- November 28, 2024
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Stormwater utility fees for unincorporated areas of Volusia County — such as Ormond-by-the-Sea — will rise slightly in the coming fiscal year.
The Volusia County Council unanimously approved a 50-cent increase to the monthly $6 stormwater utility non-ad valorem assessment fee, which had remained the same since 2005, at a July 11 meeting.
County staff initially sought the council's approval for a $1 per month fee increase for fiscal year 2023-2024, to be followed by another $1 increase in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, but council members thought the proposal — which would have generated almost $760,000 per year — was too steep for taxpayers.
Staff brought the fee increase proposal to the council because stormwater fund expenditures are expected to exceed revenues by fiscal year 2025-2026, with a $200,000 shortfall in 2023-2024.
"Anytime you're looking at raising fees or raising taxes on the public, that is a very serious decision, and as staff, we don't bring these decisions to the council lightly," Public Works Director Ben Bartlett said.
The increasing expenditures, he explained, are the result of rising operational costs, not additional personnel.
County Councilman Troy Kent said the fact the fee has not risen in 18 years places a burden on the current council.
"This is a tax," Kent said. "... It hits your poorest in the community the hardest."
If prior councils had approved small, incremental increases, the county wouldn't have to ask for dollar increases now, he said.
The county knows there are significant stormwater problems, County Council Chair Jeff Brower said. But he wondered if the county could use some of the $329 million in hurricane relief funding it is receiving from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to offset some of the operational costs, at least temporarily.
"Everybody up here realizes that stormwater is critically important," Brower said.
County Manager George Recktenwald said that the $329 million is allocated to the entire county — including its 16 cities.
About $40 million can be used for capital mitigation projects, he said, and the county is assessing those needs.
Recktenwald added that the county could cover the operational shortfall this year, and return next year with a rate study.
"Whatever we don't deal with this year, we'll just be dealing with next year," he said.
Initially, the council considered a 25-cent increase instead of a 50-cent increase, but county staff said that while a 25-cent increase would bridge the gap for this fiscal year, it wouldn't be enough in future years.
"That gap is concerning as it increased," Bartlett said. "... We have experienced record inflation in the last three years. That's something that wasn't anticipated and has probably hastened this discussion."
