Executive Rejecting Stormwater Bill, Asks for Reduced Fees

County Executive Laura Neuman said she will veto the stormwater bill that passed narrowly by the Anne Arundel County Council in a column issued to the media Thursday.

Neuman outlined her reasons for the veto in the column: She wrote that there has been public outcry to the legislation, referencing "hundreds of emails" sent to her asking her to veto the bill.

The bill sets into motion a fee that would be assessed through property tax bills. The rate varies per household type—$34 for owners of townhomes and condominiums, $85 for single-family homeowners, and $170 for rural area homes.

Neuman wrote in the column that more work needs to be done, and she is going to ask the council to revisit a new bill and reduce the fee's impact to taxpayers. She is also asking for supermajority support from the council this time around.

"I just can’t, in good conscience, sign a bill that will affect generations to come without ensuring that all of our stakeholders are fully educated about this law," Neuman wrote.

Read Neuman's full column on Anne Arundel County Patch.

The bill's co-sponsor, Councilman Chris Trumbauer (D-6th District), of Annapolis, said a veto would set back months of work by both the council and the county's Public Works Department. It may also cause the county to miss a state deadline of July 1 to have a policy in place to manage stormwater runoff, Trumbauer said.

Trumbauer, who has twice introduced stormwater legislation, stood behind the bill, which passed by a 4-3 vote on April 15.

If the bill is vetoed, Trumbauer said a new bill wouldn't be coming from him.

"I can't imagine any of us are looking at reopening that again," he said. "I would have been much more inclined to work on some modifications to (the bill). That would have been more productive than to veto it and cancel the work the council has done."

Trumbauer criticized Neuman's decision, calling it "a complete about-face" from what representatives from the county administration had indicated during several public hearings for the bill. 

"Every single amendment I introduced was in collaboration with the administration, and all the way down the line, we were told to 'pass the bill, pass the bill,'" Trumbauer said.

The councilman mentioned the possibility of a veto override, which would require a supermajority vote by the council—five of its seven members.

Read more of Patch's coverage of the stormwater management bill:

• New Stormwater Fee Funds Effort to Clean Streams by 2025
• New Stormwater Bill Continues to Evolve