Town hall meeting on proposed stormwater fee in Libertyville
A second virtual town hall meeting on a proposed stormwater utility fee for Libertyville property owners is set for Thursday.
The session, which is at 7 p.m., is the same as one held Jan. 28 to explain the proposal and encourage questions and feedback.
Village leaders say a fee is needed to provide a consistent revenue source to fund projects to curb flooding and manage stormwater issues.
To be collected every other month, the fee would finance $45.5 million in projects identified in the village's Master Stormwater Management Plan. Completing the list will take years and not everyone will immediately benefit, but village leaders have said the initiative is for the greater good.
A video of the first meeting, a link to join Thursday's session, frequently asked questions, information about the proposal and stormwater plan and a tool for customers to check their property's estimated fee amount are at https://www.libertyville.com/.
The fee would be calculated on two factors: the amount of impervious surface on a property, and the ratio of impervious surface to permeable area.
It would vary by property but a standard residential lot with one utility account would pay about $32 per bill or $16 per month. Libertyville has about 7,500 utility billing customers.
The fee would go into effect Sept. 1. For the first three years, it would generate about $2.1 million per year, according to Nick Mostardo, village finance director.
After that, it would increase slightly to pay debt service on bonds issued to fund projects in the master plan, he added.
About 40 people, including the village board and staff, participated in the first session. Many questions were specific to individual properties, Mostardo said.
The plan is to reduce the fee in approximately 20 years as debt service associated with projects is paid, he said.
When work is completed in about 35 years, the fee would only be used for system operations and maintenance and to create a reserve for future pay-as-you-go projects, he said.
Stormwater revenues and expenses are accounted for in a separate fund. Money collected from the fee can only be used for the stormwater system and will not be used to offset general village expenses unrelated to stormwater, according to Mostardo.