Tuesday, July 19, 2011

YOU CAN TAKE IT TO THE BANK

Well, Folks, it looks like Mr. Davis and his merry men are on the verge of shafting the BC taxpayers yet one more time. In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Davis has never seen a revenue source he won't exploit. Case in point, Storm Water Management.

To begin with, the name is a bit misleading. One would think this program has something to do with "storm water". It doesn't. This new County agency has been designated with the responsibility of monitoring water quality in the rivers and streams of Berkeley County. This designation came in the form of a mandate from DEHEC which, in turn, was mandated by the EPA. Not all Counties in all states are bound by this mandate. The Feds decided to pick and choose who will have to comply and who gets to skate. Unfortunately for us, Berkeley County drew one of the short straws.

When GE&P learned of this new program, we, and a small group of other concerned citizens, arranged a meeting with Mr. Frank Carson. Mr. Carson is heading up the new program and he very kindly agreed to meet with us to answer our questions and address our concerns. The meeting was held this afternoon. We did get answers to all our questions but we did not have our concerns diminished. If anything, our concerns were only exacerbated.

The documents outlining this mandate are something to behold. When one searches for the goals of the program, one finds the text lacking in particulars. There are vague generalities and an inordinate quantity of bureaucratic gobbledygook. The scariest parts are the sections which list the provisions that must be included in the Berkeley County Ordinance covering this program. We will list the provisions of greatest concern and the explanations we received from the meeting.

ORDINANCE: The County MUST include an article that SWMP agents have the right to enter any private property at any time they choose.

EXPLANATION: Agents will only enter private property AFTER the owner has received notice of same. (this is NOT the wording of the mandate)

ORDINANCE: In Berkeley County, property owners and users should finance the Storm Water Management system to the extent they contribute to the need for the system and benefit from the system, and charges therefore should bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the service, and every effort should be made to fairly spread the cost of the system to all property owners and users.

EXPLANATION: Not all property owners contribute to the "problem" (the "problem" could not be defined in the first place) and no one could indicate any benefit that anyone attending the meeting would derive from the "system". We hope that's clear as mud.

LIST OF ILLICIT DISCHARGES: Laundry Wastewaters/grey water, Radiator flushing disposal, Carpet cleaning wastewater, Spills from roadway accidents, and EFFLUENTS FROM SEPTIC TANKS.

EXPLANATION: No one should worry about the septic system prohibition. This only means if the septic system is broken and the effluents are pouring out on the top of the ground or into a ditch. It has nothing to do with the effluents that go into the drain lines. (Again, that's NOT what the regulations say.)

The "interim" fees will be as follows:

Rental unit---------$18
Mobile Home------$18
House---------------$36
Church & School---$72
Businesses----------$105

We were unable to obtain a definite count on the actual number of these units in BC as the agency has yet to do a complete survey. These fees were "approximated" from a "sampling" resulting in an "estimate". NOTE: The $2.4 Million Hwy. 311 water line survey "estimated" that there would be 114 tap-ins when, in actuality, there turned out to be only 7. Ooops.
But we KNOW this government agency will be far more efficient.

One member of the group asked if the funds collected under this new fee would be used for any other purposes than those of the Storm Water Management Program. (tongue in check) We were assured that State statute mandates that the revenues collected by any utility be used only for that utility's activities. (You're probably thinking about the $10 Million that Mr. Davis "borrowed" from BCW&SA's Fund Balance, aren't you? Well, stop that.) We KNOW this government agency would not let a thing like that happen to them.

At the end of the meeting we had learned quite a few things.

We learned that the Storm Water Management Program has little to nothing to do with storm water.
The new agency will not have to hire any new people.
The people who will be assuring that BC is in compliance with the mandate will be present employees already on the payroll.
The new agency will not require new housing.
The agency will be required to fill out an annual report to DEHEC on their activities.
The agency will be required to educate the public as to what a necessary job the agency is doing.
The most important job of the agency will be to sample the water in our rivers and streams to be sure it is in compliance with DEHEC standards.
The main contamination culprit these folks will be searching for in our waters is fecal matter. (It was admitted that, if the fecal matter turns out to be from deer, raccoons, possums, squirrels, or other critters, a solution to the problem will require more research.)
All of these valuable services are only going to cost you $1.4 Million in the first year and a yet to be determined sum in the out years.

There were a few more things we learned that were extremely frustrating.

No one could tell us just exactly how any of our properties were contributing to what ever the problem is that this agency is supposed to solve.
No one could tell us just exactly what will be the benefit to us for paying this fee to support this agency.
No one would even discuss the possibility of these funds experiencing an unforeseen "inter-departmental transfer" to the BC General Fund.

So, here's the long and short of it, Taxpayers.

You're getting an agency that you don't need; that you don't know what it's suppose to do; that you don't know what is the problem that it's suppose to solve; that completely obliterates your private property rights; and all this goodness will only cost you $1.4 Million in the first year.

At least you don't have to worry about Mr. Davis raiding this fund balance. Can anyone say,
"CASH COW?"



8 comments:

Alvin691 said...

Of course, the best questions always appear in one's mind after leaving such a meeting. One that came to me after leaving what this: "The driving force in this new department is an EPA mandate. The EPA is affected by Presidential elections. When the new president is sworn in and changes the leadership of the EPA, possibly removing this mandate, what happens to the department?". This must be dealt with in the rules that create this new department.

Anonymous said...

When council members start out telling you that other counties are using this issue as a "cash cow" but Berkeley is not they are telegraphing their real intentions.

Since no additional personnel are required what is all the money for? Developers are required to put in storm drains for new subdivisions.

Anonymous said...

Davis spent 79K of his own money to get elected. WHY?

Anonymous said...

I can’t believe you missed it. They are not hiring anyone new, or adding an office, or supplies, or vehicle etc. What they are going to do is use the money to pay the salary(s) of current employees, use the money for office space, supplies, vehicle etc. All this for dipping a mason jar in the river and checking for fecal matter. Oh, come on, they knows exactly how many rental units, mobile homes, houses, churches,schools and businesses there are. Right off the County Website “The Real Property Service’s Office values over 83,000 parcels and 13,000 manufactured homes in Berkeley County. The department analyzes, researches, and processes deeds and plats annually to keep its database up to date. All functions are mandated by South Carolina Code of Laws with oversight from the Department of Revenue.” There is a code for each type of structure and if it is in a municipality or not. Can you say “snow job”.

Nosy Woman from Cross said...

Anonymous,
We didn't miss a thing. We are and were aware of the facts you presented. In the post, we were only presenting the "answers" we obtained at the meeting.

If you analyze Mr. Carson's comments in yesterday's Berkeley Independent and successfully cut through all the word play, you will learn that the interim fee is being imposed to pay for the research needed to determine exactly what the permanent fee will be. Outrageous.

Anonymous said...

What a load of crap, no pun intended. Does anyone know why Home Telecom Cable will not air the council meetings?

Anonymous said...

For those of you on Counnty Council who read this blog, there are at least four (4) important/critical factors you need to be fully aware of when VOTING on the ordance for the PEOPLE YOU RESPRESENT FROM YOUR DISTRICT: 1) In the RURAL areas of the County, there are more financially strained citizens than those in the city of Moncks Corner, Goose Creek, Hanahan, etc.; 2) The Ordance is open ended to allow for ADDITIONAL/INCREASED fees; 3) There is a $631,000 SURPLUS in revenue that could be used to help and/or cover any cost associated with the start-up and maybe even short-range operation; 4) The County hasn't accomplished the mandate, item 4.2.2 of the directive. Thus far, there are absolutely NO VALIDATED FISCIALLY RESPONSIBLE REASON(S) for imposing this fee!!! At a minimum, Council members NEED (in my opinion you are required to) READ the law(s), rules, and regulations covering this "problem" and offer multiple community meetings throughout the County for open discussion on the "problem"!! My guess is that Dan Davis didn't give Council much pushback on the new County budget because he KNEW he had this NEW source of revenue to use at HIS pleasure!! As a Council member, you are not worth your salt if you VOTE in favor of the proposed ordance!! Oh yes, the usual requirement of Public Notice without extensive detail easy to read and interpret information will not cut it!!

Alvin691 said...

If you create a "fee" system what you have done is move all the costs of these engineers to a new department. That then free's up an equivalent amount in the general budget. It's seed money, to grow government so they can charge us for rain.If you want to know what is happening, look at the UK - http://www.naylor.co.uk/drainage/plastic-products/environmental/legislation.php