feet or greater of impervious area.

 

Approved by the Durham City Council at its April 20, 2009 and May 4,
2009 meetings respectively, the goal of the additional tier rate and
annual billing cycle is to recognize the impact that properties with
larger impervious surfaces have on the community's stormwater system
while at the same time reducing the City's overall administrative costs
with a simplified billing system.

 

Residential stormwater fees will no longer be billed monthly or
bi-monthly, but will be billed annually.  In the past for most
residential customers, the stormwater bill was added to the water &
sewer bill. Those customers will now receive separate bills:  one annual
stormwater bill and their monthly or bi-monthly water & sewer bill. 

 

The stormwater rate applies to three "tiers" of residential properties:
properties with 4,000 square feet of impervious area or greater;
properties with 2,000 to less than 4,000 square feet of impervious area;
and properties with less than 2,000 square feet of impervious area.
Effective July 1, residential properties with 4,000 square feet or
greater of hard surfaces, such as roofs and driveways, will be charged a
yearly rate of $108.  Residential properties with between 2,000 and less
than 4,000 square feet of impervious area will be charged a yearly rate
of $54.  Residential properties with less than 2,000 square feet of
impervious area will be charged a yearly rate of $26.04.

 

According to Katie Kalb, director of the City's Department of Public
Works, the funds collected through the stormwater billing ultimately
protects Durham's waterways and prevents flooding.  "The stormwater
utility funds the City's stormwater management program, which is
designed to maintain the drainage system in the city right-of-way and to
reduce sources of polluted run-off that flow into our streams and
lakes," Kalb said.  "The program also offers limited assistance with
residents' drainage issues and administers the local floodplain program.
By charging more to the properties that contribute more to our
stormwater run-off and by simplifying our billing cycle, we are closer
to our goal of protecting Durham's waterways and maintaining our
compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act."

 

Per City ordinance, payment of the stormwater utility fee is the
property owner's responsibility for residential properties. All tenants
currently paying stormwater fees for residential properties are urged to
contact the City's Stormwater Services Billing Unit at (919) 560-1258 or
by e-mail at swbu at durhamnc.gov in order to move the stormwater fee into
the owner's name, unless an owner/tenant agreement is in place with the
City.

 

Residents with any questions regarding the new annual billing system and
new third tier rate should contact (919) 560-1258 or visit the City's
Web site at www.durhamnc.gov/stormwater.  Residents with any questions
regarding water & sewer bills should contact Durham One Call at (919)
560-1200.

 

###

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/private/inc-list/attachments/20090707/bab81bfe/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3070 bytes
Desc: image003.jpg
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/private/inc-list/attachments/20090707/bab81bfe/attachment.jpeg>