Lots of people have objected to paying stormwater fees, but in South Carolina at least one city isn’t allowing any leeway. The city of Tega Cay is suing residents who are delinquent in paying their fees.
While the annual residential stormwater fee averages $96, the amount owed will increase to about $250 if the case goes through the court system, and the residents will have to pay the $80 court fee as well, according to an article in South Carolina’s Fort Mill Times. The city has started filing suits against those who are delinquent in their 2009 fees, which were due in February 2009.
Residents who are sued can request a jury trial; this seems a tad risky considering the successful suits that have been brought against many utilities—claiming, for example, that the stormwater fee is actually an illegal tax . But the city, which is taking the money needed to file the suits from its stormwater budget, stands to recoup more than it pays out. Some of the 224 delinquent residents have simply paid up before the city files against them.