Arcata Municipal Code Art. 4 Stormwater Drainage Fund

A. A stormwater drainage fund is hereby established to provide funding for stormwater drainage maintenance. The fund may be expended for the following:

(1) All activities and resultant expenses associated with the maintenance and operation of the Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility;

(2) Capital expenses associated with the repair, replacement, and capital improvement of the Stormwater Drainage Enterprise and Utility;

(3) All expenses associated with maintenance, operation, and capital requirements of any stormwater drainage facility which may be required by state or federal law; and

(4) All expenses for activities directly related to any of the foregoing.

A. Each development project for which drainage development fees are collected in accordance with this chapter shall be managed within the stormwater drainage fund in such a manner as to allow tracking for each fiscal year of the beginning and ending balance, fees collected, other sources of income, interest accumulated, expenditures made, and refunds paid out.

B. Within sixty (60) days of the close of each fiscal year, the City shall make available to the public the information listed in subsection A.

C. The Council shall review the information made available to the public pursuant to this section at the next regularly scheduled council meeting not less than fifteen (15) days after the information is made available to the public. Notice of the time and place of the Council meeting, including the address where this information may be reviewed, shall be mailed at least 15 days prior to the meeting to any interested party who files a written request with the local agency for a mailed notice of a meeting.

A. The Council shall make findings each fiscal year with respect to any portion of drainage development fees remaining unexpended or uncommitted in the stormwater drainage maintenance fund five (5) or more years after deposit to identify the purpose to which the fee is to be put and to demonstrate a reasonable relationship between the fee and the purpose for which it was charged.

B. The Council shall authorize refunds to the then current record owner of the lots or units of a development project on a prorated basis of the unexpended or uncommitted portion of the fee, and the interest accrued thereon, for which need cannot be demonstrated pursuant to subsection A. The Council may authorize refund by direct payment, by providing a temporary suspension of fees, or by any other means consistent with this chapter.

C. If the administrative costs of refunding unexpended or uncommitted revenues pursuant to this section exceed the amount to be refunded, the City, after a noticed public hearing where notice is published and posted in three prominent places within the area of the development project, may determine that the revenues shall be allocated for some other purpose for which the fees are collected, but which serves the project on which the fee was originally imposed.