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Douglas Bruce Petitions Stormwater Fee
County Commissioner Douglas Bruce says we shouldn't have to pay the fee at all without going to the polls to decide. And he's filed a petition against the city.
Reporter: Mindy Stone |
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Thousands of business and homeowners across Colorado Springs have received their new Stormwater fee. But some aren't paying their bill.
City officials believe some people haven't paid their bill yet because they're not familiar with the new fee. But, County Commissioner Douglas Bruce says we shouldn't have to pay the fee at all without going to the polls to decide. And he's filed a petition against the city.
You may have opened your mailbox recently to find this ... a bill for Colorado Springs' new Stormwater fee. City Council gave the okay back in 2005 to charge property owners, starting this year, to pay for a back-log of drainage projects. "There was discussion on how it should be implemented. We presented that to council and the decision was made to implement it as an enterprise fee," said Kenneth Sampley, Stormwater Enterprise Manager. It passed without voter approval. But it's a decision County Commissioner Douglas Bruce says voters should have made. And he's filed a petition against the city. "This is a tax we should have been allowed to vote on. If you're going to have an enterprise like stormwater enterprise, which really isn't an enterprise at all, you have to have it be a voluntary charge," said El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce. The City Clerk threw his petition out on a technicality. But Bruce says it wasn't up to her to decide. He's now waiting to make his case to a board of city officials. While homeowners wait to see if the fee will be sticking around.
Bruce hopes to get it on the November ballot. He'll need to get enough signatures to the City Clerk's office by August.


