Stormwater tax coming soon. Just what will that mean for the residents of Oldham County? For certain it will mean higher taxes. Will it mean cleaner streams- or will there be responses from officials to residents' complaints about drainage problems and bigger government?
First, as of the last meeting of the Stormwater Advisory Committee (SWAC) the plan was to tax each household in the county $6.81 per month. Overall private households would pay 82% of the cost of the stormwater expenses with businesses paying 18%. Is it necessary to set tax rates at this level? That is certainly debatable. The additional taxes will not provide for any additional services. For example, don't expect to complain about a drainage problem and get any action on your complaint as a result of the new taxes. According to the SWAC the additional taxes are only for the purpose of meeting the mandates of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The SWAC has stated that at least two new positions are needed -an engineer and an inspector. It seems to me that the majority of the duties of the inspector would be for the purpose of checking construction sites, i.e .., new developments for compliance of the EPA regulations. However, as usual the developers get a free ride. Since developers do most of the construction in Oldham County, it would only seem fair that they pay some type of "impact fee" in order to help support the impact of the new stormwater impact on the county. However, that will never happen under the current administration.
Stay tuned for more on this new opportunity for the county government to put their hands on your wallet.
