by SC Reporter Emilie Alfinio
With the goal of setting a date to decide on a stormwater assessment fee, the Sanibel City Council instead decided to delay the matter for one year, primarily due to concerns about unfairness in how the fee would be determined.
The vote was 3-2 to table the matter, with Mayor Mike Miller, Vice Mayor John Henshaw, and Council member Laura DeBruce voting to table it, and Council members Holly Smith and Richard Johnson voting to proceed.
The city was considering a flat, island-wide fee. The fee is based on impervious area. Impervious area includes surfaces that prevent water from naturally soaking into the ground. Typical impervious surfaces on a single-family lot are roofs; paved parking and driveways; patios, decks, and hardscapes; walkways and sidewalks; utility pads; sheds on slab; and other similar surfaces. These are used to calculate the stormwater fee.
An estimate of the fee is $277.55 annually for a single-family residence. This compares to $451.68 for Fort Myers Beach, $297.36 for Naples, and $156 for Cape Coral.
For a city stormwater assessment fee, flat-rate pricing charges a uniform fee to all properties regardless of size, while tiered pricing categorizes properties into brackets based on their total impervious surface area (like roofs and driveways). Tiered fees are widely considered more equitable because the charge directly correlates to how much runoff a property actually contributes to the city’s drainage infrastructure.
Some Council members questioned whether a tiered fee would be more fair than the proposed flat fee.
Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Steve Chaipel said there would not be much difference between the two. “The $277 can go higher, but it also can go lower if there are grants,” Chaipel said. “Similar to sewer. We’re seeking grants all the time.”
Council member Richard Johnson acknowledged that $277 is a relatively small amount for some but a concern for others. “We all know that we need to invest in stormwater management,” he said, “but how we go about that is important.”
Mayor Mike Miller said he is very concerned about the regressive aspect of a stormwater management fee as presented. He asked about possibly basing the assessment on each property’s impermeable area individually. Chaipel explained that the city would have to look at that every year.
“I don’t know how easily staff could maintain that on an annual basis, with 6,000-7,000 properties,” Miller said. The City has already determined all properties’ impermeable area, he said, although it treats shell and gravel as impermeable. The imagery used cannot distinguish asphalt from shell or gravel.
During public comment, Toni Lapi, President and CEO of ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort, said hotels are doing major expansion and have already spent a fortune on drainage.
James Evans, CEO of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, said SCCF generally supports the concept of a stormwater assessment fee. “There are a couple of items that need to be addressed to make sure it is equitable,” he said. SCCF owns 1,800 acres of land and would pay a $15,000 fee. The largest piece is the 28-acre Bailey Homestead, much of which is undeveloped but includes shell areas.
“SCCF provides valuable stormwater services to the island,” Evans said. “Many subdivisions drain into our lands. That’s a service we provide to the community free of charge.” Evans asked if SCCF could get credits, or “something that is more equitable.”
“If we look at individual properties, we are picking winners and losers,” Council member Holly Smith said, “and that is a very slippery slope. We need to be very careful about saying ‘not me’ because then everybody will be saying it. There’s a cost to living here.” Smith said she supports the flat rate.
Council member John Henshaw, though, said, “I’m not sure the current methodology will be acceptable to me. I wish it was more equitable, maybe the tiered approach. I would like to hear more analysis. I would not be in favor of going forward as proposed. You don’t move forward with a faulty methodology.”
Council member Richard Johnson wanted to move forward with the assessment fee, using a flat rate for the first year and then considering a tiered process in the future. “I don’t want to lose another 12 months,” he said. “We have waited too long.”
“We’re not going to risk anything by waiting a year,” said Council member Laura DeBruce. “I would much rather wait and get it right. I think we have work to do. Let’s put something better together for next year.”
“It sets a negative precedent to go forward with something we’re not comfortable with,” Miller said. “We can say right now that we’re going to wait a year. It won’t hurt us, but it will make us smarter and better. What we want is something embraced by our community.”
The motion to table the stormwater assessment fee to the following year asked that City staff provide information on what a tiered stormwater assessment would look like, perhaps including a system for a credit program, and review what is counted as an impermeable surface.
Henshaw, DeBruce, and Miller voted to table; Smith and Johnson voted against.
“There are some good fundamental questions that have come out of this discussion,” said City Manager Dana Souza. “I think it’s been good work.”
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