Weinstein Seeks Adjustments to the Watershed Protection and Restoration Fee
Howard County Councilman Jon Weinstein has introduced Council Bill 20-2016 (CB20) and Council Resolution 37-2016 (CR37), which modifies the county's Watershed Protection and Restoration Fee and establishes a more equitable and unbiased application of the fee.
While this bill does not eliminate the fee as preferred by the Howard County Chamber, it does lessen the financial burden on business which is a move in the right direction. The Chamber applauds Councilman Weinstein for listening to the concerns of business and convening a work group to discuss those issues.
These two pieces of legislation will address the imbalanced impact on some commercial property by reducing the maximum fee from 20% of property tax to 15% in fiscal 2017, 10% in fiscal '18 and 5% in fiscal '19. The fee will remain largely unchanged for residents and certain businesses.
If passed, this legislation preserves the Stormwater Fund in order to accomplish the following.
● Enable state grants, including from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund
● Avoid negative impact on the county's borrowing capacity
● Avoid putting required stormwater mitigation actions with other priorities competing for limited funding
● Maintain sustainable and transparent fund and associated projects by requiring additional information in the annual Stormwater Fee Report
● Lower risks to businesses performing work on stormwater projects by having a secured fund and not a budget subject to shifting priorities or fiscal pressures
Additionally, CB20 and CR37 increase flexibility for the administration to add monies to the Stormwater Fund by other means, as suggested in their repeal plan. The administration can request credit to those paying the fee, if the fund balance can accommodate the credit. The legislation also addresses any potential legal risk to the county, identified in the recent Montgomery County lawsuit, by allowing credits of up to 100% for mitigation actions.
Public testimony on this legislative package is scheduled for Monday, March 21.