Some citizens have been asking – where exactly will be the revenues be going from the new environmental fee that will be charged in early 2016?

The environmental fee was established by the Town Council to help cover the costs of administering the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit (MS4) required by the federal government.

These are mandated requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Clean Water Act and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Activities the town must fund related to this permit may include street sweeping, storm drain and culvert inspection/cleaning, drainage parcel inspection, on-call storm debris clean-up, household hazardous waste collection, wash maintenance, Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) dam maintenance and inspection, illegal dumping costs, ADEQ storm water permits and costs, water discharge permits for use of effluent and Maricopa County Dust Control permit and costs.

Within the town’s 22 square miles there are 73,200 linear feet of storm drains, culverts and channels, 1.9 million lineal feet of curb and gutter and 177 miles of streets.

Also, 407 catch basins with 25 inspected annually, 700 acres of town-owned washes and six town-owned dams.

The town reported that over the past five years it spent nearly $1.2 million in costs related to the above requirements for storm water management.

The $3 monthly fee from an estimated 13,000 parcels would fund approximately 95 percent of the associated environmental costs.

Without the fee the town would need to continue working within its General Fund budget at the expense of other programs and needs.

The town has budgeted $639,241 in its new Environmental Fund for the fiscal year 2015-16 budget.

Officials are hoping to raise $540,000 from the annual fee.