Wo all received the Solid waste & Stormwater fee "Love letter" ? (Jacksonville: city hall, rent)

[CityCare]

You can pay at Tax Collector without the bill, they will find your account by name.

[travelingfood]

believe me, no one's eager to pay this bill...

[apanda]

So I got an update from my Council man, Don Redman, about not getting a bill yet. I thought this was interesting...

Mrs. Turner,

Our billing file is based on the 2007 tax roll. Your property at the time we received the data didn't register as "billable," so you did not receive a bill. We are not adding properties to our system as they are completed and occupied - we will do it once a year, as the tax rolls are finalized, and any new properties on the roll will receive a bill for the following cycle (we won't add back charges).

Therefore, you may expect to receive a bill next April for calendar year 2009.

Regards,

]Marcy Cook

[HIF]

You lucky panda, you!

I want to make the most of my time with the civil engineer on Friday. I have some basic questions to ask, but know so little about this whole process and about civil engineers- should I ask if they specialize in stormwater issues? Do you get references? And about the legislation specifically- what to ask to vet their knowledge of the process we must follow and the certification they must render? Do any of you have some thoughts on questions to ask? My questions will be specifically about HOAs, but I also need to have basic info for the property owners.

[apanda]

Originally Posted by HIF

You lucky panda, you!

Yeah, really! I thought it was interesting that she said I would get a bill next year for 2009, so apparently we are paying this year's services, but they are using last year's tax info for the bill?? hmmm

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Karla with a K

Hey all
I had an interesting conversation with the MG I teach with. We were discussing the fee and she said she was at a meeting and if your neighborhood has a retention pond it may be eligible for a 30% discount off the Storm water fee

here is the link I found on the coj site

Certified Stormwater Pond Credit Details

I am going to call our property management company today to see if we can apply

Okay, now I'm further confused..............

Has there been a new development built that DOESN'T have a retention pond or 2 or 3....??

So, since the city would have this information on file from when the development was built (permits, right?), WHY DIDN'T THEY CALCULATE THE DISCOUNT IN FROM THE START?

And what about neighborhoods with NATURAL ponds/lakes, are they eligible? They should be, they serve the same purpose.

Okay, now I have like 3 projects with the city over this .

[Karla with a K]

Originally Posted by riveree

Okay, now I'm further confused..............

Has there been a new development built that DOESN'T have a retention pond or 2 or 3....??

So, since the city would have this information on file from when the development was built (permits, right?), WHY DIDN'T THEY CALCULATE THE DISCOUNT IN FROM THE START?

And what about neighborhoods with NATURAL ponds/lakes, are they eligible? They should be, they serve the same purpose.

Okay, now I have like 3 projects with the city over this .

Riv
From what our PM told me the retention pond has to be certified by the St Johns River Mgt

The annoying thing is,why have they not made the "certified pond" discount more widely known.

If the MG I teach with hadn't said anything I would not of known and called to make sure our HOA applied.

So if you think about it, how much more money will the city waste once homeowners who have already paid then find out about the discount apply. It will take man hours to process these requests then the mailing costs to send the refunds.

But wait !!! if certified pond discount request isn't filed by I think July 1st then your not eligible
If the average bill is $60 the 30% discount would be $12
$12 x the number of homes that didn't know about the discount = lots of extra money.

[agreatlife]

Now I'm confused. You have to hire your own engineer to come out and tell you if your pond is eligible? @ $500, that would take a lot of time add up all those $12.00 savings. Or if you apply for the discount, does the city come out at no expense to you?

[WitchDoctor]

Originally Posted by Karla with a K

But wait !!! if certified pond discount request isn't filed by I think July 1st then your not eligible
If the average bill is $60 the 30% discount would be $12
$12 x the number of homes that didn't know about the discount = lots of extra money.

That, my friends is the bottom line. The fee is relatively small to start with so most people will just shrug their shoulders, grit their teeth and pay it. Lots of people are eligible for a discount if they can jump through the hoops and get their paperwork in on time. The discount is basically set up like a rebate. The city is hoping that you don't find out or that you forget to send the request in like lots of people do with a rebate.

[HIF]

Originally Posted by WitchDoctor

That, my friends is the bottom line. The fee is relatively small to start with so most people will just shrug their shoulders, grit their teeth and pay it. Lots of people are eligible for a discount if they can jump through the hoops get their paperwork in on time. The discount is basically set up like a rebate. The city is hoping that you don't find out or that you forget to send the request in like lots of people do with a rebate.

An HOA can obtain the certification and apply on behalf of all the residents. We've notified our property owners that the association is looking into it. But I've spoken to four other HOAs and they were not aware of this. It's on the website, but there is so much on there that I think most folks are too busy or too intimidated to go through it all. Once the credit is approved, it's forever, so it may be a small amount now, but not in the long run.

I'm surprised that the COJ neighborhood services division doesn't send an e-mail blast to all the registered HOAs- they send them out frequently, within the past month, we've received:

JTA Weekly Roadway Report
Senior Center Happenings Southeast
Lend a helping paw
2008 Florida Neighborhoods Conference Registration Booklet