Peachtree City homeowners are about to get billed for the water that runs along street curbs into storm drains.

The Peachtree City Council will likely vote next month to create a new utility to address significant stormwater issues around town.

That means city property owners will face yet another bill to pay, but these bills won’t have too big a bite, with the cost for most residents hovering between $2.69 and $6 a month for single family detached homes.

Detached homes located on private streets will pay $1.85 a month, and subdivisions with attached residential uses and private streets will pay between $1.91 and $2.30 per unit each month.

The first bills are expected to go out in April 2006.

City officials planned to send bills quarterly to homeowners but it might be cheaper for the bills to go out annually, and if the city does that the savings would be passed on to customers, said City Manager Bernie McMullen.

The City Council was briefed last week on the structure of the utility, what the city will be required to do and how it will finance crucial stormwater projects early on.

The city must adopt a stormwater management program by the end of this year, thanks to various state and federal regulations, officials said. Stormwater, which is rainfall that doesn’t seep into the ground because of impervious surfaces, must be directed somewhere, and the city currently has a network of storm drain pipes to handle some of the flow.

Some developments have on-site storage of stormwater by the use of detention ponds. Others don’t.

The city has prepared a list of 66 critical projects that must be addressed, and each has been prioritized.

Residential bills for single-family detached homes will be calculated based on the amount of impervious surface, including the area of the lot such as the home and driveway footprint and any other structures such as a pool. Entire subdivisions are grouped together so all residents in a given subdivision will pay the same rate.

Non-residential properties will be charged according to the total amount of impervious surface on the site, but they will be allowed to reduce their bill with various “credits” for having on-site drainage ponds and the like. For example, not including credits, Wal-Mart will have to pay $614 a month, McIntosh High School would pay $553 a month and the Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church would pay $63.20 a month.

One benefit of creating a utility to handle stormwater projects is that stormwater projects will have a dedicated source of income. If the stormwater needs were funded through the general fund, they would compete with other projects that are funded by the city’s regular budget, said Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford.

Also, the utility allows the city to bill tax-exempt entities such as churches and schools which otherwise wouldn’t pay for stormwater projects if the money were just taken from the general fund. The schools will be allowed to earn credits towards their stormwater bill by implementing an education program so students can learn more about stormwater, which carries pollutants from the ground into streams.

The city will seek either a revenue bond to raise $3 million for capital projects or use a loan from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority to secure the funds, officials said. The city will also take out a loan for equipment, which is estimated to cost $650,000 at the outset.

The program will be staffed by two three-man crews who will likely be under the umbrella of the city’s public works department.

Capital improvement projects will vary from the replacement of culverts, which are drain pipes that divert stormwater under roads, to the replacement of old storm drain pipes. The city will be responsible for reviewing private stormwater systems and insuring that regulations are followed. City crews will also be at the ready for emergency response should any part of the city’s stormwater drainage system fail.

The city will not, however, be responsible for stormwater problems on private property, including property which is affected by running water and standing water, officials said.

“They are a concern, but they are not really the responsibility of the city,” said Ron Feldner of Integrated Science and Engineering, the firm that designed the stormwater plan for the city.

Although the city has traditionally spent about $382,000 a year on stormwater maintenance over the past eight years, that money now will be transferred to the stormwater program.

The total stormwater program cost for the next three years is between $1 million and $1.3 million each year, Feldner said.

The city also plans to bill the state for taking care of stormwater runoff from state highways that are located in Peachtree City, though the bill will have to take into account the culverts and other devices that the state maintains for stormwater diversion.

Matt Bergin, a Peachtree City resident who works for the city of Fayetteville’s stormwater program, said he would rather see the city hold individual developments responsible for the stormwater problems they cause. A resident of the Fairfield subdivision, he said stormwater problems in his neighborhood didn’t exist until new developments were built nearby.

Feldner said proving that stormwater problems in one neighborhood came from one or more particular developments can be difficult at best.

Bergin questioned why funds from the transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax couldn’t be used for stormwater improvements, particularly because SPLOST funds are paying for landscaping on MacDuff Parkway. McMullen replied that stormwater projects hadn’t been put on the special list of projects approved by the SPLOST, so they can’t legally be funded with SPLOST proceeds.

“My problem is you guys aren’t taking this this seriously,” Bergin said, drawing a reply from Rutherford.

“I resent that,” she said, adding that she and city officials have been involved in the process of creating the utility proposal.

“We’re not being lighthearted about it, we’re not being callous about it,” Feldner said. “We’re being as serious as we can be.”

Local biologist Dennis Chase, who served on the volunteer committee that began exploring the stormwater problem for the city, said the city’s proposed program is “well done.”