Cobb County has yet to implement a solution to its stormwater infrastructure problems after flooding ravaged parts of the county in Sep. 2021, which left some homeowners with thousands of dollars of damage.
Officials have since held many public discussions on the issue, exploring whether to change how stormwater funding is calculated and how to address the water system’s staffing issues exacerbated by the pandemic to face the backlog of work orders.
In December, commissioners met with Cobb County Water System Director Judy Jones to again discuss the aging infrastructure, and the possibility of a stormwater fee. But no policy changes have been put in place, and residents still don’t know how the county will address the lingering problems.
Currently, stormwater services are funded through water and sewer pay rates. Properties that use more water contribute a higher amount to stormwater management, regardless of their impact on the stormwater system, Jones told commissioners.
When water floods an area, it flows across impervious surfaces — concrete and other hard infrastructure that prevents it from soaking into the ground — and into the drains. Flooding of homes and businesses occurs when there’s more stormwater than the system can handle.
“Water consumption is not the best measure of a property’s impact on the stormwater system,” Jones said.
Instead, a fee based on the square footage of a property’s impervious surface is a better measure of the impact that property has on the stormwater system, Jones said. Currently, commercial properties, which often have more hard infrastructure but may use less water, are contributing less to stormwater management services.
“We really are being inequitable with the contribution of individual property owners to stormwater,” Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said. “It makes me think that we have some fighting chance of getting public support ... if they see a direct benefit and know that there are certain things that could be done proactively.”
County officials also said they wanted to clarify to the public that a stormwater fee would not go toward helping homeowners address flood damage to their property.
“I just want people to understand, the stormwater fee is not designed to fix that,” County Manager Jackie McMorris said to the board, referencing property damage caused by storms, like last September’s flooding. For example, if a resident’s basement or backyard floods as a result of a storm, “Those are things that this would not fix or address,” she added.
A fee, if implemented through code changes, would be charged to all properties in unincorporated Cobb because they all rely on the county for stormwater services, regardless of where they get their water, Jones said.
“There are about 5,000 properties that are just east of Marietta city limits that are Marietta Water’s customers but Cobb County residents,” Jones said. “Those customers are not paying anybody for stormwater.”
Cupid said if the stormwater fee changes are to be successful, “Taking the time to make the case for it is going to be important, particularly for those who don’t pay anything today.”
More than 60 other water systems in the state calculate their stormwater contributions on impervious surfaces, including all of the city’s systems in Cobb, except Marietta, Jones said. But those cities only charge stormwater fees to those customers within the city limits, she added.
Depending on the dollar amount of the stormwater fee if implemented, the water system could become more proactive in replacing aging infrastructure, but it would require more funding, Jones said.
Commissioner Keli Gambrill said that the department is still facing a huge backlog of orders that has grown since earlier this year, caused by a lack of staffing, not a lack of funding.
“You lead off that you’re understaffed, you’re under-budgeted,” Gambrill said to Jones. “What do you see being able to provide as a service, or how would this fee be used to address issues?”
Jones said customers are already paying a fee, and the changes would continue going toward repairs. But if commissioners decided to raise the fees charged, the water system could be more proactive.
The county opted not to include a stormwater fee in the budget passed this year but did increase the stormwater management’s budget by $1.7 million. Jones said this past summer that the water department has the funding to complete its work orders; it simply doesn’t have the staff.
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