Wants $7.5M for new projects and $358K for new employees
Peachtree City’s newest bureaucracy is growing, and city property owners are going to pay for it, maybe up to double what they are paying now each year.
The City Council Thursday night will consider a resolution announcing the intent to finance up to $7.5 million in capital stormwater projects. While the resolution is not binding and council can decide to avoid issuing the debt entirely, if the financing route is chosen it is a given that stormwater bills will increase by some amount.
City officials have said it’s too early to tell what type of rate increase would be necessary, as the city will have to determine what services and projects it will tackle with the new funding.
In May, city staff presented a proposal to council that would double the annual stormwater fees, which for residential property owners would mean a bump up to between $63 and $142 a year depending on the size of impervious area on their parcel. The current range of residential bills is between $32 and $72.
The stormwater fee is also assessed on businesses, schools and even churches to help fund infrastructure repair, improvements and maintenance of the city’s stormwater collection system.
In the May proposal, Public Works Director Mark Caspar suggested adding several employees to increase the level of stormwater pipe maintenance. Currently when a stormwater pipe is replaced, Caspar has to take his crew off maintenance projects to replace the pipe.
The new hires would cost the city about $358,246 a year, according to Caspar’s projections.
As for the new capital projects, those under consideration include rehabilitation of the Rockspray Pond, the Kedron ponds, the Harbor Loop drainage system and the Golfview Drive drainage system. Other projects in the mix include repairs to the BCS Pond, pipe lining in the area of Woodsdale and Lenox Road and also other pipe lining projects throughout the city.
The city is close to depleting its stormwater funds from revenue bonds that were issued in 2006, officials said.
