As the storm water fee standoff between the city of Arlington, Texas, and its school district intensifies, former Councilman Joe Bruner has asked residents to put an end to a legal battle before it starts by helping pay the school's bills.

Bruner and his wife, Doreen, have pledged to pay the storm water fees for Ellis Elementary School near their north Arlington home for three years. Bruner calculated the first-year fee will cost about $1,550 and said that people should "take care of their own."

District Superintendent Mac Bernd, though he said he appreciated the Bruners' offer, added that the contribution is unlikely to resolve the conflict. "We deeply appreciate such a kind offer, and if any money comes to the district, we'll hold it in escrow until the matter is resolved," he said.

Bruner said that if residents help pay the school district's storm water fees for the next few years, that officials will have time to reduce storm water runoff and thus their city bills. "Right or wrong, I don't want to put the kids in the middle," he said. "There are a lot of people with enough money in our city that they could pay $105,000 or $150,000 and give the school district time."

Arlington's city council raised storm water fees for property owners, including city entities and the school district, this summer. Because the school district owns a great deal of impervious surfaced property, it had already paid about $72,000 in storm water fees annually. The first year of the increase begins Oct. 1, and the city plans to charge the district about $179,000, said Cindy Jackson, storm water fee administrator. Each year the fee will increase; in 2010, it would cost the district an estimated $380,000.

The school board adopted a resolution in August pledging not to pay any storm water fees; members argued that one taxing entity should not tax another, especially with such an extremely burdensome fee.

City leaders, however, maintain that the fee increase was necessary to help pay Arlington's $100 million drainage project backlog and prevent future flooding. They have also said that storm water fees must be applied equally amongst property owners, including the school district, to maintain fairness.

School district leaders said they will take the fee increase to court, although the city council granted staff authority to shut off water to any customer who fails to pay the fee for two months or more.

Bernd said that the district has not established any storm water runoff mitigation plans on existing campuses. He pointed out that the district does not have enough funding to replace parking lots with porous surfaces. And ponds, he said, would attract mosquitoes and leave schools with the burden of keeping students out of the water. 'We will look at mitigation on any new construction, but as for retrofitting, it's not an alternative," he said.

Source: Star-Telegram