Here’s who could be paying more to ease pollution from rain runoff
Some of Bellingham’s largest commercial and institutional water customers could face steep increases with a new stormwater fee structure the City Council is considering.
Proposed fee increases are aimed at the places that cause the most pollution and runoff — big retail stores and public institutions with large buildings surrounded by expansive parking lots, said Public Works Director Eric Johnston.
“It shifts the burden of cost to our larger-footprint customers, and it does it in a way that over time moves that cost to where it probably should be, which is where the largest impact pays the largest cost,” Johnston told the council in a Sept. 14 presentation.
Rates for residential customers would remain stable, he said.
“We don’t want to sugar-coat that, that’s a pretty substantial impact faced by our largest customers, and some of those dollar numbers are pretty substantial. On the other hand, it does for our residential customers — which is often a question of affordability — it keeps those rates relatively low for the next several years,” Johnston said.
Those “large-footprint customers” encompass 82% of the impervious area within the city — meaning buildings and pavement — and they pay only 18% of the stormwater fees, he said.
“We can draw a direct correlation between impervious area and urban runoff pollutants,” he said.
New stormwater fees are part of an updated Surface and Stormwater Comprehensive Plan that Bellingham’s City Council is considering.
That document guides the city’s approach to reducing pollution from runoff into gutters and storm drains from streets, driveways and parking lots.
Much of urban runoff flows into local wetlands, creeks or Bellingham Bay, Johnston said.
Vaults and filters trap some of the pollutants and others are absorbed into the ground, but eventually, most runoff flows to Bellingham Bay.
A plan to address runoff pollution is required under the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which is part of the 1972 Clean Water Act.
Johnston told The Bellingham Herald that the city is considering its updated stormwater plan in two parts:
▪ A document that describes how the city intends to control runoff pollution.
▪ A way to pay for efforts to reach those goals.
On Monday, the Council is discussing the overall plan. A vote on the fee structure is planned later this year, Johnston said.
Johnston is recommending a medium-size capital improvement plan that plan would:
▪ Protect aquatic habitats and develop and maintain fish passages.
▪ Protect and improve the wetlands, creeks, lakes and Bellingham Bay — places affected by runoff pollution.
▪ Minimize urban flooding.
▪ Maintain storage and flow capacity.
To pay for these goals, Johnston is recommending a cost of service model that shifts the burden for runoff from residential customers to the biggest users.
Water bills are broken into separate charges for water, sewer and stormwater.
Most Bellingham residents, who are small and medium “footprint” customers based on the size of their homes, pay between $14 and $23.32 for stormwater every other month, according to an Aug. 31 City Council presentation.
Under the proposed new stormwater fees, they could see those rates rise or fall slightly over the next five years.
Larger footprint customers, such as Bellis Fair mall and Western Washington University, pay stormwater fees of 78 cents per square foot.
Their rates could double over the next five years if the Council approves this cost-of-service fee structure.
Further discussion of the proposals is planned during a 9 .a.m. Monday online meeting of the City Council’s Public Works and Natural Resources Committee.
Additional information about the stormwater plan and payment options is at the Engage Bellingham website.
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
