Tampa, Florida -- A decision on whether Tampa residents will have to pay more to help relieve the city's flooding problems will have to wait a little bit longer.
On Thursday, council members got an earful from the public over a pair of proposed stormwater fee increases. Input, which led the council to decide it needs more time to resolve some lingering issues before taking a final vote.
"This is bad science," said Tampa resident Joe Robinson.
Robinson, like many critics, questions whether tens of millions of dollars in improvements will do anything to relieve flooding in the city of Tampa. Flooding, which has persisted for decades, despite past projects.
For more than two hours council members listened to public comment on a pair of stormwater fees designed to relieve chronic flooding.
The first proposal is a more modest maintenance stormwater fee increase of about six dollars a month on average. The money would be used to clean out existing pipes and ditches "to get all the flow out to the water bodies," said Brad Baird, Tampa's director of Public Works.
A second, more expensive fee for improvements including new pipes, pumps and infrastructure got slammed from all angles. The improvements fee, which would be introduced over a series of years, could add up to hundreds of dollars for residents, and thousands for local businesses.
People like Charlie Singleton were worried that if his aging mother could not afford the fee.
"A lien would be placed on her property, and eventually taken away from her," said Singleton.
Even wealthy businesses claimed the fees would hit them disproportionately.
Gina Grimes, an attorney for a local car dealership said her client will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars a year, "and one parcel is going to be paying a half a million? That's not reasonable," said Grimes.
People living in high and dry parts of the city also asked why they should pay for someone else's problem.
Realtor Mike Peterson, who represents several property owners, asked, "Wouldn't this be better handled like an impact fee with different zones and variable rates?"
But those who have been flooded, like South Tampa resident Clay Walkup, answered that question by saying, "This is a citywide problem. We all need to take care of it. My community in my neighborhood happens to be low crime, but I still pay for police even though I don't need it as much as maybe other parts of town may."
With several questions regarding finances and fairness still unanswered, Tampa officials decided to take up the two stormwater fees separately.
They will address the maintenance fee at another meeting Sept. 3.
The improvements fee will be discussed Oct. 1.
