Politics & Government

Howard County Council Approves Stormwater Management Fee

The fee will be constant for three years.

Two months after Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced the creation of a new stormwater management fee, the County Council approved a fee that property owners will see on their tax bill beginning in July. 

This new fee will help satisfy a 2012 state mandate that requires larger jurisdictions to collect money to develop a stormwater management program.

The county commissioners set the rate at $15 per 500 square feet of impervious surface for three years.

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That means the owner of a home with 2,640 square feet of impervious surface would pay $75 per year. A larger home with, for instance, a longer, impervious driveway totaling 12,540 square feet, would pay $375 per year.

As for the rate three years from now, stormwater manager Jim Caldwell said the county knows the cost of fulfilling the state mandate required for its Maryland Department of the Environment sotrmwater permit for the next five years, but “until we know the mandates of the next permit, we will not be able to project future costs.” 

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The county needs to raise about $130 million over the next five years to fund its program, according to the Howard County Times.

Ulman had initially proposed the rate be set at $7.80 per 500 square feet for the first year, then increased each following year “to almost triple by year 5,” according to Caldwell. 

Stormwater runoff – rainwater that is not absorbed into the ground, but rolls along impervious surfaces, picking up debris, fertilizer and other pollutants – is a major source of pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. 

With reporting by Patch.com editor Andrew Metcalf


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