Latrobe residents will have about three months to pay the city’s new annual stormwater management fee after they receive their bill at the beginning of each year.
City Council on Tuesday set the billing cycle for the fee that is meant to support Latrobe’s efforts to comply with a state environmental mandate that it reduce sediment flowing into local streams by 10% annually over five years.
Bills will be sent during the first week of January and will be due by March 31.
City Manager Michael Gray acknowledged the new fee will be payable at about the same time residents are billed for household garbage collection. But, he noted, the extended period for submitting the stormwater fee will “give people a break from the holiday,” and its resulting expenses.
The city will assess a fee of $90 per equivalent residential unit.
Next year, property owners in the city may not have to pay any additional real estate tax. Gray presented a preliminary 2021 budget proposal to council’s finance committee for review, noting, “at this point, there’s no tax increase.”
Latrobe’s property tax rests at 21.5 mills. Council is expected to act on a tentative 2021 budget and tax structure in November, with final approval in December.
Backhoe replacement eyed
One unplanned expense the city is facing is replacement of a backhoe used at the city’s solid waste transfer station. Public works Director Scott Wajdic reported that a boom on the backhoe broke on Friday, making it unsafe to operate.
Gray said he hopes to rent a replacement unit and consider purchase of it at council’s Oct. 26 meeting. “We’re going to try to get it this weekend so we can move ahead,” he said.
The city also incurred unanticipated costs as part of its response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Council authorized Gray to apply for reimbursement of some of those costs through the Westmoreland CARES Municipal Support grant program.
Latrobe spent a few thousand dollars on personal protective gear for city office staff, but pandemic-related expenses at the police department have yet to be determined, Gray said.
