Milton residents might pay new stormwater fee
Photo 
Todd J. Schmidt
IF YOU GO
What: Milton City Council meeting. The meeting will discuss a proposal for a stormwater utility.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Milton City Hall, 430 E. High St.
To learn more: For more information about Milton’s proposed stormwater utility, go online to www.ci.milton.wi.us/stormwaterutility.aspx.
MILTON — Milton residents, business owners and nonprofits will pay a new fee next year if the city moves forward with a proposed stormwater utility, but at least one organization is not happy about the plan.
Currently, property owners pay for stormwater management through their city property taxes. But Milton, like many other Wisconsin municipalities, has to expand its stormwater management system under new regulations from the Department of Natural Resources.
The city wants to take stormwater management off the tax rolls so it can cover the cost increase without pushing its tax levy over state-mandated limits or cutting other services.
The city council will hear the proposal and vote on a first reading at its meeting Tuesday. If approved, homeowners will pay about $87 a year to the utility starting Sept. 1.
A utility is more fair to taxpayers because it charges property owners according to how much runoff their properties create, city officials have said. Owners of tax-exempt property must pay the fee, too, spreading the costs over more payers.
Tax-exempt properties make up about 13.5 percent of the city’s impervious surfaces, City Administrator Todd Schmidt said.
The new fee doesn’t sit well with the Milton School District, which will have to pay $33,000 a year—nearly 10 percent of the utility’s budget—under the proposal.
“In one regard, you understand why the city is doing this, (but) in another regard, under the revenue limits it just puts a damper on what the district can do for the students,” said Dianne Meyer, district business manager.
The district already pays for stormwater management at Harmony Elementary School in Janesville, but that’s a small amount compared to what it will have to pay in Milton, Meyer said.
Ultimately, the fee comes out of taxpayers’ pockets either way because the school district raises much of its revenue through property taxes, she said.
The city created the proposal through a Stormwater Utility Advisory Team that included representatives of nonprofits, business, city council and homeowners. As a whole, nonprofit groups seem to understand why the city wants to charge the fee, even if they don’t like paying it, Schmidt said.
Milton is not the only city to turn to a stormwater utility. As of May, 64 Wisconsin communities had a stormwater utility, including Janesville, Beloit, Madison and Monroe. Evansville created a stormwater utility this year.
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Here are some questions and answers about Milton’s proposed stormwater utility.
Q: Why does the city want to create the utility?
A: The city is dealing with increased stormwater regulations from the state Department of Natural Resources and the federal Clean Water Act. The increased costs of regulation make it difficult to keep stormwater management on the city tax rolls without cutting services in other areas, City Administrator Todd Schmidt said.
The regulations require new administrative, maintenance and construction to control stormwater and the particles it collects as it makes its way back to bodies of water.
Milton understands its responsibility to reduce the impact of stormwater runoff, but it’s frustrated that the DNR holds it to the same regulations as municipalities where stormwater runs directly into lakes and rivers, Schmidt said. Most stormwater in Milton goes to manmade basins, with very little running into natural bodies of water.
Q: How will the city determine the fee?
A: The proposed utility has a budget of $350,000 a year. The city used aerial photos and site plans to determine impervious areas, or places where stormwater doesn’t seep into the ground, such as roofs, driveways and parking lots.
It determined the average single-family home or duplex has 4,081 square feet of impervious surface. That total makes up one equivalent runoff unit. Each homeowner will be charged for one unit and pay about $87 a year under the proposal. Commercial and other buildings will be charged according to their amount of impervious surface expressed in runoff units.
Undeveloped lots, public roads and railroad right-of-ways won’t be charged.
Q: Will my property taxes go down because of this utility?
A: It’s too early to say, Schmidt said. The city will no longer use property taxes to pay for stormwater management, but it still has other expenses and is going into a tough budget year. Next year’s property taxes will be determined by the city council when it approves the budget in fall.
Q: How does the proposed fee compare to fees in other municipalities?
A: The proposed $87 fee is higher than most of the fees listed on a sample of stormwater utilities given to the advisory group. Beloit and Janesville, for example, charge $24 and $27 respectively for each equivalent runoff unit. Madison charges $55.
But you can’t directly compare all municipalities, Schmidt said. Some municipalities don’t use one single-family home as the basis for its equivalent runoff unit, so homes could be several units. Some municipalities use property taxes as well as a utility to pay for stormwater management.
Also, municipalities with more commercial buildings can shift more of the stormwater costs onto those owners, resulting in less burden on homeowners, Schmidt said.
Jul 21, 2009 at 5:41 p.m.
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Gina, don't get me wrong, I am all for conservation. I am sorry for the cynical comments too. You mean well. You make some good points, I just get turned off when you take an extreme view of the issue. If you could find a way to find a more moderate solution to ease people into seeing things your way it will be much more accepted. I like the idea of rain gardens and water retention in landscape designs. I do not think you will see people making drastic changes unless they have help and encouragement. Since you are firmly behind this concept, why don't you hold a class at the library for those interested. Maybe you will start a trend??? You could have teachers that are well versed come in, or the class as a whole could start ground up by collectively researching the best methods for this area. Then, the group could assist each other or tackle a community project to show it's benefits. I have read your comments. It is your chance to affect the changes you push for. I'll sign up. The City will need to be encouraged to work on amending the regulations restricting french drains. There will be problems with flooding without some way to allow for slow-seeping overflow due to the clay soils. We have had heavy rains in the past few years that would quickly overcome the small rain gardens that would be realistically sized for any individual property. Block-wide, multi-neighbor, and entire neighborhood based collection areas are much more complicated to start once a subdivision is complete.
Jul 21, 2009 at 11:22 a.m.
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Did anyone see my post that was deleted? Or have any idea why it would have been deleted?? Strange.
Jul 21, 2009 at 8:15 a.m.
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naturespaces- I enjoyed your post. I liked the hyperlinks you included, especially the one with the how-to rain garden info. I have two gravel driveways, and I shovel them every year with little effort. It is unfortunate that your insurance company won't give you more money for your "unfinished" driveway. The UW-Extension is the one who would give the educational session, not me so spare me your insults, as I would only be the co-ordinator. Yes, there is clay in Milton, and it is not continuous, but it is above limestone and dolostone. The others have ordinances to protect groundwater resources, and conserve natural resources. They also offer funding if the property qualifies for the program.
Jul 20, 2009 at 4:52 p.m.
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Please someone buy my house! This Admin. in Milton is driving me towards financial ruin! Can't wait for the tax increase when the High School that we don't need get's built. When is someone gonna run for elected positions in Milton that will rep. me? One of many who can't afford raising taxes! No one I know is getting raises at their jobs (if they still have one). How are we to come up with more and more when we earn less and less? Milton is driving my family out of our community!
Jul 20, 2009 at 2:40 p.m.
Jul 20, 2009 at 2:22 p.m.
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Milton is taxing the donkey off of people and wonder why no one wants to move a new business to town, and why people are moving out of town. It is sad they have a government that thinks this way. So it's lean on the people and get in there pockets to help pay for the poorly run town. Thanks agin Mr. Schmidt for all the wonderful news that comes out of your mouth
Jul 20, 2009 at 11:57 a.m.
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Greengina8 is on the extreme left again with her comments. While she has the right idea, her facts are a bit off base.
Regarding turf vs. deep root plants read:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/13823
and
http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live...
With regards to her comments on the permeable surfaces:
http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webpo...
Gravel is unrealistic for shoveling, snowplowing, and snow blowing. In the city it gives a property a lower value as well as an unfinished look. Many limestone surfaces are so compact that they resemble the permeability effects of concrete or asphalt.
Milton is primarily clay composition soil. There are some areas of sandy gravel, but for the most part I have always found clay to be predominant. I have dug in my parents yard, their neighbors, and through my husbands business of landscaping.
The storm water ponds are, if I remember correctly, located behind the City Garage and Citgo stations; the end of W Sunset; behind the Milton Middle School; across the street from the Miton Intermediate School; a ditch that runs the length of the city by Ace Hardware; near Crossridge Park behind Brown subdivision; behind the houses on Madison Ave across from 1st-2nd St.; 2 or 3 new ones in the industrial park; and one large one in the new Dog Park. Is that enough?
Arizona, Florida, and Texas are built on nearly 100% limestone. They regulate where the water is CHANNELED to. The reason they all flood so bad is that the water does not soak in like we are used to in Wisconsin. And you want to "educate" us?
Jul 20, 2009 at 11:12 a.m.
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"The city will no longer use property taxes to pay for stormwater management, but it still has other expenses and is going into a tough budget year."-Schmidt
This translates into shifting from taxes to fees to free up room for tax growth. Taxes will not go down accordingly, therefore creating new discretionary funds. Many localities have done this with trash collection, water, sewer, recycling. The problem is noticed even more at tax time since "fees" are not deductable as property taxes are. Not only do you pay more, you are able to deduct less.
Jul 20, 2009 at 10:57 a.m.
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Milton continues to find new ways to hike our taxes, now apparently even including a new fee because, they admit, that to include this in our property taxes would make them over the formula allowed by the state. No one has yet to address the issue of our property assessments, which were done at the rate of pre-fall numbers. By some estimates, housing prices have fallen by 30% since our houses were assessed. Will we see that savings on our next year's taxes? I think not.
Jul 20, 2009 at 8:11 a.m.
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If people would use natural landscaping and permeable driveways, their bills would be dramatically reduced from the start. Native plants provide a deeper root base that allows water to infiltrate down instead of running off the top, as with turf grass. Gravel driveways do the same thing. Places that have non-permeable driveways and lots can create rain gardens in areas where water pools in low areas and where downspouts meet the ground. Many schools are eligible for federal and state funding for environmental project like installing rain gardens. Here would be a chance for all Milton schools to take advantage of this funding while utilizing Milton's students to get the job done. Worried about upkeep? There will always be an influx of new students to help with the upkeep as a class project.
I am not sure where Mr. Schmidt got this info "Most stormwater in Milton goes to manmade basins, with very little running into natural bodies of water", but I am not convinced this is true. There are very few man made retention basins within Milton. I would like to see a map of this. Milton and Milton Junction are on ten's to hundred's of feet of sand & gravel above the limestone and dolostone bedrock; making it very susceptable to groundwater pollution. There is funding for these types of projects if you are creative enough. In Arizona, Florida, and Texas, there are mandates that require native plantings and permeable driveways that reduce stormwater impacts to the system, and they are very successful.
I would be more than happy to coordinate an educational session for anyone interested in reduction of storm water impacts in their community.
Jul 20, 2009 at 5:34 a.m.
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Another good reason to move out of the Milton train yard.
Let's see, that's $87/year, plus $3000/year for property taxes, plus $1200/year for sewer/water...
No thanks
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