Residents and other property owners will begin receiving a bill from the town in the form of an “environmental fee” to help offset costs of mandated programs and standards.

On a split 4-3 vote, the council Nov. 20 approved a fee of $3 per month to be billed twice a year.

Councilmembers Tait Elkie, Cassie Hansen, Dennis Brown and Ginny Dickey voted for the measure, while opposing it were Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Vice Mayor Cecil Yates and Councilman Henry Leger.

The extra revenue will cover such costs as street sweeping, household hazardous waste collection and wash maintenance as well as numerous other tasks.

“I’m not in favor of this tax,” Kavanagh said. “We just passed the Saguaro bond adding a property tax, the school override was approved (this does not add to the existing school taxes).

“People are still struggling with the economy; they don’t need the extra burden of another tax.

“I don’t want to pass a tax people won’t have the opportunity to vote on.”

“I don’t think we can debate we need some revenue,” Yates said. “I don’t believe this is the right tool to generate the revenue.

“Citizens did support the Saguaro bond, maybe it’s time to debate a possible property tax, I feel this is a piecemeal approach.”

“I’m not in favor of taxes,” Leger said. “But we have gotten to the point where we need to do something.

“I have some issues with this particular plan.”

Leger added that it would take a small increase in sales taxes to generate the same revenue.

Councilman Dennis Brown was the strongest advocate in support of the fee.

“You have to pay your way to get ahead,” Brown said. “You can’t expect the town to continue to take from the General Fund for storm clean-up. It’s money we don’t have.

“Wash maintenance is the biggest item. Let’s watch what happens when a spark ignites a wash in a strong wind.

“I like Fountain Hills and I’m going to pay my own way.”

“We have a responsibility as a town to take care of our budget,” Elkie said. “We have a responsibility to keep the town safe. We get squeezed by the state and federal governments so we are receiving less revenue.”

Dickey noted that work is falling behind.

“We have not proactively cleaned our storm drains and have a lot of catching up to do,” she said.

“In the past everyone paid property taxes on streets and for fire service. It is unrealistic to continue without a long-term structure.”

Hansen said the time has come.

“Over the years most of us have opposed taxes, but every year at budget time we discuss how we are going to pay,” Hansen said. “It’s time we need to bite the bullet and say we need some help.

“I don’t like this either, it’s just reality.”

Town Manager Ken Buchanan said the town is subject to what is called an MS4 Permit (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer) under the federal Clean Water Act. The town’s current permit expires in June 2015.

Buchanan said staff is currently working with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on the terms of a new permit.

That permit will come with additional responsibilities and more costs to the town.

The current list of responsibilities range from public education to runoff control, street sweeping, household hazardous waste collection and wash maintenance as well as numerous other tasks.

Buchanan outlined the infrastructure the town is responsible for including 73,200 feet of storm drain, 1.9 million linear feet of curb and gutter, 177 miles of streets to be swept.

Sweeping is required every two months on residential streets and once every three weeks on arterial streets.

There are 407 catch basins to be inspected, 700 acres of town-owned wash property and six town-owned dams designated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

During the five-year period from 2008 to 2014 the town spent $1.2 million administering the environmental programs, and these expenses have not kept up to date with proper maintenance, Buchanan said.

The staff proposal calls for a $3 per month fee on each of 13,000 parcels of land in Fountain Hills. That fee would generate $468,000 annually for the environmental projects, funding about 95 percent of the programs.

The fee will include commercial parcels in the town, however, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire said state law does not allow the town to charge any more for larger parcels that may contribute more to storm water runoff.

Buchanan said efforts to work with other entities, including the Sanitary District, Chaparral City Water and Republic Services, in the billing process have proven unfeasible and he proposes the town establish its own billing system.

He said that would require a one-time cost of $80,000 and about $20,000 annually to administer the program.

Buchanan is proposing that the fee be billed semi-annually at $18 every six months.