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FEBRUARY 2009 STORMWATER UTILITY CREDIT POLICY MSA has reviewed the stormwater utility credit policy of 36 Wisconsin municipalities. Information on credit types was not available in every case. A summary of this information is provided in the attached table. Single Family Residential Credit. Most communities that offer stormwater utility credits only offer credit to property owners that install and maintain significant stormwater management infrastructure, and/or conduct non-structural best management activities, such as street sweeping, infrastructure maintenance, and/or education. As such, in most municipalities single- family residential parcels are not eligible to receive credits. Only two communities offered credit to single family residential parcels. The City of Fitchburg, for example, offers up to $10.50 per quarter, for installing one or more of the following BMPs at their residence: pervious pavement, rain barrel or cistern, and/or a rain garden. In the City of Kenosha, groups of single family homes which are part of a common development plan may receive a credit based upon maintained or operated stormwater control systems, facilities, assets, services or activities that reduce the City 's cost of providing stormwater management services, systems and facilities. Credited Activities. The types of activities and infrastructure that communities award credit for varied greatly across the surveyed communities, but can be grouped into the following categories: runoff rate control, runoff volume reduction, runoff quality improvement, and “other”. “Other” credited activities included credit for the provision of large areas of green space or pervious surface, stormwater education, and credits or rebates for the installation of rain barrels (single family residential dwellings). In addition, some communities give credit to properties that discharge directly into a major receiving water body or did not discharge into the community’s stormwater utility infrastructure (direct discharge), either via overland flow, or via privately owned and maintained conveyance facilities. Typically “direct discharge” credit is not awarded to properties that discharge into a creek that subsequently runs through the municipality and/or to dischargers that do not meet the rate control and water quality requirements contained in local ordinances. Among the surveyed communities where information was available on credited activities, 56 percent gave credit for rate control, 33 percent for volume reduction, 89 percent for water quality improvement, 44 percent for direct discharge and 28 percent additional credit for other activities. Maximum Credit Value. Most communities we looked at capped the amount of credit allowed at a percentage of the total fee. Only five communities allowed property owners to off-set 100 percent of their stormwater utility charge, including the Cities of Eau Claire, River Falls and Wauwatosa, and the Villages of Bellevue and Lake Delton. For those communities that did set a cap, the maximum allowable credit ranged from 20 percent to 100 percent. The average maximi credit allowance was approximately 66 percent. ---PAGE BREAK--- Table 1: Wisconsin Community Stormwater Utility Credit Policies Credits? Credit Types Max Value Community 2004 Pop Date Est. ERU Size (sf) Annual ERU Charge* Single Family Non-Res. & Multi- Family Rate Volume Quality Other % Altoona (City) 6,469 N Y N Y Y Green Space 50% Appleton (City) 70,293 1995 2,368 $108.00 Unknown Y - - - - 77% Barron (City) 3,151 2005 10,850 $24.00 Unknown Y - - - - 75% Bellevue (Village) 14,386 2002 3,221 $48.00 Unknown Y - - - - 100% Beloit (City) 35,803 2006 3,347 $24.00 N Y N Y Y Zero Discharge; Education 90% Chippewa Falls (City) 13,374 2005 - $36.00 N Y N Y Y Green Space 75% Eau Claire (City) 62,576 1997 3,000 $47.00 Unknown Y - - - - 100% Fitchburg (City) 21,821 2002 3,700 $52.20 Y Y N Y Y Rain Barrels 50% Garner's Creek 1998 3,623 $96.00 Unknown Y - - - - 85% Grand Chute (Town) 20,036 1997 3,283 $48.00 Unknown Y - - - - 85% Grantsburg (Village) 1,397 2004 - $18.00 Unknown Y - - - - 75% Green Bay (City) 101,100 2004 3,000 $52.68 Unknown Y - - - - 67% Greenville (Town) 8,008 1999 4,200 $60.00 Unknown Y - - - - 85% Hobart (Village) 5,834 2007 4,000 $72.00 N Y N N Y - 50% Holmen (Village) 7,176 2007 3,550 $44.00 Y Y Y N N Zero Discharge 50% Janesville (City) 61,604 2003 3,200 $27.36 Unknown Y - - - - 65% Kenosha (City) 96,845 2007 2,447 $60.00 Groups only Y N Y Y - 30% Lake Delton (Village) 2,975 1993 1,685 $12.00 Unknown Y - - - - 100% Lancaster (City) 4,033 2008 3,400 $24.00 N Y Y N Y - 50% Menomonie (City) 15,318 2008 3,000 $32.00 N Y N Y Y - 20% Milwaukee (City) 597,000 2006 1,610 $82.20 Unknown Y - - - - 60% Monona (City) 8,000 2004 - $60.00 Unknown Y - - - - 65% Monroe (City) 10,600 2006 2,728 $60.00 N Y Y N Y Zero Discharge 50% New Richmond (City) 7,726 2005 12,632 $27.00 Unknown Y - - - - 75% Oshkosh (City) 63,515 2003 2,817 $48.88 Y Y Y N N Zero Discharge 40% Racine (City) 80,108 2004 2,760 $58.04 N Y N N Y Zero Discharge; <20% Impervious 45% Reedsburg (City) 8,594 2008 3,024 $46.00 N Y Y N Y - 50% River Falls (City) 13,019 1998 - $23.52 Unknown Y - - - - 100% Sun Prairie (City) 24,464 2003 3,468 $60.00 N Y Y N Y - 65% Superior (City) 26,947 2005 1,907 $70.80 N Y Y N Y Receiving Water 68.09% Wauwatosa (City) 45,602 1999 2,174 $42.00 Unknown Y - - - - 100% West Allis (City) 59,508 1997 1,827 $58.28 Unknown Y - - - - 56% Weston (Village) 12,736 2004 3,338 $47.80 Y Y Y N Y Zero Discharge 68% Whitewater (City) 13,967 2007 3,850 - N Y Y N Y - 50% Wisconsin Rapids (City) 18,500 - 2,620 - N Y Y N Y Zero Discharge 50% * ERU charges may not be current: last updated Feb 24, 2009