Higher business cost: Windsor Port Authority prepared to challenge city stormwater fee plan

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Windsor Port Authority CEO Steve Salmons called the city of Windsor’s new stormwater sewer fee plan unfair and is prepared to challenge attempts to charge the organization $300,001 annually, noting most of the port’s 60 acres are not hooked up to the system.

Salmons said the Port Authority’s ground water is contained, treated and released directly back into the Detroit River.

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“Our argument is we appreciate the objective of your program and agree, where we use the services of the city, we ought to pay for the services we receive,” Salmons said.

“The response from talking to the consultant is council has taken the position everyone pays out of fairness. I can tell you the Port Authority is failing to see fairness in paying $300,001 for services it does not receive.”

The proposal goes to city council Monday and takes effect Jan. 1 if approved. The plan is designed to put a more realistic price on stormwater runoff.

“Every homeowner in the city will see a decrease in their overall water bill,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said.

“Today residential owners are paying a disproportionate cost to maintain and operate the stormwater system. A place like Home Depot, Costco … when it rains, they are contributing significantly to the stormwater in the system.

“They’re not paying the true cost of managing that storm water.”

Currently residential owners foot 55 per cent of the sewer bill, but that percentage shrinks to 44 per cent under the new plan.

The city estimates it will need an increase of $10 million for the sewer systems in 2025 regardless of what billing plan is used.

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“Ultimately the size of any increases moving forward will be determined by council and our priorities,” Dilkens said.

Salmons said the Port Authority supports the user-pay system but will use whatever legal means available to challenge the imposition of the new charges, when it comes to services he says his organization does not receive.

As a federal body, the city can’t directly tax the Port Authority. It would have to submit an application to the Public Services Procurement Canada (PSPC) to apply for payment in lieu of taxes.

“It’s either a tax or it’s a service,” Salmons, who said the Port Authority pays about $750,000 annually in property tax.

“If it’s a tax, go through PSPC and prove your case. If it’s service, you have an obligation and a duty to demonstrate the service we receive for your set fee.”

The city counters that everyone benefits when streets and basements don’t flood regardless of whether they’re hooked up to the sewer system.

Salmons added other private port landowners, such as Windsor Salt, ADM and Morton Terminal, who aren’t hooked up to city sewers are ‘concerned and confused why they’re being dragged into this.’

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“They’re facing about $250,000 apiece,” Salmons said.

Salmons said the new surcharge wipes out the Port Authority’s profit of just over $300,000 last year. He also found little solace in the proposed credit/incentives package the city is offering to property owners.

“How generous is it to only charge you half for something you don’t use or don’t need?” Salmons said.

The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, Windsor Construction Association and Heavy Construction Association all expressed concerns about the size of the increases that will mostly impact larger companies or those with expansive parking areas.

Heavy Construction Association president Dan Krutsch had concerns on the methodology of calculating fees.

“This basis of the concern is my understanding that this region is different than the rest of the province,” said Krutsch, who founded and is president of Landmark Engineering Ltd.

“The clay acts like pavement, water doesn’t soak in quickly and you get runoff.

“It would be better if they measured total area draining and then had a higher weighting for impervious ground cover. It would also more efficiently spread out the payment of fees.”

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Windsor Construction Association executive director Jim Lyons was worried the higher fees will make Windsor less attractive for investment.

“At a time when we’re trying to attract development, these numbers are alarming,” Lyons said. “We don’t want to be too far out of line with the rest of the province.”

The city’s deputy treasurer/financial planning Tony Ardovini said under the new plan Windsor’s average combined sewer surcharges would be $15 under the provincial averages. The combined average bill for property taxes and storm and sanitary sewer surcharges would be $1,851 below the Ontario average.

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