On September 21, 2015, we published an article on this blog regarding the Ohio Supreme Court upholding the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) stormwater management program. Since then, NEORSD has been posting updated information on their web site to respond to questions it receives about the stormwater program restart, fees, credits, cost sharing and more.
The following information is taken directly from NEORSD’s blog—
Stormwater billing will resume in the second half of 2016. NEORSD will not back bill for the stormwater fees during the time its program was on hold. Anyone that had an approved credit from NEORSD prior to the program being halted will have that credit applied to their fees once billing resumes. A staff member from NEORSD should be contacting such parties to address the submission of a renewal form as a condition of the credit.
The types of parcels exempt for the stormwater fee are public roads and highways, public airport runways and taxiways, railroad rights-of-way, many city-owned properties, and public and not-for-profit cemeteries.
For a typical homeowner, the stormwater fee will range from $3.09/month, $5.15/month or $9.27/month, depending on the amount of impervious area per residence. Account holders that qualify for the Homestead program will pay a stormwater fee of $2.07/month. These fees may be further increased in following years and from year to year based on NEORSD’s funding needs to continue implementing its stormwater management program.
The rates for commercial properties will be determined based upon $5.15 per “Equivalent Residential Unit” (ERU). An ERU equals 3,000 square feet of impervious area. The total fee for a commercial property will depend on the amount of impervious area located on the property. However, if a commercial property’s ERU totals more than 10 ERUs (i.e., more than 30,000 square feet of impervious area), that a declining block fee is applied that progressively lowers the per ERU charge for those in excess of 10 per parcel.
Some homeowners in the areas covered by NEORSD may qualify for Homestead, Affordability and Crisis Assistance Programs and should check with NEORSD for more information. There are other fee credits that may be available to residential and non-residential customers for stormwater control measures that are implemented on a property. NEORSD also offers a couple of savings programs for qualifying schools.
Any stormwater fee credit application or billing inquiry that was pending when the program was halted will be restarted by the NEORSD staff.
For more information, click here to access NEORSD’s FAQ on the Stormwater Program.
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