A new study calls creating a utility to raise more than $25 million over a ten year period to pay for maintaining and upgrading the stormwater drainage system in Salisbury.
The city council is set to hear a presentation by University of Maryland researchers.
Instead of property owners footing the bill the proposal would provide for a dedicated funding source to ensure that badly needed projects no longer experience delays in getting financing.
Joane Throwe, director the university’s Environmental Finance Center and lead author of the report, says much of the state’s infrastructure has been neglected because there wasn’t a dedicated source of funding.
The report suggests charging a flat fee of $40 for each residential property for the first four years.
For the next five to seven years it would be $45 and finally in the eighth year $50.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that Mayor Jim Ireton says he wants the council adopt a $20 annual fee for homes.
If approved, the fees would begin Jan. 1, 2015, and generate about $500,000 for the remaining six months of that fiscal year.
