Maplewood property owners will see a new tax bill in their mail in May.
At Tuesday’s Township Committee meeting, the governing body unanimously passed an ordinance to create a stormwater utility after a public hearing where two residents said they supported the creation of the utility but questioned some of the specifics and the lack of robust information provided to the community.
The utility, which will be only the second one in New Jersey, will provide a regular pool of funds for annual drainage improvements and be funded by residential and commercial properties, with fees estimated to range from $35-$175 annually based on the amount of impervious surface on a property.
Related: Maplewood Leaders Signal Support For New Storm Water Utility
The TC has discussed the creation of a utility for the last several years, because of the increase in devastating storms and the township’s aging infrastructure, especially after 2021’s Tropical Storm Ida washed out roads, flooded homes and businesses and resulted in the death of a resident .
In September TC member Vic DeLuca, who has shepherded the creation of the utility, said the township is projected to collect nearly $900,000 a year from the tax. The stormwater fee will be added to the current sanitary sewer fee, and property owners will be able to receive credits if they undertake certain stormwater management practices on their property — although the specifics of the credits have yet to be determined.
Related: Maplewood Moves Forward With Hybrid Solution for Dangerous Storm Drainage on Maple Terrace
One of the public commenters, Virginia Lamb, said she thought artificial turf should be added to the list of impermeable surfaces because it is “specifically designed to collect stormwater and discharge it to sewage systems. There’s… zero chance of artificial turf rainwater going down into the groundwater again.” She also said gravel and crushed stone should not be on the list of impervious substances.
Lamb asked about the process and timeline of credits property owners would potentially receive for taking steps to mitigate stormwater damage (the ordinance makes note of swales and rain gardens, but not green roofs or permeable asphalt), and suggested the TC use resources such as the Rutgers Water resource program and work with SOMA Action’s climate group.
Lamb, who is a soil scientist, said the township should consider the bigger picture in terms of stormwater prevention. “We have a tremendous opportunity to keep it in place just by taking better care of our soils,” she said. Much of the soil in town is very compacted, eroded, degraded and neglected, she said, which leads to air and water pollution. “Big climate implications,” she said.
Lamb concluded, “…as we all know climate change is here. Heavy rains are only going to increase. So I just encourage the township to use this ordinance as an opportunity to really innovate on the subject of stormwater minimization and management.”
Mayor Nancy Adams asked Lamb if she would talk to township engineer Paul Kittner to address compacted soil around town. “I knew that [soil] helped with the runoff, but I didn’t know that soil itself could literally be a carbon source, a retention center,” Adams said.
Regarding turf, DeLuca said he appreciated Lamb bringing it up but he didn’t want to “re-litigate artificial turf for the stormwater utility.”
As background, DeLuca explained that in 2022 the township applied for a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection, and those funds were used to hire a firm to assist with creating the utility. He said the credit policy is still being worked on and will likely be introduced by ordinance at the beginning of 2025. However, he told Lamb that the policy talks about green infrastructure being “any measure…so a green roof, I think, would fit into that category.”
DeLuca said the township uses the state’s aerial view to determine the amount of impervious surface on each property. He said the town would promote to citizens the different ways they could take measures to reduce impervious surface, including green roofs, swales and rain barrels.
Resident Craig Miller said while he supported the town’s stormwater improvement measures, “a storm water utility is not itself in engineering or an environmental solution, and it’s not inherently green in the sense of solving any climate related problem…This is, and is only a financing and governance mechanism….It’s not inherently better than the township continuing stormwater management and implementing without the utility all the ideas to improve stormwater management.”
Miller questioned whether the utility was worth the “complexity and incremental cost” and if it would create “bureaucracies instead of solutions.” For instance, under the state statute Maplewood legally is required to pay the state 5% of the revenues of the utility (capped at $50,000 a year). “…why is the township committee confident that it’s desirable for [us] to be an early adopter when many other towns have not chosen to move forward on this?”
Adams said the main goal was to create a dedicated funding source “that can’t otherwise be taken away from a future town governing body or future township committee to fund other capital projects.”
DeLuca said Kittner would serve as the utility’s director, and while there may be some incremental costs, the town is trying to keep them to a minimum. “…without this legislation, we couldn’t do this,” DeLuca said. The utility will enable the town to help prevent flooding, fix old infrastructure, and use fees as an incentive for residents to reduce impervious surfaces. “And I think that’s all a green positive…the benefits far outweigh any concerns.”
Miller suggested that before any bills are sent out the township present a full budget for the first year and estimated budgets for the next two. “I think people in town have learned from the Board of Ed that the absence of multi year budgeting leads to unexpected disappointment.”
TC member Dean Dafis said he was concerned that the 30-day period property owners have to contest their assessments was too short. “This is a big change,” he said of the creation of the utility. “It’s an important change, there is value in it and we’re all for it, but I think 30 days is a short time.”
TC member Deborah Engel asked the township attorney if the 30-day period could be amended down the road; the answer was yes.
Adams said the town would work to provide information about the new tax to residents. Dafis said, “In my experience we don’t get this information out in time and we don’t communicate…” with the public. “We’ve talked about it a lot in committee and a lot here, but we haven’t talked about getting information about this public hearing today.”
Engel agreed. “We have talked about it a lot amongst us, and I think we’re all really supportive of it. But I agree [that] we don’t necessarily do a great job talking to the public” about these kinds of issues.
Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe said she disagreed that the town did not send out information, but that it got lost in the weekly email newsletter the township sends out. “I get emails on the daily from people in the community, like ‘we have a new tax?’…it’s been hard to find.”
Adams said the township would send out specific information on the new tax well before the bills went out, and would consider holding a town hall meeting.
The ordinance passed 5-0. “Good discussion everyone, I think it was important,” said Adams.
See the full ordinance here:
