14. Storm drain feesCUPERTINO
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Summary
AGENDA ITEM I q
AGENDA DATE June 1, 2010
SUBJECT AND ISSUE
Consider adopting a resolution approving the renewal and collection of the existing storm
drain fees at no increase in rates for fiscal year 20.10 -2011.
BACKGROUND
Since 1992, the Nonpoint Source Program, mandated by the State of California and the US
Environmental Protection Agency regulations, has been funded locally from a storm fee
applied to each property in the City. The fee, collected by the Santa Clara County Tax
Collector and provided to the City, is subject to annual review and approval by the City
Council.
These funds support the City's State and''' federally mandated programs, to enforce the
requirements and help prevent illegal discharges and illicit connections to the City's storm
drain system. Also supported by these funds, are the operation and maintenance of storm
drain facilities (to the extent not covered by existing General Fund activities), a portion of the
annual street sweeping contract, funding for regional watershed monitoring and other
compliance work conducted on behalf of the cities and agencies by the Santa Clara Valley
Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program (SCVURPPP), public information and education,
regulatory revisions and additional permit related tasks.
Assessment Rate FY 2010 -2011
The fees have remained the same since they were first levied in 1992 and no increase is
proposed. The annual fees for each property category are as follows:
Category Rate per Year
Single - Family, Town homes, Condominiums $ 12.00 / premise
Commercial /Industrial/Apartment;i $ 144.00 / acre
Unimproved/Recreation $ 36.00 / acre
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FISCAL IMPACT
The fee schedule when levied on all properties in the City of Cupertino generates
approximately $366,000. The proposed program budget for FY 2010 -2011 is $519,000, a
$9,000 increase over the current budget. This budgeted amount represents increased
enforcement to prevent illegal discharges and connections to the City storm drain system and
State waters in keeping with increasingly stringent State and federal clean water requirements,
higher municipal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) fees proposed
by the State and an increase in SCVURPPP program costs. Any change in the current fee
amount would be subject to the two- thirds vote provisions of Proposition 218 and no change
is recommended at this time.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution No. 10- D , approving the review and collection of the existing storm
drain fees at no increase in rates for Fiscal Year 2010 -2011.
Submitted by:
a a�(V
Ralph A. Qualls, Jr.
Director of Public Works
Approved for submission:
David W. Knapp
City Manager
ATTACHMENT A - Resolution
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Attachment A
RESOLUTION NO. 10- d Cn
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO
APPROVING THE RENEWAL AID COLLECTION OF THE EXISTING
STORM DRAIN FEES AT NO INCREASE IN RATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 -2011
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino has previously enacted Municipal Code
Chapter 3.36 for the purpose of meeting the City's federally mandated Nonpoint Source Control and
Stormwater Management Program and establishing the authority for imposing and charging a storm
drainage service charge; and
WHEREAS, a report concerning the method of assessing an environmental fee to fund the
City's Nonpoint Source Program was prepared by the Director of Public Works pursuant to Section
3.36.080(B) of the City's Municipal Code and filed with the City Clerk on May 13, 2010. A report,
entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of FeA,s for Storm Drainage Purposes Nonpoint Source
Pollution Program ", was prepared by the Director of Public Works and is dated May 25, 2010; and
WHEREAS, the report, filed with the City Clerk, was available for public inspection and
review ten (10) days prior to this public hearing; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino finds and determines as follows:
1. After considering the report entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of Fees for Storm
Drainage Purposes Nonpoint Source Pollution Program" and the testimony received at this public
hearing, the City Council hereby approves the report and herein incorporates it in the resolution.
2. There is a need in the City for the continuation of a storm drainage service charge to
cover the costs of the federally mandated program as heretofore described, in that properties within the
city will not otherwise contribute their fair share towards this program and without the availability of
such storm drainage service charge, the City's general fund will be depleted.
3. The facts and evidence presented establish that there is a reasonable relationship
between the need for this fee and the impacts for which this fee shall be used, and that there is a
reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the properties, which are to be charged this fee.
These relationships or nexuses are described in mare detail in the above referenced report.
4. The amounts of the fee for each caregory of property, as set forth below, are reasonable
amounts as such fees are based on runoff coefficients established in the Master Storm Drain Study,
which the City Council hereby approves and herein incorporates such study.
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5. It is further determined that each and every parcel of land contained in said report will,
and has received a benefit of the storm drainage system and that the charges imposed herein on each
such parcel are in conformity with the benefits that such parcel has received as further described in the
report.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Cupertino, that:
1. Charge The storm drainage service charge shall continue to be charged to each parcel
within the city to cover the costs of the City's Nonpoint Source Control and Stormwater Management
Program.
2. Use of Revenue The revenue derived from said charge shall be used in connection with
implementing and enforcing Chapters 3.36 of the Cupertino Municipal Code entitled "Storm Drainage
Service Charge" and Chapter 9.18 entitled "Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Watershed
Protection."
3. Schedule of Chames
(a) Annual fees for each category of property will be assessed and collected as follows:
Residential premises $ 12.00 /parcel
Apartment premises $144.00 /acre
Commercial/Industrial premises $144.00 /acre
Unimproved/Recreational $ 36.00 /acre
(b) The following public properties are exempt from, and shall not be assessed the
environmental fee:
Cupertino Sanitary District
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
State of California
The Santa Clara County Fire Department
The City of Cupertino
The Cupertino Union School District
The Foothill -De Anza Community College District
The Fremont Union High School District
The Midpeninsula Regional Park District
United States of America
4, Judicial Action to Challenge this Resolution Any judicial action or proceeding to
challenge, review, set aside, void, or annul this resolution shall be brought within 120 days from the
date of its adoption.
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PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino
this 1 st day of June, 2010, by the following vote:
Vote Members of the Cy Council
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Mayor, City of Cupertino
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ENGINEER'S REPORT
ASSESSMENT OF FEES FOR STORM DRAINAGE PURPOSES
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PROGRAM
A. Program Description and Purpose
The purpose of this assessment is to collect fees for funding the City of Cupertino's
Nonpoint Source Pollution Program mandated by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Regulations by the EPA and the State of California require cities to
take specific actions to eliminate or control pollutants.
The term "nonpoint source pollution" represents a process whereby pollutants, debris,
sediment and chemicals which accumulate on streets, in neighborhoods, construction
sites, parking lots and other exposed surfaces are washed off by rainfall and carried
away by stormwater runoff into the San Francisco Bay. Sources of these pollutants
may include automobile exhaust and oil, pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals, eroded soil,
detergents, paints and other discarded material carried through the storm drain system,
without treatment, directly to the Bay. These pollutants are hazardous to aquatic and
human life.
The City of Cupertino has implemented several programs to mitigate this problem
that include elimination of illegal discharges and waste disposal into storm drains,
monitoring pollutants, public education and public awareness, and operation and
maintenance of storm drain facilities.
The State San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board)
approved the new Muncipal Regional Permit (MRP) on October 14, 2009, which was
issued to 76 agencies and municipalities around the San Francisco Bay. The The RP
includes several new mandated requirements that are being phased in over the next
five years. The Santa Claza Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program
(SCVURPPP) had, in anticipation of the new requirements, already increased its
assessments by about 20 %. The new Order requires Bay Area municipalities to install
trash full- capture devices in a percentage storm drain inlets and provide staff to ensure
ongoing operation and maintainence of the structures. The City must also inspect and
clean its entire storm drain system annually prior to the rainy season, Octoberl. With
this and other MRP requirements on the horizon the City has had to ensure ongoing
compliance by increasing the NPS budget to meet the demands. While Proposition
218 essentially prevents the City from raising stormwater fees, it is important that the
fees that have been in place since 1992 continue to be collected.
B. Estimated- Expenditures
The total estimated budget to implement the required programs described above for
fiscal year 2010 -2011 is $519 ,000. The breakdown of costs is outlined as follows:
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Countywide Program $ 116,300
Regional Watershed Monitoring
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Fees
Public Education, Public Awareness and Staff Training
CA Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) Guidance Manuals
SCVURPP Program Fee - Collaborative Implementation of Permit Requirements
Operations and Maintenance $ 180,000
Catch Basin Cleaning and Street Sweeping
On -call Spill Response
City Public Education Awareness $ 50,000
Public Outreach & Events
Printed Materials
Third -Grade Creek Education for Lc cal Schools
Support for High School Watershed and Creek Education
Support for De Anza College and Community Environmental Education
Local Programs $ 172,700
Administration and Ordinance Revis ions
Reports to State SF Bay Water Board
Database Administration
Illicit Connection and Illegal Dumpi ig Incident Investigation
Industrial/Commercial Inspection Program
New Development and Construction Inspection Program
New Development Implementation of Low Impact Development (LID)
Trash Management Requirements and Litter Abatement
TOTAL $ 519,000
C. Revenue And Assessment
Revenues generated to fund this program are based on a factor calculated from the
City's Master Storm Drain Study runoff coefficients and average area of impervious
surface per acre based on type of development. The factor for each category is based
on a comparison to an average residential parcel assigned a factor of one.
The following table represents the revenue stream for different categories of
development.
No. Parcels Annual Revenue
Deveonment Category Factor or Acre Cost/Unit Generated
Residential 1 15,572 Pcl $ 12.00 $ 186,864
Commercial/Industrial/
Apartments 12 1,016.5 Ac 144.00 146,376
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Unimproved/Recreational 3 932.81 Ac
36.00 33,581
TOTAL $ 366,821
Each parcel has been identified and a fee established in a separate report entitled
PARCEL ASSESSMENT REPORT.
`7�4 LZU CL
Ralph A. Qualls, Jr.
Director of Public Works
5/25/10
t-
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