Have you ever looked closely at your city water bill? There are at least seven itemized charges, two of which have nothing to do with water, sewer or trash.
Every monthly bill has a $4 charge for “Envrmt Mgmt Prgm Fee” and a charge of several dollars (depending on your location) for “Stormwater Fee.” These two line items each generate about a million dollars per year for the city. Where does that money go?
The Environmental Management Fee funds the Sustainability and Environmental Management department. This department has five employees and monitors any asbestos that is found in city-owned buildings, monitors indoor air quality of city buildings and runs the Hazardous Products Center at the landfill. It also works on programs to reduce energy and reduce waste. It also handles the enforcement of litter violations, sidewalk shoveling and Adopt A Street.
This department will operate with $950,000 this year – all from the $4 monthly fee.
The Stormwater Department will receive $1.4 million from the stormwater fee on your water bill. This is used to build new stormwater structures (one-third); maintain stormwater structures (one-third) and administer stormwater programs (five employees).
Most city departments are funded from the General Fund. Those departments have to push and pull to get their funds from that limited pot of money. One of the concerns I have is that when a department such as Sustainability and Stormwater has its own funding source, will it find a way to use every dollar? Is there any incentive to cut expenditures? I recently suggested that ongoing forest maintenance could be funded from the Sustainability fees. We’ll see where that goes.
When you consider how much tax you pay in Flagstaff, keep the above fees in mind. When you compare our taxes with other cities, keep these fees in mind. FBN