Concerns heighten over lack of benefit of stormwater fee

Monday, May 14, 2018

News 12 @ 6 O'clock / NBC 26 at 7

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- For the past two years, Augusta’s stormwater fee has been hard at work. But some say not everyone sees its benefits.

“We're not serviced, no.”

“I have no service where I live.”

Go out well past downtown Augusta toward Hephzibah, Blythe the rural parts of the county. Their water doesn't come from the city.

“If there’s a problem, the city doesn't come out and take care of it for you,” said Susanna Barnhart.

But the city still charges a stormwater fee.

Tammis Pennington says, “I think the momentum kind of died because it hasn't been talked about a lot.”

District 8 Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle fought against the fee when it was first introduced.

“You get south of Willis Foreman Road. Tobacco Road these people are paying for something that's not even rendered.”

He says the commission should consider letting rural areas that are not serviced off the hook.

“We’re not maintaining these people's ditches, we're charging them for a service that's not rendered - it's not a fair way of looking at things,” said District 8 Commissioner, Wayne Guilfoyle.

The city collected a little over 13.2 million dollars from the stormwater fee in 2017. That money took care of hundreds of work orders, helped clean ditches, maintain pipes and more.

But some of those services he says don’t extend to rural parts of the county.

“People are paying for something that they're not getting their money worth.”

Columbia County does something like that already.

In Augusta, this isn't a done deal. At least six commissioners have to vote to make a change on that program.