Carson to see new charge on water bills

Carson City residents will pay an extra $1.70 a month on their city water utility bill beginning March 1 after new storm-water service charges are added.

With the new fee, public properties will pay an additional $10.35, commercial customers another $15.50, and manufacturing businesses another $13.75.

The utility fee was adopted by the Board of Supervisors Thursday and will pay part of the cost to install a $20 million storm-water drainage program.

Plans have been forming to improve the city's drainage system since the 1997 New Year's flood. A Storm Drainage Advisory Committee met for four years to develop such a plan.

The drainage system would address flooding, maintenance of storm-water facilities built outside the freeway corridor as a result of an agreement with the state transportation department, and a new federal law that requires the city to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit for storm water to address water quality.

The business community and school district were not in favor of earlier proposals that charged higher fees based on how much land on each property was covered by buildings or asphalt.

The system is based on how much water runs off a property into the storm-water drains.

"This is very positive, the final resolution of this," said Mike Mitchell, director of operations for the Carson City school district. "We first saw it had huge ramifications to the school district that we could not afford."

Mayor Ray Masayko said the city intends to ask voters in November for an advisory vote of approval to add one-eighth of a percent to the city's sales tax to pay for and operate the system.

City officials would rely on results of the vote to advise them when they approach the state Legislature in 2005 to ask for the sales tax increase, Masayko said.

Funding a Storm Water Utility

To fund and operate a $20 million storm-water drainage program Carson residents will be asked if they are willing to increase sales tax by 1Ú8 of a percent.

A Storm Water Utility fee will be added to utility bills March 1.

n Residents will pay an additional $1.70 per month

n Public properties will pay $10.35

n Commercial customers will pay $15.50

n Manufacturing businesses will pay $13.75

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.