Keeping DuPage County's feet dry
DuPage leaders still are wrestling with fundamental questions related to who pays for a proposed flood-control fee and how comprehensive it should be.
A county study recommends charging a user fee to every property owner in DuPage, including tax-exempt entities such as local governments and nonprofit organizations, including churches.
The fee would be based on the amount of their paved surfaces. Currently, the county's storm water funding comes mainly from property taxes.
Some county storm water management planning committee members Tuesday argued that charging school districts is inequitable.
"A tax-capped entity like a school district has no capacity for replacement," committee member and Elmhurst Mayor Tom Marcucci said. "I think they'll resent it a great deal."
An average household might pay about $26 to $29 a year, while owners of bigger parcels, such as a typical church, might pay $4,550.
The fee could generate $14 million to $15 million annually. Half of those revenues would go to repaying loans, while the rest would pay for maintenance of structures such as dams and reservoirs, flood mapping, buyouts of chronically water-logged sites and complying with the federal Clean Water Act.
The new policy requires approval from the committee and ultimately the county board.
The county levy for storm water originally produced about $11.5 million but that was reduced to $8.5 million to pay for other expenses in 2002.
Now with $7.3 million of that $8.5 million dedicated to paying off debts for capital projects, there's not enough money available to properly maintain crucial structures such as the Elmhurst Quarry, county engineers warn.
If a fee instead of property taxes is approved, commission member and Oakbrook Terrace Mayor Thomas Mazaika said he wanted a guarantee the money will pay only for storm water work.
"We need to earmark the money to keep the county board from using it for other projects," he said.
Mazaika also questioned where the $8.5 million would go.
"What happens to the money that's collected? Will it be abated?" he asked.
"That's up to the county board," storm water committee chairman Jim Zay replied.
Officials also discussed applying the fee to nonprofit groups and colleges.
In answer to concerns, storm water director Tony Charleton said property owners could get some relief through a credit system.
Ways to obtain credits could range from a school teaching students about environmental concerns posed by storm water, to a homeowner installing a rain barrel to a hospital replacing a cement parking lot with permeable pavers.