Stormwater Fee Is Transparent

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009 | Reporter Rani Gupta‘s article highlights a subject that’s either unknown or misunderstood by most people.  This is another of the unintended consequences of legislative zeal that costs and costs and costs.  Asking taxpayers to pay more fees to hire more agency staff to do more tasks to comply with the law is begging the question.  This particular regulatory package significantly increases the costs of all building projects in our county with no accountability for the benefits that the regulations provide. (You tell us what they are in quantifiable terms.) 

That “tax” is hidden from public view, but comes back in the form of higher housing costs for new construction.  Fines are brought against cities for lack of compliance with regulatory standards which fund the water quality control agency at the expense of the cities that are regulated by them — another hidden tax.  This law is overreaching and the regulations are punitive — solution, water down the law and eliminate the impractical requirements.