A public hearing is set for Sept. 5 regarding a proposed stormwater fee increase in Hillsborough County.
The public hearing is set for 10 a.m., in the second floor board room at Frederick B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., in downtown Tampa.
Any changes approved by the Hillsborough County Commission would be reflected on the 2019 property tax notices, according to a Hillsborough County news release.
The stormwater fee is paid by property owners in the unincorporated area of the county. It does not apply to residents in Tampa, Temple Terrace or Plant City.
Revenues generated by the stormwater fee is used for maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of the public stormwater pipes, pumps, storage systems, and other structures to help reduce roadway flooding and improve water quality, the news release said.
County officials say the proposed fee structure more equitably separates most residential properties into tiers based on different sizes of impervious area (roofed, paved, or similar surface).
Properties with less impervious area pay less and properties with more impervious area pay more, under the proposal.
The county’s news release explains:
- Most single-family residential properties are placed into a tier based on their total gross area building footprint, provided by the Property Appraiser. This approach avoids having to individually calculate the impervious area for more than 220,000 residential properties, which would be impractical.
- Properties with exceptionally small building footprint areas, such as condominium units, townhomes and mobile homes are billed flat rates.
- Nonresidential properties and very large single-family properties are billed per square foot of impervious area.
- A new proposed assessment structure will utilize an “Equivalent Residential Unit,” or ERU, as the basis for most assessments. The average single-family residence in the County includes 4,267 square feet of impervious surface (roofed, paved, or similar surface), which equals one ERU.
- The 2019 proposed assessment for one ERU is $92.41.
More information about the proposed Stormwater Fee is available online or by calling (813) 635-5400.
Published August 28, 2019
