§ 32-185. Storm drainage fee.

(a)

User fee established. The City of Manhattan, Kansas ("the city") shall assess against all residential and nonresidential properties within the city limits a monthly fee for use of its stormwater management system. The owner, occupant and any person who is responsible for the payment of water and/or sewer service to the property shall all be jointly and severally responsible for the payment of said fee. Persons responsible for the payment of water and/or sewer service to the property shall include the person responsible for payment for water provided to a master meter that is then distributed to multiple users, whether or not said users are located on the same property as the master meter. The fee shall be calculated as follows:

(1)

Equivalent residential unit. The equivalent residential unit ("ERU") is hereby established for purposes of calculating the stormwater utility user fee. The ERU is hereby established to be 3,625 square feet of impervious area.

(2)

User fee for residential property. The ERU rate for residential property shall be $5.82 per month (the "residential ERU rate"). The stormwater management system user fee for residential property shall be the residential ERU rate multiplied by the number of individual dwelling units existing on the property. The term "residential" shall include single-family homes, mobile homes and mobile home parks, duplexes and apartment units. The term "residential" shall not include rooming and boarding houses, fraternities, sororities and similar facilities. The term "living unit" shall mean one or more rooms in a residential building which are arranged, designed, used or intended for use by one family, and which includes cooking space and lawful sanitary facilities reserved for the occupants thereof.

(3)

User fee for nonresidential property. The ERU rate for nonresidential property shall be $4.65 per month (the "nonresidential ERU rate"). The stormwater management system user fee for all property which is not residential shall be the nonresidential ERU rate multiplied by a numerical factor calculated by dividing the total impervious area of the property by the number of square feet in one ERU, then rounding up to the nearest whole number.

(4)

Determining the area of property developed for a particular use. The area measured shall include all property contiguous to the particular use, and under the same ownership, except that portion of said property that is both unimproved and legally subject to being subdivided from that portion actually devoted to the primary use. In situations where property is used in common with more than one use, the common area shall be included with each use in the same proportions as the area of each use bears to the area of the total of all uses. In situations where property is devoted to uses on more than one level, the area of the property shall be proportionately divided among the levels.

(b)

The revenue generated by this fee shall be set aside in a special fund to be used only for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of stormwater system facilities, including the acquisition, and related costs thereof, of real estate for such use. In addition, said fund may be used to pay fees to study and prepare documents related to such facilities, and to make payments of principal and interest on bonds issued for such improvements. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to limit or restrict the city's ability to use and obtain other sources of funds for the same or similar purposes.

(c)

The monthly fees set forth above may be included as part of the monthly bill for water and sanitary sewer service, but shall be identified separately on said billing, said fees shall be due at the same time as water charges are due and the failure to pay said fees shall be considered a failure to pay water charges and enforceable pursuant to section 32-51 of this Code. If the monthly fees are not included as part of a water or sewer bill, they shall be billed at least annually. In addition, any time water service is established, or re-established, to a property, all fees hereunder shall be paid current, as of the date such water service is established, or re-established.

(d)

(1)

Any person who disagrees with the calculation of their storm drainage fee or, who believes that the actual amount of impervious area located upon their property justifies a reduction in the square footage of their property used to calculate the fee, in order to make their fee consistent with other uses with a similar amount of impervious area, may appeal the determination of their fee to the city engineer. The appeal shall be in writing. The city engineer shall thereafter hold an informal hearing. The city engineer, prior to such hearing, may request that the appealing party provide information concerning the basis of the appeal, including a land survey showing dwelling units, total property area, and impervious area, as appropriate, if such information is deemed to be material by the city engineer. Based upon information provided, the city engineer shall make a determination of the storm drainage fee for such property. The city engineer shall notify parties in writing of his/her decision.

(2)

A person shall have the right to appeal the decision of the city engineer to a board comprised of the city manager, or his designee, the director of public works, and the director of community development. Such appeal shall be made within 15 days of the date of the written decision of the city engineer. Such appeal shall be in writing and filed with the city engineer. A hearing on such appeal shall be held within 30 days from the date of filing and the applicant shall be given seven days' advance notice of the time and date of such hearing. Within seven days after the conclusion of such hearing, the board shall render a decision in writing that sets forth findings that support its decision. The decision of the board shall be final and any further appeal of such decision shall be to the district court pursuant to K.S.A. 60-2101(d).

(Char. Ord. No. 31, § 7, 12-17-96; Char. Ord. No. 43, § 2, 12-5-06; Char. Ord. No. 47, § 2, 8-18-09; Char. Ord. No. 48, § 2, 8-24-10; Char. Ord. No. 50, § 2, 8-16-11; Char. Ord. No. 51, § 2, 8-21-12; Char. Ord. No. 52, § 2, 8-20-13; Char. Ord. No. 54, § 2, 8-19-14; Char. Ord. No. 55, § 2, 10-6-15; Char. Ord. No. 56, § 2, 9-20-16; Char. Ord. No. 57, § 4, 12-19-17; Ord. No. 7344, § 1, 3-6-18; Ord. No. 7392, § 1, 12-18-18)