Purpose
An appeals process is available to parcel owners within
SEMSWA for “potentially improperly calculated fees”
as described in SEMSWA Resolution No. 13, series of 2007 (Factual
Dispute Resolution Process). The process allows for fee modifications
in order to provide fair and equitable fees to customers in
line with the objective of charging each customer for the
demand their parcel, or contiguous group of parcels, places
on SEMSWA’s stormwater system.
This memorandum is guidance for implementing a corrected
method to calculate “percent impervious (1)” and
the associated tier and rate per square foot, for non-single
family residential properties (2). The method allows for the
re-calculation of “percent impervious” for groups
of contiguous parcels under common ownership under the resolution
cited above.
The rationale for this appeal is to recognize that the total
stormwater fee for a group of contiguous parcels should not
be the addition of the fees for the individual parcels, but
a single fee for the entire group of parcels, under certain
conditions.
Therefore, contiguous parcels may be treated as one parcel
for fee determination if the following conditions are met:
Conditions
to Qualify for Fee Reduction
1. Parcels must be contiguous and must have a common stormwater
system.
2. Parcels are owned by the same entity. If leased to a third
party, the owner has responsibility under the lease, for maintenance
of the stormwater system located on that parcel.
3. The entity that owns the parcels also controls, owns, operates,
and maintains the stormwater system.
Application
Process
1. Property owners are required to make application to SEMSWA
for the recalculation.
2. The burden of proof is on the property owners to demonstrate
they meet the “conditions to qualify for fee reduction”
outlined above.
3. Changes in any of the above “conditions to qualify
for fee reduction” require a new application.
4. Fees for the current calendar year shall be considered
final and non-appealable unless an application by the property
owner is filed with SEMSWA prior to September 1st of that
calendar year.
Fee Reduction
Process
1. Property owners meeting all “conditions to qualify
for fee reduction” outlined above, and granted approval
of the recalculation by SEMSWA, will be issued a check for
the difference in fees calculated in accordance with the above
paragraphs prior to December 31 of the year the fees are due.
2. Prior to receiving reimbursement for the fee difference
on parcels having met the “conditions to qualify for
fee reduction,” property owners must pay their fee as
they were originally billed on the Arapahoe County Property
Tax Statement, or as invoiced by SEMSWA if located in Douglas
County.
3. A reapplication is required each year to demonstrate no
changes have been made or to reflect any changes that have
been made. If the property owner’s application is approved
prior to September 1, fees for the following year will be
reduced to reflect the newly calculated fee in accordance
with the above paragraphs.
Definitions:
(1) “Percent impervious” is the impervious area
of a parcel divided by the total area of a parcel, or in the
case of this appeal, the total impervious area of the contiguous
parcels divided by the total (gross) area of the contiguous
parcels.
(2) “Non-single family residential detached”
includes tax-exempt, commercial, industrial, religious, condo,
townhouse, multi-unit buildings, common areas, and school
parcels as classified by the Arapahoe County Assessor.
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