Knowledge Base

ORDINANCE NO.5-2016

AN ORDINANCE TO LEVY STORM WATER FEES ON PARCELS OF PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF MONTGOMERY

Effective January 2016, the Montgomery City Council passed an Ordinance that added a storm water fee to all property tax bills. The fee was added to all parcels of land within the City limits of Montgomery.

The rates are set at:

• A flat 10 dollars for all single-family, owner-occupied, residential properties, designated as Land Use Class III in the Montgomery County tax records.
• All other parcels in the City are classified as commercial property and designated as Land Use Class II in the Montgomery County tax records. The Class II rate is set at a ½ cent per square foot of heated and cooled space, as recorded in the Montgomery County tax records.

The City does not set the Land Use designation or record the building square footage, and does not calculate the Storm Water Fee on your property tax bill. The records are kept and the calculations are done by the Montgomery County Tax Assessor and Montgomery County Revenue Commissioner.  Please contact the Montgomery County Tax Assessor’s office regarding any corrections and/or updates to your county tax records.

On your Montgomery County Property Tax Notice, the Stormwater Management Program Fund (“Fund”) is the line item listed as ‘FEES’. All of the monies collected are dedicated to the Stormwater Fund and may only be used for that purpose.

This Fund is used by the City to meet State and Federal requirements under the Federal Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act requires the City to reduce pollutants in storm drain systems that flow into our local streams and creeks and then released to the Alabama River.

The Fund is restricted per the State Law to such programs that include “only those rules, regulations, and/or aspects that are required to satisfy the Clean Water Act, as specifically set out in the Code of Federal Regulations.”

The City is allowed under this funding mechanism to; “construct, operate, maintain, repair, and replace facilities for storm water functions.”