By ABC-7 Reporter Martin Bartlett
EL PASO -- El Paso County Commissioners formally said Monday morning they shouldn't have to pay tens of thousands of dollars each year in stormwater fees to the Public Service Board, but will continue payment until the issue is resolved.
The vote was unanimous.
The county's resolution opens the door to exploring how the county might legally get out of the payment.
"I think we should instruct our auditors not to pay anymore," Commissioner Luis Sariñana said. "If (the city of El Paso and PSB) want to sue us, go ahead and sue us."
"I do not recommend we stop payments," County Judge Anthony Cobos warned Sariñana.
County Public Information Officer Araceli Lozcano estimates the county would owe about $50,000 annually for all its properties. Some officials said Ascarate Park is able to handle its own run-off since most of it is unpaved.
"We have certain sites where we take care of our own ponding and drainage," Precinct 2 Commissioner Veronica Escobar said.
Those locations include two juvenile probation facilities, Ascarate Park Golf Course and swimming pool, the County Jail Annex, and the northeast annex, which all have ponding areas already in place to handle their own run-off.
Escobar voted for the resolution but said she is not opposed to the stormwater fee in principle.
The stormwater fee was imposed on home and business owners after Storm 2006. The city and PSB said it was needed to offset the costs of capital improvements that would mitigate flooding.
Many business owners have said they're being unfairly taxed by the fee.
An El Paso County Court judge ruled in August that the stormwater system management was lawfully delegated by the city to the Public Service Board.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected from an earlier version. County Public Information Officer Araceli Lozcano corrected the estimate of county stormwater costs given by commissioners from the dais. The county estimates it would owe about $50,000 annually for all its properties -- not just Ascarate Park
