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Storm Water Management Overview Lebanon Storm Water Management - 2016 Proposed Fee Increases
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Lebanon
Storm Water Management Overview
Overview
The Lebanon Storm Water Management Board voted unanimously on June 6, 2016, to approve a Storm Water Utility Rate Study by Donohue & Associates that proposes increases in the Storm Water Developed "user fee" that is included in each monthly Lebanon Utilities bill. The Lebanon City Council (together with Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry) will be asked to approve the fee increases at its July 11, 2016, meeting. NOTE: Please send an E-mail taxless3@comcast.net if you wish to receive a PDF copy of the Storm Water Utility Rate Study completed by Donohue & Associates.
The Rate Study reveals some bureaucratic growth plans of the Lebanon Storm Water Management Board that are, at best, “interesting” – and “alarming” at worst.
Prior to 2016, the SWMB contracted with Lebanon Utilities to use their
employees to help manage and deliver storm water services to the City of
Lebanon. The Lebanon Utilities salaries budgeted for 2014 by the SWMB were as
follows:
$32,400 Storm Sewer
$22,700 Administrative
$ 8,270 Billing
$ 6,000 Office
$69,370 TOTAL 2014 BUDGETED LEBANON UTILITIES SALARIES PAID BY SWMB
The SWMB voted at its November 10, 2015, meeting to contract for storm water
service employees with the Lebanon Street Department instead of Lebanon
Utilities. The SWMB also voted to directly hire a full-time Operations Manager
and provide him full city employee benefits together with a phone and office
inside the Street Department building on Lafayette Avenue, a laptop computer ,
and a $20,000 SUV with a city gas card. The SWMB salaries budgeted for 2016
(excluding the $5,000 paid to the three Board members and the $12,000 paid to
the Board attorney) include the following:
$53,600 Full-Time Operations Manager
$ 6,000 Lebanon Highway Department Secretary
$59,600 TOTAL 2016 BUDGETED SWMB SALARIES
The Rate Study proposes that the SWMB directly hire
two new full-time laborers and a new part-time storm water inspector
in addition to the full-time Operations Manager. The proposed 2017 SWMB budgeted
salaries (excluding $5,150 for the three Board members and $12,360 for the Board
attorney) includes the following:
$ 61,800 Full-Time Operations Manager
$ 6,180 Lebanon Highway Department Secretary
$103,000 Two Full-Time Laborers
$ 25,750 Part-Time Storm Water Inspector
$196,730 TOTAL 2017 PROPOSED SWMB SALARIES
In addition to the three new employees, the proposed 2017 SWMB budget also includes debt service for two bond issues to pay for two new buildings. The proceeds from a five-year bond would be used to construct a new $50,000 storage building to store tools and materials. A second ten-year $500,000 bond would be used to construct a new office and garage building.
Proposed Storm Water Developed Fee Increases
To pay for the three new employees and two new buildings, the Rate Study
proposes that the Storm Water Developed "user
fee" included on the monthly bills from Lebanon Utilities be increased
to $5.25 per month in 2017 and to $5.50 per month in 2018 through 2022. The fee
is used to fund capital improvements, operations and maintenance, administrative
services, field inspections, and regulatory compliance. The fee was first
effective January 1, 2008, and began at a rate of $3.00 per month for a single
family dwelling. This rate increased by $0.25 each year until the rate reached
its approved maximum of $5.00 per month this year. Each non-residential property
is billed according to the amount of impervious area for the parcel of land with
a minimum billing of two Equivalent Residential Units (one ERU is equal to 3,000
square feet). The annual Lebanon Storm Water Developed Fees for single family
dwellings were as follows (for inflation percentages see http://www.finplaneducation.net/consumer_price_index.htm):
2007: none
2008: $3.00 per month
2009: $3.25 per month (8.3 percent increase versus 0.4 percent inflation decrease)
2010: $3.50 per month (7.7 percent increase versus 1.6 percent inflation
increase)
2011: $3.75 per month (7.1 percent increase versus 3.2 percent inflation
increase)
2012: $4.00 per month (6.7 percent increase versus 2.1 percent inflation
increase)
2013: $4.25 per month (6.3 percent increase versus 1.5 percent inflation
increase)
2014: $4.50 per month (5.9 percent increase versus 1.6 percent inflation
increase)
2015: $4.75 per month (5.6 percent increase versus 0.1 percent inflation
increase)
2016: $5.00 per month (5.3 percent increase)
2017: $5.25 per month PROPOSED (5.0 percent
increase)
2018-2022: $5.50 per month PROPOSED (4.8
percent increase)
The Lebanon Storm Water Developed Fee would NOT have to be increased if the SWMB did not hire three new employees and erect two new buildings
because the SWMB annual budgets would not have to include (a) the salaries of the two new full-time laborers, (b) the salary of the new part-time storm water inspector, (c) the utility costs for the two new buildings, (d) $11,295 debt service for the $50,000 storage building bond issue, and (e) $62,261 debt service for the $500,000 office and garage building bond issue. Assuming the data in the Rate Study is accurate (some revenue estimates appear to be too low because of miscalculations), the future annual net incomes would be as follows if the SWMB did NOT expand its bureaucracy and kept the Storm Water Developed Fee at $5.00 per month:Starting with $126,113 in 2017, costs for cleaning and televising the existing storm water infrastructure are included for the first time in a specific line item of the SWMB budget. This work is considered integral to the continuing functionality of the infrastructure and identification of where maintenance is needed. To clean and televise the entire system every 10 years, 32,211 linear feet of pipe and 391 structures must be cleaned and televised each year. If needed, the net income from keeping the Storm Water Developed Fee at $5.00 per month (by NOT hiring three new employees and erecting two new buildings) can be used to help hire contractors to clean and televise the storm water system. Also, reduced vehicle maintenance expenses can be used to help hire the contractors – all of the $10,000+ included in future budgets for vehicle maintenance will not be needed if three new employees are not hired and given city vehicles.
It will be most interesting to see if the Lebanon City Council – and Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry – approve unneeded Lebanon Storm Water Developed Fee increases to grow the SWMB bureaucracy!
Storm Water Rates Comparison
The following charts shows that, as of June 2016, Lebanon’s current storm water rates are already in line with the rates in the surrounding communities before any rate increases:
Source: June 2016 "Storm Water Utility Rate Study" by Donohue & Associates, Inc.
Lebanon Storm Water Management Board "Missteps"
The SWMB desire for a considerable bureaucracy expansion might not be so alarming if there were not so many recent SWMB “missteps.”
The SWMB adopted a Resolution on September 24, 2012, to issue a $2,000,000 bond for storm water facilities improvements on North Meridian Street – this mismanaged project was not completed on time and $2,736,723 was actually spent (a 37 percent cost overrun).
A 2013 SWMB bond was issued for $2,000,000 to pay for storm water facilities improvements on North East Street, but estimated costs have now sored to $3,000,000 and the construction date for the project will not be until 2018.
Christopher Burke Engineering was awarded a $143,000 no-bid SWMB contract to design a build-it-and-they-will-come upper sanitary ditch detention pond outside the Lebanon Business Park with no development partner identified to cover the cost.
A costly new Operations Manager was hired April 2016 who does not have a storm sewer background – the new Operation Manager was a Lebanon Highway Department mechanic and foreman.
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Storm Water Management Overview
This page was last updated on 06/25/16 .