CC Resolution No. 18-040 Approving the Renewal and Collection of the Existing Storm Drain Fees at No Increase in Rates for Fiscal Year 2018-2019RESOLUTION NO. 18-040
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO
APPROVING THE RENEW AL AND COLLECTION OF THE EXISTING
STORM DRAIN FEES AT NO INCREASE IN RATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018-2019
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino enacted Municipal Code Chapter 3.36 in
part to meet the City's federally mandated Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Management Program
and establishing the authority for imposing and charging a storm drainage service charge; and
WHEREAS, a report entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of Fees for Storm Drainage
Purposes Nonpoint Source Pollution Program (Exhibit A)," concerning the method of assessing an
environmental fee to fund the City's Stormwater Management Program was prepared by the Director of
Public Works pursuant to Section 3.36.080(B) of the City's Municipal Code and filed with the City Clerk
on April 12, 2018; and
WHEREAS, the report, filed with the City Clerk was available for public inspection and review
twenty (20) days prior to this public hearing; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino finds and determines as follows:
1. After considering the report entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of Fees for Storm
Drainage Purposes Nonpoint Source Pollution Program" and the testimony received at this public
hearing, the City Council hereby approves the report and herein incorporates it in the resolution.
2. There is a need in the City to continue collecting a storm drainage service charge to cover
the costs of the federally mandated program as heretofore described, in that properties within the City
will not otherwise contribute a portion of costs toward this program and without the availability of such
storm drainage service charge, the City's general fund will eventually be negatively impacted in such a
manner as to jeopardize other essential services.
3. The facts and evidence presented establish that there is a reasonable relationship between
the need for this fee and the impacts for which this fee shall be used, and that there is a reasonable
relationship between the fee's use and the properties, which are to be charged this fee. These
relationships or nexuses are described in more detail in the above referenced Engineer's Report.
4. The amounts of the fee for each category of property, as set forth below, are reasonable
amounts, as such fees are based on runoff coefficients established in the Master Storm Drain Study and
are below the cost recovery.
5. It is further determined that each and every parcel of land contained in said report will,
and has received a benefit of flood control from the storm drainage system and that the charges imposed
herein on each such parcel are in conformity with, and in fact lower than, the benefits that such parcel
has received as further described in the report.
Resolution No. 18-040
Page 2
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Cupertino, that:
1. Charge. The storm drainage service charge shall continue to be charged to each parcel
within the City to contribute to the costs of the City's federal and state requirements for Nonpoint Source
Control and a Stormwater Management Program.
2. Use of Revenue. The revenue derived from said charge shall be used in connection with
implementing and enforcing Chapters 3.36 of the Cupertino Municipal Code entitled "Storm Drainage
Service Charge" and Chapter 9.18 entitled "Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Watershed Protection."
3. Schedule of Charges.
(a) Annual fees for each category of property will be assessed and collected as follows:
Residential premises
Apartment premises
Commercial/Industrial premises
Unimproved/Recreational
$ 12.00/parcel
$144.00/acre
$144 . 00/acre
$ 36.00/acre
(b) The following public properties are exempt from, and shall not be assessed the
environmental fee :
Cupertino Sanitary District
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
State of California
The Santa Clara County Fire Department
The City of Cupertino
The Cupertino Union School District
The Foothill-De Anza Community College District
The Fremont Union High School District
The MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District
United States of America
4. Judicial Action to Challenge this Resolution . Any judicial action or proceeding to
challenge, review, set aside, void , or annul this resolution shall be brought within 120 days from the date
of its adoption.
Resolution No . 18-040
Page 3
PASS ED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino this 1 st day
of May, 2018, by the following vote :
Vote
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
Members of the City Council
Paul , Sinks, Chang, Scharf, Vaidhyanathan
None
None
None
APPROVED:
C ~--V
Darcy Paul, Mayor,
City of Cupertino
Resolution No . 18-040
Page 4
EXHIBIT A
ENGINEER'S REPORT
ASSESSMENT OF FEES FOR STORM DRAINAGE AND
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PREVENTION PROGRAM
A. Program Description and Purpose
The purpose of this assessment is to collect fees to fund the City of Cupertino's Nonpoint Source
Pollution Prevention Program mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Clean Water Act. Regulations by the EPA and the State of California require cities to take specific
actions to eliminate or control pollutants in waters of the State.
The term "nonpoint source pollution" represents a process whereby pollutants, debris, trash, sediment
and chemicals which accumulate on streets, in neighborhoods, at construction sites , in parking lots,
and on other exposed surfaces are washed off by rainfall and carried away by stormwater runoff (via
city drain inlets and pipes installed for flood control) into local creeks and the San Francisco Bay.
Sources of these pollutants may include automobile exhaust and oil, pesticides, fertilizers, eroded
soil , detergents , pet waste, paint, litter, and other material carried through the City's storm drainage
system-without treatment-directly to the Bay. Many of these pollutants are hazardous to aquatic
and human life .
The City of Cupertino has implemented several mandated and pro-active programs to mitigate this
problem. Among other activities, these programs include an illegal storm drain discharge
investigation and elimination complaint response program; scheduled proactive inspections of
outdoor housekeeping practices at business sites within the City; bi-weekly sweeping of residential
streets and weekly sweeping of commercial streets; installation of trash capture devices and curb
drain inlet screens to prevent litter from entering the City's storm drainage system; inspection and
cleaning of storm drain structures and trash capture devices; public education and engagement with
teachers and students, educational activities offered at City events; and a popular, unique, and well-
established District-wide third-grade creek education & field trip program led by the City's naturalist
at McClellan Ranch Preserve and Stevens Creek.
The State San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) approved the
first Municipal Regional Permit (MRP) on October 14, 2009 and , on November 18 , 2015, adopted
the second regional permit (MRP 2) with additional requirements that became effective on January
1, 2016. MRP 2 was issued to the City of Cupertino and 75 agencies or co-permittees which
discharge storm water through municipal drainage systems to local creeks and the San Francisco
Bay. The City of Cupertino and 14 other co-permittees in Santa Clara County are members of the
Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program (SCVURPPP) which works
collaboratively to maintain compliance with MRP 2 . In addition to conducting local activities, City
staff work closely with the other SCVRUPPP jurisdictions to implement pollution prevention, source
control, monitoring, and educational programs. MRP 2 includes several mandated requirements that
are being phased in over the five-year permit term. The SCVURPPP has increased its co-permittee
Re solution No . 18-040
Page 5
membership assessments to help meet these requirements. With these and new MRP-related costs
and requirements on the horizon, the City increased its NPS budget slightly to ensure its continued
compliance. For FY 2017-2018, the fee provided revenue of approximately $372,800, leaving
approximately $389,200 ($762,000 in expenses less approximately $372,800 in fee revenue) to be
paid from the General Fund . While Proposition 218 essentially prevents the City from increasing
stormwater fees, it is important that the fees that have been in place since 1992 continue to be
collected.
B. Estimated Expenditures
The total estimated budget to implement the required programs described above for fiscal year 2016-
2017 was approximately $670.000. The breakdown of costs is estimated as follows:
Countywide Program $170,000
SCVURPPP 1Program Assessment -Regional Permit Implementation
Regional Watershed Monitoring (administered by EOA , Inc.2)
State NPDES 3 Permit Fees
Countywide Public Education and Municipal Staff Training
CA Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) Participation
Annual Parcel Stormwater Fee Assessment for County
Policy Development
Contingencies
Operations and Maintenance $140,000
Catch Basin and Frequent Trash Capture Device Cleaning
Street Sweeping (weekly in commercial areas)
On-call Emergency Spill and Discharge Response
Staff and Equipment to Implement City's Mandated Litter Reduction Plan
City Public Engagement and Education Awareness
Public Outreach Materials & Events
Third-Grade Creek Education for Local Schools
Support High School Students' Watershed and Creek Education
Support De Anza College and Community Environmental Education
Community Engagement -Creek Cleanup& Watershed Monitoring Events
Staff to Conduct Public Education, Training and Outreach
$60,000
CA Product Stewardship Council membership (Extended Producer Responsibility)
Local Programs $392,000
Development, Administration, and Evaluation of Mandated Programs
1SCVU RPPP : Th e Sant a Cl ara Vall ey Urb an Run off Pollution Preventi on P rogram is a coll a borat ive of 15 mu n icip a liti es a nd agencies in
Sant a Clara Co un ty of whi c h Cupert ino is a memb er a nd co-perm ittee.
2 EOA, In c. is the en vironm enta l e ngin eering and regul atory consultin g firm th at manages the Santa Clara Vall ey Urban Runoff Po lluti on
Preventi on Program for the co-permittees www.eoa in c.com
3NPD ES: Nation al Pollutant Di scharge Elimination System
Resolution No. 18-040
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Environmental Impact and New and Redevelopment Review
Ordinance Revisions
Database Maintenance
Illegal Discharge Complaint Investigation and Enforcement
Industrial/Commercial Discharger Inspection Program
Construction Site Inspection Program
Verification of Treatment Measure Maintenance by Private Property Owners
Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure Management
Litter Reduction Education and Enforcement
City's Participation in Multiple Countywide and Regional Programs
Other Staffing Costs
TOTAL COST TO MAINTAIN CITY'S COMPLIANCE
C. Revenue and Assessment
$762,000
Revenues generated to fund this program are based on a factor calculated from the City's Master
Storm Drain Study runoff coefficients and average area of impervious surface per acre based on
type of land-use development. The factor for each category is based on a comparison to an average
residential parcel assigned a factor of one.
The following table represents the approximate revenue stream for different categories of
development.
No. Parcels Annual Fee Revenue
Development Category Factor or Acre Cost/Unit Generated
Residential 1 15,885 Pcls $ 12 $ 190,620
Commercial/Industrial /
Apartments 12 1,046.96 Ac $ 144 $150,759
Unimproved/Recreational 3 871.17 Ac $ 36 $31,362
TOTAL $ 372,741
Each parcel has been identified and a fee established in a separate report entitled PARCEL
ASSESSMENT REPORT.