Cobb postpones action on proposed stormwater fee indefinitely

July 11, 2024

After months of heated public meetings and controversial public comments on a proposed sewer fee, the Cobb Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday to postpone deliberations on the measure indefinitely.

Commissioners voted unanimously (5-0) to hold off on imposing a fee based on the amount of impervious surface after failing to reach consensus on such a proposal, which would have required changes to building codes.

The whiteboard voted in March to postpone reconsideration of the matter until Augustand had publicly announced public hearings for August 11 and 27, with a possible trial on the latter date.

But during a brief discussion on Tuesday, commission chair Lisa Cupid acknowledged that there was great disagreement within the board on the issue.

“We were close to proposing this in August, but there are some minor details that we still need to reach consensus on,” she said before the vote, without specifying what those details might be.

“It is very important that we take care of our infrastructure, and that includes our water infrastructure.”

She had brought the case for a fee, stating that Cobb County’s water system currently lacks adequate resources and personnel to deal with stormwater problems.

The fee would have changed the way customers are billed for stormwater disposal services, which are currently billed based on their water usage.

The other two Democrats on the commission supported such a change in principle, saying Cobb could not handle stormwater management with the $8.4 million currently allocated annually in the water system’s budget.

The committee’s two Republicans, including JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb, opposed the proposal.

She held a town hall meeting about the proposal for a stormwater runoff fee, and the meeting was filled with citizens protesting against what they condemned as a “rain tax.”

But those three Democratic-held seats are up for re-election this year. Cupid and Fourth District Commissioner Monique Sheffield are seeking re-election (the latter is unopposed in November).

Second District County Commissioner Jerica Richardson of East Cobb is resigning after just one term, with a redistricting dispute still pending in court and an unsuccessful run for U.S. Congress.

The parliamentary elections on 5 November will also include a referendum on a transport tax, which would introduce a one percent value added tax for 30 years and has met with some public opposition.

The vote on whether to include this referendum in the ballot was also split 3-2 along the same party lines.

The stormwater fee proposal, developed by the Cobb Water System, proposed a fee schedule ranging from $2 to $12 per month for most residential customers in addition to their existing water and sewer rates.

The request to postpone the measure was on the Commissioners’ consent agenda but was moved to the regular agenda.

Birrell asked how it could reappear.

“They could be presented to the board in the future if the board so directs,” said Judy Jones, director of the Cobb Water System.

“But there is no target date to address this issue. Unfortunately, we could not agree.”

Sheffield thanked Jones for her agency’s work in developing a comprehensive approach to meeting long-term stormwater needs.

Jones said: “We have invested a lot of time here in the office and our employees have invested a lot of time as well.”

Cupid told her colleagues that additional funding for stormwater disposal could be made available in the upcoming fiscal year 2025, which is due to be passed later this month, because “there will be a need to allocate funds for stormwater disposal, and we need to figure out how.”

But regarding the postponement of the measure, Cupid said: “This was a wise decision. It is important that we have consensus on the board to move forward.”

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