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WS — Itemll--" WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT Work Session Item 1 Date: Council Work Session, March 1, 2010 To: City Council From: Michael Grochala, Al Rolek Re: Stormwater Utility Background In response to city council budget questions enclosed is the Executive Summary from the 2006 Financing Storm Water Management feasibility study and a 2007 report prepared by the Metropolitan Council regarding the same. Included in the Met Council report is the status of storm water utilities within the seven county metro area as of 2007. Blaine, Centerville, Circle Pines, Shoreview, and White Bear Township are surrounding cities that have implemented a utility. The basic premise behind the storm water utility is that users pay including tax exempt properties. Charges are based on the volume of storm water runoff and land use, not property value. The base unit or "Residential Equivalent Unit" (REU) represents a single family residential home. Multi- family, commercial, industrial and intitiutional properties are assigned multiple REU's based on the land use and size of property. The 2006 report included an estimated average Stormwater Utility Budget of $988,688 which included funding for 100% of stormwater expenditures related to street reconstruction. Based on that budget amount the estimated monthly fee per REU was $4.35. Two other budget alternatives were included that reduced the street reconstruction costs to 75% and 50 %. These budgets resulted in estimated monthly fees of $3.75 and $3.10 respectively. For discussion purposes staff has developed a revised budget that meets the City's storm water management needs but excludes capital expenditures related to street reconstruction. This budget is estimated at $502,500 and includes approximately $155,000 in additional funding to meet current needs. These needs include an increase of $55,000 in improvement funding and $58,000 annually for equipment debt service. This budget amount would result in an estimated monthly fee of $2.20 per month ($26.40 /year) for a single family residence. In comparison, for a median valued home in Lino Lakes, the tax impact for our current level of service is approximately $3.51 per 1