Commissioner Hardy criticizes stormwater fee, urges residents to press legislators

Commissioner John Hardy said Tuesday that Berkeley County has little choice over a locally collected stormwater management fee and urged residents to press state and federal lawmakers for relief. "This is a fee that is imposed on us by the EPA at the federal level. It's imposed on us at the state level by the DEP," Hardy said, arguing the county is constrained by higher-level mandates and consent-decree obligations.

Hardy spoke for several minutes about the burden on taxpayers and said the commission has a plan to "soften the blow" and potentially absorb the fee into general revenues in the future, though he acknowledged "the money is not here right now." He also criticized what he described as inconsistent enforcement and pointed to recent sewage discharges in other jurisdictions to argue against a one-size-fits-all assessment.

Other commissioners acknowledged the work of the county's stormwater board. The president thanked staff for implementing plans to improve discharge rates under a consent decree and noted those efforts have come at cost to taxpayers. Assessor and county staff clarified that stormwater administration and any related consent-decree responsibilities limit the county's flexibility to unilaterally eliminate the fee.

Hardy encouraged constituents frustrated by the charge to "reach out to any of your legislators, your federal legislators, reach out to your senators, your congresspeople, and your local state legislators." He said commissioners will continue to develop options but gave no timetable for a specific policy change.

The discussion was part of routine commission business; no formal policy change or vote on the stormwater fee was taken during the meeting.