COEUR d'ALENE - An engineering consultant is recommending the city adopt an ordinance that would allow the city of Coeur d'Alene to collect stormwater fees from residential and commercial users again.

The city repealed its previous stormwater fee late last year because an Idaho Supreme Court decision deemed the city of Lewiston's stormwater utility fee was an illegal "tax" and struck it down.

But after contracting the engineering firm FSC Group, the city could be ready to put a re-written ordinance on the books that defines the fee as just that - a fee for service and not a flat tax.

"In our opinion I think it does," City Attorney Mike Gridley said on the proposed fee structure meeting requirements defining it as a fee.

The fee's formula would be based on the amount of property each resident has where runoff water deposits directly into the city's collection system. By basing it on property that directly pours water into the city's swales and pipes, it can be identified as a fee for service, Gridley said, and not a flat charge for all property owners, regardless of their property's makeup.

FSC, out of Renton, Wash., surveyed with city engineering staff more than 300 residential locations as well as 1,500 commercial spaces to determine the fee scale of $4.63 for residents in the southern section of town, served by pipes, or $5.21 a month for residents in the north, whose runoff is serviced by swales.

Those figures would allow for future growth and water treatment requirements that could come down the line, according to FSC.

Or the city could charge $3.76 a month for southern residents or $4.13 for swale users.

FSC's study said a rate of $4 each would maintain existing services, but wouldn't give room to budget for growth.

The old ordinance, which was more of a flat rate that didn't pinpoint the estimated affected areas, charged around a $4 residential rate per month.

Commercial rates were based essentially on impervious surface area and cost more - that's to say, they were charged if they had large parking lots, regardless if they dumped runoff water into the system. Commercial rates would now be about $5, according to FSC.

A public hearing on the fee will be 6 tonight in the Community Room of the public library.

Stormwater fees fund the department's $1.3 million budget, and pays for the upkeep and repair of 150 miles of stormwater pipe that connects underground to Lake Coeur d'Alene or the Spokane River.