Citrus Heights Municipal Code Art. IV Storm Drainage Fee

The purpose of this article is to establish a mechanism for funding the operation and maintenance of the storm drainage system in order that stormwaters and surface waters may be properly drained and controlled so that the health, safety and welfare of the city and its inhabitants may be safeguarded and protected.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.010), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)

The city council hereby finds as follows:

(1) Within the city, there is a system of stormwater and surface water management facilities, including but not limited to inlets, conduits, manholes, channels, ditches, drainage easements, retention and detention basins, infiltration facilities, overland release corridors, and other components as well as natural waterways.

(2) Those elements of the stormwater and surface water management system that provide for the collection, storage, treatment, and conveyance of storm drainage are of benefit and provide services to all developed property within the city.

(3) The cost of operating and maintaining the storm drainage management system, including necessary repairs, should, to the extent practicable, be allocated in relationship to the benefits enjoyed and services received therefrom.

(4) Erosion and the discharge of nutrients, metals, oil, grease, and other substances into and through the storm drainage system is resulting in a degradation in water quality.

(5) The public health, safety and welfare are adversely affected by poor water quality and flooding resulting from inadequate storm drainage management practices.

(6) The storm drainage management practices necessary to protect water quality are largely established by federal and state statutes, regulations and permitting requirements.

(7) Real property either uses or benefits from the presence and operation of the storm drainage management system.

(8) The use of the storm drainage system is dependent on factors that influence runoff, including land use and impervious area.

(9) The city has the authority under Health and Safety Code § 5471 to prescribe, revise and collect fees, tolls, rates, rentals and other charges for facilities and services furnished by it in connection with its storm drainage system.

(10) The legislature, through the adoption of Health and Safety Code § 5471, has specifically authorized the city to provide storm drainage services as a utility function for which service charges may be levied.

(11) Storm drainage services are currently provided within the city and funded through a combination of property tax revenue and benefit assessments.

(12) Property taxes have proven to be an unreliable source of revenue due to the state's recent proclivity for shifting local property tax revenue from the county, cities and special districts to schools.

(13) Benefit assessments are an undesirable revenue mechanism because of the significant lag time between the time that the assessments are approved and the time that they are received as part of the real property tax collection and allocation process. This lag time creates the need to include a component in the assessment to provide a reserve for dry period financing purposes.

(14) A fee to fund storm drainage services offers a reliable and consistent source of revenue that is locally controlled and independent of the vagaries of the state's budget process.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.020), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Administrator means the city's general services director and his or her designees.

Administrative charge means the charge imposed for the actual cost of billing for, and collection of, storm drainage service fees.

Commercial/office use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: Offices, wholesale or retail sales, establishments, or the provision of personal, professional or business services, including but not limited to retail stores; shopping centers; restaurants; service stations; carwashes; vehicle, boat and trailer sales lots; parking lots; automobile repair and service facilities; auction yards; advertising offices; nurseries; general offices; financial service facilities; medical and dental offices, clinics and laboratories; and veterinary offices, clinics and hospitals.

Developed parcel means any parcel of land altered from its natural state by the construction, creation or addition of impervious area.

Equivalent contributing parcel area means the calculated area which, when multiplied by the impervious factor for the parcel's use classification, yields the parcel's measured impervious area.

Exempt use means the use of any public or undeveloped property and the use of any other parcel for any of the following purposes: agricultural land used for crops or pasture, aquatic farms, orchards, drainage ditches maintained by the city, property within a floodplain recognized by the city on which improvements are prohibited, and levees.

Fiscal year means the annual period beginning July 1 and ending June 30.

Impervious area means the total area of a parcel of property covered by an impervious surface.

Impervious factor (IF) means a factor which represents the percentage of impervious area on a parcel which consists of a numerical value that is calculated on the basis of generally accepted engineering standards, review and application of such standards to local conditions, and statistics compiled by measuring impervious areas depicted on aerial photographs of real property.

Impervious surface means any surface on or in any parcel which reduces the rate of infiltration of stormwater into the soil.

Industrial use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: to manufacture, fabricate, process or package products; to process or store food or chemical products, or for storage or warehousing purposes, including but not limited to processing, fabrication and assembly plants, warehouses, wrecking yards, aerospace facilities, truck and other transportation terminals, building materials storage, bakeries, canneries, wineries, creameries, meat and frozen food processing facilities, meat packing plants, slaughter yards, inspection and weighing stations, airports, railroads and railroad spurs, wells, electrical substations, water or sewage treatment plants, and ministorage facilities.

Institutional use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: Hospitals, nursing facilities, residential care facilities, retirement homes, day nurseries, mortuaries, churches, and schools.

Low impervious development use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: Golf courses, surface mines, cemeteries, marinas, and sports fields.

Multifamily residential use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: Triplexes, fourplexes, apartments, mobile home parks, hotels, boardinghouses and rooming houses, fraternity and sorority houses, motels, the common areas of condominiums and planned unit developments, and bed and breakfast inns.

Parcel means the smallest separately segregated lot, unit or plot of real property having an identified owner, boundaries, and surface area which is documented for property tax purposes and given a tax lot number by the county assessor.

Parcel area means the square footage of a parcel measured or estimated using the outside boundary dimensions in feet in order to obtain the total square footage without regard for any topographic features of the enclosed surface.

Person means any individual, firm, company, association, society, partnership, corporation, organization, group or public agency.

Public agency means the United States or any department or agency thereof, the state or any department or agency thereof, a city, a county, and any district or other local authority or public body of or within this state.

Public property means any property owned by a public agency.

Residential dwelling unit means any residential premises designed to house a single family.

Single-family residential use means the use of any developed parcel for any of the following or similar purposes: Single-family residences, condominiums and planned unit developments, row houses, halfplexes, duplexes, and mobile homes located on individually owned parcels.

Storm drainage system means the system of stormwater and surface water management facilities, including but not limited to inlets, conduits, manholes, channels, ditches, drainage easements, retention and detention basins, infiltration facilities, overland release corridors and other components as well as natural waterways.

Street means any public highway, road, street, avenue, way, alley or right-of-way.

Undeveloped use means any parcel that has not been altered from its natural state, as evidenced by a complete lack of impervious surface.

Unit service charge (USC) means the cost of storm drainage services attributable to storm drainage from one square foot of impervious area.

Use code means the six-digit alphanumeric code assigned by the county assessor's office to every parcel within the county.

User means the owner of a parcel of real property that is charged for storm drainage services.

Water agency means the county water agency.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.030), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 1, 7-12-2018)

Cross reference— Definitions generally, § 1-2.

(a) There is hereby levied on all parcels within the boundaries of zone 12 of the water agency, other than those classified as an exempt use, a storm drainage service fee to be calculated as set forth in this section.

(b) Any parcel classified as a single-family residential use shall pay a monthly charge which shall be calculated as follows: the administrative charge + (USC × 3500 × phase-in multiplier × each residential dwelling unit) = monthly charge.

(c) All parcels other than those parcels classified as an exempt or single-family residential use shall pay a monthly charge that shall be calculated as follows: the administrative charge + (parcel area × USC × IF × phase-in multiplier) = monthly charge.

(d) The impervious factor (IF) to be used in the calculation set forth in subsection (c) of this section shall be based on the following table:

(e) The phase-in multiplier for all parcels to be used in the calculations in subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be as follows:

Phase-In Multiplier, effective:

(f) The unit service charge (USC) to be used in the calculation set forth in subsection (c) of this section, effective October 1, 1996, shall be $0.001583 per square foot of impervious area.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.040), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)

(a) The owner of any parcel subject to the storm drainage fee, other than parcels classified as a single-family residential use, may file an application with the administrator to have the fee levied on such parcel reduced by means of one of the following mechanisms:

(1) By designing, constructing and maintaining at the owner's expense storm drainage detention facilities approved by the administrator;

(2) Demonstrating to the satisfaction of the administrator that less than five percent of the parcel area drains into a storm drainage system; or

(3) Demonstrating to the satisfaction of the administrator that the actual impervious area of the parcel is at least ten percent less than that calculated using the impervious factor for the parcel's use classification.

(b) After receipt and review of the application, the administrator shall either deny or approve any reduction in the fee or approve a reduced fee calculated pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. The administrator, in approving any reduction in the otherwise applicable fee, may attach reasonable conditions to any such approval. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the action of the administrator, the applicant may file a petition pursuant to section 98-170.

(c) Any storm drainage facilities constructed by a parcel owner pursuant to this section shall meet the standards set forth in the applicable improvements standards. Upon approval of any reduction in the otherwise applicable fee pursuant to this section, the revised fee shall be calculated on the basis of the equivalent contributing parcel area.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.050), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 2, 7-12-2018)

(a) The storm drainage fee shall be billed to all users on a bimonthly basis, one month in advance and one month in arrears. The bill is due and payable on the first day of the second month of the billing period and shall become delinquent 45 days thereafter. The storm drainage fee shall be billed as part of the county's consolidated utility billing service.

(b) The storm drainage service fee billing shall be based on the use of the parcel as determined by the administrator. For each parcel of property, there shall be only one unit for purposes of billing for storm drainage services. In no case shall a parcel be divided into smaller units for billing purposes.

(c) The storm drainage service fee shall be billed to the owner of record of the parcel, to the successor in interest of such person, or to such person's single designee if approved by the administrator. All requests to bill a party other than the owner of record must be made in writing to the administrator by both the owner of record and the party to be billed. The administrator may approve or deny such requests at his or her sole discretion. The administrator shall notify the owner of record if the billing is changed to comply with such a request, and the owner of record shall remain liable for any delinquent fees.

(d) The opening bills shall be based on current parcel numbers, square footage and use codes on record in the county assessor's office, unless the administrator determines that the actual use of the parcel is different than the use reflected in the use codes, in which case the billing shall be based on the actual use of the parcel.

(e) Any adjustment of charges may be initiated by either the chief of water resources or by the owner of a parcel subject to the storm drainage service fee. If the administrator denies any adjustment proposed by an owner or an owner objects to an adjustment proposed by the administrator, any adjustment shall be made pursuant to the procedure set forth in section 98-170. Any debit adjustments shall be added to the charge in the succeeding billing period. Any credit adjustments shall first be credited against the previous balance and then any remaining credit shall be applied to subsequent bimonthly charges. No debits or credits shall be made for any period more than three years prior to the date that an adjustment is proposed by the administrator or requested by the owner of record pursuant to section 98-170.

(f) Any delinquent storm drainage fee shall incur an added penalty charge of ten percent of the amount that is delinquent. The delinquent amount, including the ten-percent penalty charge, shall thereafter incur an added penalty charge of one and one-half percent per month until paid or placed on the annual property tax bill. If collected with property taxes, the total amount delinquent, plus all penalties, shall incur an additional ten-percent lien penalty.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.060), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 3, 7-12-2018)

(a) The county shall notify the person assessed the storm drainage fee as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll whenever delinquent and unpaid fees which would become a lien on the parcel pursuant to subsection (b) of this section remain delinquent and unpaid for 60 days.

(b) The storm drainage service fee and any penalties levied pursuant to this article shall constitute a lien upon the parcel subject to the fee, as provided for in Health and Safety Code § 5473.11, if the fee remains delinquent for a period of 60 days and the county has notified the assessee of the parcel shown on the latest equalized assessment roll of the delinquent fees and the lien provided by this section.

(c) The lien provided in this section shall have no force or effect until a certificate specifying the amount of the unpaid fees is recorded with the county recorder.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.070), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)

Any delinquent storm drainage service fees and penalties may be collected on the tax roll in the same manner and at the same time as the county's ad valorem property taxes.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.080), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997)

The administrator shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of this article. The engineer shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with this article for purposes of carrying out and enforcing the payment, collection and remittance of the fee levied in this article.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.090), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 4, 7-12-2018)

Cross reference— Administration, ch. 2.

(a) Any owner who disputes the amount of the storm drainage service fee charged to the owner's parcel, the classification of the property in terms of its use, any adjustment proposed by the administrator, or any other determination affecting the property made by or on behalf of the city pursuant to this article may petition the administrator for a hearing with regard to any such issue. The administrator may conduct such hearing or may designate an employee of the general services department to conduct such hearing on his or her behalf. Any such petition may only be filed once in connection with the issue presented in the petition, except upon a showing of changed circumstances sufficient to justify the filing of such additional petition.

(b) Any such petition shall be in writing, signed by the owner under penalty of perjury and filed with the administrator. The petition shall include the following information:

(1) A complete description of the factual basis for the appeal;

(2) The legal basis for the appeal; and

(3) The remedy sought by the appellant.

Within ten days after receipt of the petition, the administrator shall mail written notice to the appellant of the date, time and place of the scheduled hearing.

(c) At the hearing, the administrator or designated hearing officer may hear any oral or documentary evidence that the appellant may offer in addition to the information in the petition, together with any oral or written information that may be submitted by county representatives in support of the determination that is the subject of the appeal. Within 30 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the administrator or the designated hearing officer shall make and serve by mail written findings of fact based upon all relevant information presented in the petition or at the hearing, shall make a determination of issues based upon such findings and, if appropriate, an order setting forth an appropriate remedy subject to the limitations set forth in section 98-166(e). The determination of the administrator or designated hearing officer shall be final.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.100), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 5, 7-12-2018)

There is hereby created in the city treasury a special revenue fund to be known as the city storm water fund. All storm drainage service fee revenue collected by the city shall be deposited in such fund. The revenue deposited in such fund shall be used only for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of storm drainage facilities.

(Ord. No. 97-01, § 2(15.10.110), 1-2-1997; Ord. No. 97-13, § 2, 3-26-1997; Ord. No. 97-17, § 2, 9-24-1997; Ord. No. 2018-001, § 6, 7-12-2018)