§ 25-360. Findings.

The board of commissioners of DeKalb County, Georgia makes the following findings:

(a)

The federal Clean Water Act, as amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), and rules promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Act emphasizes the role of local governments in developing, implementing, conducting and funding stormwater programs which address water quality impacts of storm water runoff.

(b)

Stormwater management services and facilities will assist the county in meeting the regulatory obligations imposed by its national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit by reducing pollution and increasing water quality within the county.

(c)

DeKalb County presently owns and operates stormwater management systems and facilities which have been developed over many years. The future usefulness of the existing stormwater systems owned and operated by the county, and of additions and improvements thereto, rests on the ability of the county to effectively manage, protect, control, regulate, use, and enhance stormwater systems and facilities in DeKalb County in concert with the management of other water resources in the county. In order to do so, the county must have adequate and stable funding for its stormwater management program's operating needs and capital.

(d)

Stormwater management services and facilities are needed throughout the unincorporated areas of DeKalb County because most of those areas are developed. While specific service and facility demands may differ from area to area at any given point in time, a stormwater management service area encompassing all lands and water bodies within the unincorporated area of DeKalb County is consistent with the present and future needs of the community.

(e)

The provision of stormwater management services and facilities in DeKalb County promotes an essential regulatory purpose by controlling where stormwater runoff flows and how it is disposed, and thereby reducing flooding, erosion and water pollution caused by stormwater runoff.

(f)

Stormwater management services and facilities will provide a specific service to property owners by assisting in the property owner's legal obligation to control stormwater runoff from their property and ensure that runoff does not flow upon their neighbors in greater quantities than it would if the property were in an undeveloped state. By mitigating the impact of stormwater runoff from developed property, the stormwater management system helps prevent damage that would subject a property owner to civil liability.

(g)

The board of commissioners is responsible for the protection and preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare of the community, and finds that it is in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the county and the community at large to proceed with the development, implementation, and operation of a utility for stormwater management accounted for in the county budget as a separate enterprise fund dedicated solely to stormwater management and to institute funding methods associated therewith.

(h)

The county has undertaken a comprehensive review by staff and professional consultants of the need for, management of, and funding for, a stormwater utility. The county staff reports and the professional engineering and financing feasibility analysis submitted to the county properly assess and define the stormwater management problems, needs, goals, program priorities and funding opportunities of the county.

(i)

As a result, the county's governing authority finds that a stormwater utility provides the most practical and appropriate means of properly delivering storm water management services and facilities, and the county's governing authority finds that a utility fee provides the most practical and appropriate means of funding stormwater management services in DeKalb County.

(Ord. No. 40-02, Pt. I, 12-10-02; Ord. No. 32-03, Pt. I, 12-23-03)