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Most Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority stormwater fee payers will be able to resolve questions and discrepancies about their calculations without the need for a formal appeal at an additional charge, authority stormwater division manager Jeff Colella stressed Monday.
Many fee payers are mistakenly under the impression a formal appeal is necessary right off the bat, he said.
“The first step if there is a problem is a free review,” he said, estimating 90 percent of cases won’t require formal appeals.
The fee stems from the authority’s agreement to handle a federal Susquehanna River pollution reduction mandate on behalf of 32 municipalities that requires less sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus washed into the Chesapeake Bay over the next five years.
He advises fee payers with issues to start by calling the authority business office at (570) 820-9872, although the authority has cautioned there may be delays due to a significant call volume increase.
Approximately 15 workers are responding to phone inquiries during business hours, with the option to leave a voice message nights and weekends, he said.
Computer users can print and send a copy of the stormwater inspection form, which is on page 26 of the stormwater rules and regulations at www.wvsa.org. These forms can be emailed to Colella or authority public relations/regulatory liaison Donna Gillis or mailed to the authority business office, 179 S. Wyoming Ave., Kingston. The zip code is 18704.
According to the rules/regulations:
Any property owner believing the fee has been applied in error may request an onsite inspection to verify the impervious area (IA), which is the square footage of paved sidewalks and driveways and building footprints used as a basis for the fee.
The inspector will review the billing questions and determine if the information provided by the owner is reason to adjust the calculation.
Property owners must be notified of the result by mail or email — the owner selects the format — within 90 days of the inspection.
Colella noted any corrections and changes will be applied retroactively to Jan. 1.
While the billing tiers were specified, the authority did not provide fee payers with their impervious area square footage, which means property owners are forced to contact the agency for that information.
“This will just take time to work through. If someone is just asking for their impervious area, we can give it over the phone,” Colella said.
He acknowledged several property owners have pointed out discrepancies that must be reviewed by inspectors.
“There are some people with legitimate issues we’re trying to resolve. It literally is a case-by-case basis,” he said.
As one property owner pointed out Monday, square footage alterations may not yield reductions for residential property owners because most — 66,250 — are in a broad category known as “tier two” for impervious areas ranging from 500 to 6,999 square feet. These property owners pay $4.80 per month.
The monthly fee is $1 for 2,600 “tier one” parcels with an IA ranging from 100 to 499 square feet and $1.70 for each 1,000 square foot of IA for 8,400 mostly commercial and industrial properties with IAs of 7,000 square feet or more.
Property owners who are dissatisfied with the results of their review and opt for formal appeals will have to pay a $25 appeal fee if they are in the first two tiers. Larger tier three properties must pay $250 to appeal and deposit $1,000 or 10 percent of their annual bill — whichever is higher — into an escrow to cover the costs of engineering, legal, testing and administrative expenses to process the appeal.
Bills for tier three commercial and industrial properties are set to be mailed in mid-January, the authority said.
Back Mountain mailing
Bills were mailed Friday to property owners in three Back Mountain municipalities — Dallas borough and Dallas and Kingston townships — that selected the Dallas Area Municipality Authority, or DAMA, to handle their stormwater compliance.
DAMA opted for a temporary flat stormwater fee in 2019, with plans to calculate impervious areas in time for the 2020 fee, said Thomas Mayka, the authority’s stormwater coordinator.
In 2019, property owners in the three municipalities will be charged a stormwater fee of $60 a year for each “equivalent dwelling unit,” or EDU.
Most residential properties have one EDU, which means they will pay $60 more for the year. Commercial properties typically have more than one EDU.
The stormwater fee will be listed separately for existing authority customers and mailed individually to property owners who do not receive authority sewer or trash bills, authority representatives said.
Mayka has estimated 6,600 to 6,900 properties in the three municipalities will be charged the fee, including schools, churches and nonprofits.