Cleveland Heights residents will soon see a new fee on their bills from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
The new fee is for the district’s stormwater management program. Cities have been fighting the new fee for the past couple of years, but the district is moving forward with its plans.
David Matty, law director for the city of Brecksville, said the cities are still appealing the decision. The case originally went to trial in 2011. Various officials were opposed to the new fee for a few reasons. One was that the some cities have taken a lot of steps to control stormwater on their own.
Matty said he doesn’t expect any action to be taken by the 8th District Court of Appeals until the spring.
In the meantime, the new fee will begin. The program is necessary to help manage stormwater, which can cause flooding and erosion problems, the district told Patch in 2011.
The sewer district has a special page set up for the new program, including a page where residents can look up estimates of their fee. The new fee began on Jan. 1. According to information on the sewer district’s site, residential properties will pay one of three flat fees, and non-residential properties will pay a fee based on the amount of “impervious surface” on the property.
