Intro
[This excellent article from the Annapolis Capital Gazette of 16 December 2007, does a good job of illustrating the buck-passing and denial that afflicts those who oppose a stormwater fee. One key finding is that the cost to restore water quality in the 531 miles of Anne Arundel County shoreline is roughly estimated at $5 billion (with a "b").
To be honest, that $5 billion is a cost that will be borne by homeowners upgrading their own properties, new requirements on developers, and retrofitting and repair of public infrastructures, estimated alone at a "$1.3 billion backlog of damaged streams and rivers." The biggest estimate for any actual county remediation effort under any of the proposals discussed to date has been $30 million ("m")/year. Let's see: 30 million goes into 1.3 BILLION 43 times; so that would only take FORTY-THREE years to repair the existing damages, always assuming no further deterioration or natural disasters. So maybe our great grandchildren could go wading without having to wear a hazmat suit.
Two final points: A voluntary, "opt-in" fee system is really dumb -- as the article points out: On average last year, all Maryland taxpayers from the entire state who voluntarily donated to the Chesapeake Bay Trust gave $26 to the effort. But only 2 percent of taxpayers chose to contribute. "The total revenue for last year for this "opt-in fee for the Bay was a record $1.2 million ("m")."
The second point is the whining about the lack of funds for other public purposes, such as schools. The "cap" on tax revenues is purely an arbitrary, artificial limit made up by right-wing ideologues to stifle the ability of government to meet legitimate public needs. This is a strategy that has been endorsed by all right wing groups since the tax limits of Proposition 13 were used to successfully kneecap state and local government in California since the 1970's. (In 25 years, the California state university system went from being one of the top three in the USA, to the bottom of the list--#46, to be precise.)
The fact is that Maryland is one of the richest states in terms of per-capita income in the United States, and its payments for state services are amongst the lowest. As populations and population densities increase, especially in fragile and economically critical environments like the fringes of the Chesapeake Bay, increased public protections by regulation and government infrastructure are essential, regardless of what the knee jerk right wing parroting of the Five-to-Remember says.
[The Five-to-Remember are Daryl Jones, Ed Middlebrook, Ed Reilly, Cathy Vitale, and John Leopold.]
Who Will Pay
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Capital File Photo A sediment plume flows out of Church Creek into the South River following a March storm. Sediment clouds the water, blocking light needed for underwater grasses and coating oysters and clams on the bottom. It also fills in navigation channels and creeks. |
No solution in sight as politicians continue to debate stormwater fees
By PAMELA WOOD and ERIN COX Staff Writers
Published December 16, 2007
A cavalcade of residents crowded into the County Council chambers two weeks ago and testified in desperate voices of the need to help the Chesapeake Bay.
Although they left deflated when the council voted down a plan to raise $11 million a year to combat the subtle but toxic effects of stormwater runoff, the debate is here to stay.A diverse chorus of voices, divided on how to raise funds to fix the problem, have pledged to forge a compromise. County Executive John R. Leopold said he wanted a new proposal by tomorrow night, but the closed-door meetings have yet to produce a unified plan to solve the problem - one that communities across the country face.
“Every watershed, every body of water - be it fresh water or an ocean - are all under assault. Water quality is declining everywhere. It’s the result of development and failing infrastructure,” said Lisa Grayons-Zygmunt with the University of Maryland’s Environmental Finance Center. “It’s all converging to a point where we’re struggling and not really succeeding, and in some degrees, not even maintaining status quo.”
The issue gained momentum this fall when Mr. Leopold introduced a bill to charge new development a fee to raise $5 million for stormwater fixes. The County Council changed the bill to charge more people and generate more money, but neither plan passed.
Despite the failures, politicians have come to agree that something needs to be done to address the county’s $1.3 billion backlog of damaged streams and rivers plus outdated stormwater controls.
“The backlog is so huge that we’re not going to make meaningful progress with the drips and drops from the operating budget,” said Councilman Josh Cohen, adding there’s one message all the politicians have heard from constituents: “They expect their leaders to come up with some plans instead of digging in their heels.”
The problem
Government officials aim to improve stormwater control and restore streams not only because they want to - but also because they have to. Like all cities and counties, Anne Arundel holds a federal discharge permit that requires the county to monitor and improve its stormwater systems.
The county also aims to improve controlling stormwater, because it is a key source of the “big three” pollutants that throw the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem out of whack - nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
None of the county’s watersheds meet federal Clean Water Act standards for these and other pollutants.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients that fuel excessive algae growth, which blocks light from reaching underwater grasses. When the algae die, they suck life-sustaining oxygen from the water.
Sediment - another word for dirt - clouds the water, blocking light needed for underwater grasses, and coating oysters and clams on the bottom. It also fills in navigation channels and creeks.
According to the state government, urban and suburban sources - mainly runoff - are the No. 1 or No. 2 source of the three pollutants in this area.
The destructive process is this: When it rains, the rainwater rushes along rooftops, sidewalks and driveways and goes straight into small neighborhood streams.
“Before you have the development, when you still have vegetated lands, when it rains the water infiltrates the soil and soaks into the ground,” said Dr. Margaret Palmer, a stream scientist and director of the Chesapeake Biological Lab of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
When there’s a lot of pavement and uncontrolled runoff, “it rushes down and gets to the stream quickly,” Dr. Palmer said.
All of the excess nutrients, sediment and other toxic substances - oil, grease, chemicals - are carried from the streams to rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
Health concerns
While stormwater has a clear link to the health of the environment, there is less evidence of an effect on human health.
Residents gave impassioned testimony at public hearings, with stories of people falling ill after swimming or working in local bodies of water.
But the disturbing stories of nasty flesh wounds and even death due to vibrio vulnificus infections don’t have a concrete link to stormwater, said Frances B. Phillips, the county’s health officer.
“It’s always there and what happens is it proliferates, not because of sewage runoff or stormwater runoff. It proliferates because water temperature rises,” Ms. Phillips said.
Ms. Phillips said stormwater does send bacteria into the water that can cause stomach sickness and ear infections. County health workers monitor beaches in the summer and issue a blanket warning against swimming in creeks and rivers within 48 hours of a rainfall.
Costs of the problem
County engineers have estimated fixing every single source of stormwater pollution in the county would cost $5 billion.
The University of Maryland’s Dr. Palmer said it would be impossible to redo all of the stormwater controls systems in the county. It’s not practical to put in new stormwater holding ponds or extensive rain gardens in tightly-packed places like Annapolis and Glen Burnie.
Rather, she said new development can be required to use the most modern stormwater controls, something state and local governments are working toward. And in existing communities, the streams can be reworked to better handle the rush of stormwater.
“What you need to do is focus on restoring streams and restoring them in a way that they can treat the stormwater,” Dr. Palmer said.
The county Department of Public Works has completed a handful of these projects, which involve creating marshy areas to slow and absorb water, while gently directing it into the stream, sometimes through a series of pools or ponds.
Dr. Palmer’s staff is evaluating the county’s stream restorations to see how well they work. Preliminary evidence shows the stream projects can reduce nutrients and sediment.
Stream restorations don’t come cheap - an acclaimed project to restore a stream in Wilelinor near Annapolis, for example, cost $1.2 million in state and county funds.
Political division
Few, if any, politicians argue that nothing needs to be done to fix the ailing waterways. But the enormous cost presents a simple political obstacle to forming consensus: how do you determine who should pay for it and how much should they pay?
“On one side, you have a contingency of people both elected and not elected who believe that a stormwater fee is tantamount to a tax,” said Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville. “On the other, you have a contingency of people, both elected and not elected, who believe that whatever you call it, it’s the most honest and fair way to fix what everyone agrees is a problem.”
Mr. Benoit backed a failed bill to charge all residents $30 a year with Mr. Cohen, D-Annapolis and Councilman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena.
Politicians looked to a new fee because the county has a cap that limits how much the money it can collect in property taxes each year, and that pool must fund public safety, schools and all other county needs.
Councilman Ed Reilly, R-Crofton, also prefers a fee, but only on new development. An across-the-board tax would violate the intent of tax cap, he said. County residents are paying $21 each for existing stormwater programs.
“As a matter of public policy, Mr. Leopold and most on the council have embraced the concept of living within the tax-capped revenue that we receive,” Mr. Reilly said.
Striking compromise
The negotiations between both sides are going on behind closed doors. Business leaders, environmentalists, homebuilders, community leaders, Mr. Leopold’s office, and the three councilmen who supported the all-payer system have not yet come to an agreement.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Mr. Cohen said. He expects some sort of bill to be ready in January.
Mr. Leopold said that it may take even longer.
“Having worked as a legislator for 30 years, I know that consensus … can be elusive,” Mr. Leopold said.
The solution may include the myriad of options already proposed: charging new development, charging businesses, taxing every resident, or creating a system where residents could voluntarily contribute to stormwater efforts.
The last piece may not raise the amount of money necessary to combat the problem.
By comparison, the state gives residents an opportunity to contribute to the Chesapeake Bay Trust when filing tax returns. On average last year, people who donated gave $26 to the effort. But only 2 percent of taxpayers chose to contribute. The total tally for last year was a record $1.2 million, according to the state comptroller’s office.
Dan Nataf, a political science professor and director of the Center for Local Issues at the Anne Arundel Community College, said constructing an external fee raises questions about how to address other chronically underfunded concerns, such as the $1.5 billion backlog of school repairs.
“Why should stormwater management get it’s own fund? Why not have a set aside for schools, which is important to more people?”
The point is not lost on Mr. Reilly, who said this is one of the few ways the County Council can direct public policy and funnel significant amounts of money to specific needs.
“Should we have a stormwater fee? A road and bridges fee? A fill-in-the-blank fee? Those are valid questions,” Mr. Reilly said, later adding “We all knows there’s a problem, the discussion is how are we going to pay for it.”
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