SEBASTIAN — Sebastian property owner Dr. Henry Fischer will get more than $16,500 back from the City of Sebastian as a refund from paying stormwater fees on his various parcels, including a large, undeveloped sand-pit.
The Sebastian City Council voted 4-0 in favor of granting Fischer the refund as well as establishing a stormwater fee waiver for those properties that are undeveloped and do not impact the city’s stormwater system. Councilman Jim Hill was absent from the meeting.
City Manager Al Minner told the Sebastian City Council Wednesday evening that Fischer challenged the city’s stormwater assessment of his properties and in reviewing case, city staff discovered he had been overcharged on some parcels and undercharged on others. After all the calculations were done, Fischer had overpaid the city a little more than $5,000 in 2012.
Staff further determined that the sand-pit property off Schumann Drive accounts for 30 percent of Fischer’s annual stormwater assessment.
Given documentation from the St. Johns River Water Management District that states the property doesn’t adversely affect the city’s drainage system, Minner told the council he felt Fischer should be granted a larger discount on that site.
He explained that the 15 property owners with large landholdings in the city – mostly commercial – get a discount on their assessments.
Fischer is “reasonably due $16,554,” Minner said.
Minner is expected to bring back to the Sebastian City Council a draft of his proposed fee waiver for approval, which would then be in effect in time for the 2014 fiscal year.
