By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council will take time to discuss the stormwater utility fee when it meets Tuesday. The fee, which has been in place since 2016, is being addressed at the request of the city council that feels it is either unnecessary or too high. City Manager Jeff Cantrell says discussion will center around the history of the utility and how vital it is to several projects.
“Describing the history of the ordinance and the evolution of projects and how stormwater has impacted specific portions of the community,” Cantrell said. “The funding element of that existing fee structure has a lot to do with the progress of the Cow Creek project. If we reduce that rate structure, I fear that we would have a situation where that project would have to be funded elsewhere.”
Cantrell says if the fee is reduced or eliminated, major projects would have to be financed in other ways, including bonding projects, which cost more due to interest rates on bonds.
“Some cities do handle it that way through general obligation debt,” Cantrell said. “That’s not ideal because it doesn’t allow you to plan in five- and 10-year increments to know what your future projects really are.”
Cantrell also wanted to stress that, unlike some beliefs, nearly all cities in Kansas have a similar fee — and Hutchinson’s is not the highest.
“I would estimate that cities in Kansas that are similar size to us and even smaller, the majority of them have a specific stormwater impact fee,” Cantrell said. “Ours (fee) falls in the mid-range of what the fee collections are. So it wouldn’t be accurate to say we are in the highest portion of that fee, at the same time we’re probably not the lowest.”
The Kansas City suburb of Mission topped the list of highest stormwater rates with a rate of $19 an ERU (Equivalent Residency Unit). Lenexa and McPherson had rates above $7 a month. Newton, Liberal, Ark City, and Shawnee were above $6 per month. Manhattan, Fairway, Junction City and Olathe had stormwater rates above $5 a month. Topeka, Lawrence, and Ottawa were above $4 per month.
While the Cow Creek project is the first major improvement funded by the utility, there is already another project on the list that would be paid for with the utility fee. The Mine Road going into Hutch Salt is in need of major repairs due to stormwater issues.
“It’s one of their access roads where the city has responsibility to maintain culverts and some pretty major stormwater infrastructure,” Cantrell said. “That infrastructure has failed, the culverts have rotted and the roadway has come through from the top side.”
Cantrell estimates that repairs to the damaged infrastructure could run over $1 million.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.