Marion City Council to Decide on Storm Water Utility on Tuesday

The Marion City Council will be voting during Tuesday's 4 p.m. work session on a revised plan to the storm-water utility fee revision that raised of business owners months ago.

Under the revised plan, owners of residential properties will be charged a flat rate total of $4.80 — that's a combination of the utility fee and a service fee.

But the controversy surrounds the at times dramatic increase in cost for commercial property owners.

The current fee charges a flat rate to businesses, while the new one charges based on the size of commercial businesses relative to the average size of a residential property, which is 2,791 square feet, according to the Marion Times.

That amount is called an equivalent residential unit, or ERU. Businesses would be charged a multiple of $4.80 for each ERU that their business takes up. 

That means for larger facilities pay much more. For example, the would pay $1,000 monthly.

Credits will be offered to businesses that comply with more advanced storm-water regulations, which can take off 65 percent of the bill, at most.

Lon Pluckhahn, Marion's City Manager, has said in the past that the the new proportional rate for businesses is meant to encourage commercial property owners, who may, depending on the business, have a much larger impact on Marion's storm drain system, to control their runoff.

Stay tuned tomorrow for coverage of the vote.