The Fayette County Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) was approved by voters in March, and on April 25 the Fayette County Commission kept their word and repealed the Fayette County Stormwater Utility.

The commission on April 13 considered a staff proposal to repeal the 5-year-old stormwater utility for unincorporated property owners but tabled it to give attorney Dennis Davenport time to draft a document to address the board’s concerns.

At question was Fayette’s ability to collect delinquent stormwater utility payments if the utility went out of existence.

Davenport at the April 25 meeting suggested adding a section to the stormwater ordinance that effectively allowed the ability to collect delinquent fees but prohibited the assessment of new fees.

The recommendation carried a Dec. 31 sunset provision unless commissioners want to extend it if the continued collection of delinquent fees is needed.

Commissioners agreed, voting to repeal the stormwater utility with the provision recommended by Davenport.

The stormwater utility since its inception has billed $3.086 million and collected $2.691 million from 17,000 unincorporated property owners, with $394,4741 uncollected.

With the passage of the SPLOST, there is approximately $23.741 million designated for 238 stormwater utility-related projects.