Marie Dougherty - Clinton City Council

Update to my June 1 post: You will get a tax notice in the mail next week, and it will say the City is requesting an extra $129* a year from the average homeowner. It will say it’s a 32% increase. And you will be mad. That sounds like a big percentage. But I ask you to read my explanation so you know why I — who my friends agree am one of the most frugal people they know — would vote for this.

The 32% is not an increase on your whole tax bill — just the Clinton City line. The average Clinton homeowner paid $398 in property taxes in 2023, so that’s low enough that it takes a decent percentage increase just to generate another hundred bucks.

To put it in perspective, the town of Clarkston is requesting a 64% increase, but their taxes are so low, it amounts to $120. Meanwhile, the Tooele School District is requesting an 11% increase, but their taxes are so high, it amounts to $253. So, I ask you to pay less attention to the percentage and more attention to the reason Clinton needs to make changes.

I know it feels like everything is going up all the time: groceries, restaurants, gas. It’s maddening, and I’m so sorry. I hate all of it, right along with you. But the City is subject to inflation just like everyone else, and I don’t see how the City can properly run without more revenue. The city manager and all our department heads are on the same page.

Here are some FAQs I’ve been getting, along with my personal responses:

🔵 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀?

We formed the budget through a months-long process in which our staff reviewed their needs vs. wants and made cuts several times. Clinton is already running lean.

🔵 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿’𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿’𝘀?

1. Inflation we CAN’T control.

The same exact things that were budgeted last year simply cost more this year across many categories — vehicle costs, supplies, trainings, infrastructure repairs, etc. Inflation happens with every budget, every year. You know this, because it hits you, too!

2. Inflation we CAN control, but with consequences.

This includes a cost-of-living adjustment for our employees, which is 3.2%, or about $300,000. We could choose not to do this, but we have to consider the overall picture of salaries and how they play into morale and turnover. Our people are our greatest asset, and like you, they need to make ends meet.

This also includes an extra ongoing $250,000 for preventive street maintenance. We could choose to keep kicking it down the road to avoid raising taxes — the city has already done that — but that would lead to much costlier repairs/replacements sooner than necessary. We’ve delayed long enough.

3. New personnel.

Included in the new budget are an additional police officer, a part-time code enforcement officer, a finance director, a part-time facilities manager, and IT help. Some people have been wearing too many hats for too long. We need to catch up to the size of city we’ve become.

🔵 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀?

We used extra sales tax revenue. But there isn’t an endless supply of that. Sales tax revenue grew steadily from 2012 to 2021, but began plateauing in 2022.

For years and years, we absorbed every cost-of-living increase and every new hire (except the paramedics team in 2021) while also putting extra sales tax revenue toward capital improvements. When infrastructure costs doubled in the aftermath of the pandemic, that wiped out all our excess.

🔵 𝗪𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲?

Yes, for sure. But we have millions of dollars in upcoming infrastructure costs that aren’t accounted for with the proposed property tax increase. So, if we get extra sales tax revenue, we need to save it for capital improvements.

🔵 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗳 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿?

We could, but we need the money now, so we would have to pull from our fund balance (like a savings). State law allows us to use our fund balance strategically and classify it as a revenue. We’ve done that many times over the years. In fact, we’re already budgeting $140,000 of it to go along with the tax increase. But we don’t foresee a way of replenishing the fund balance, so it’s not a great idea to use many hundreds of thousands of it.

Here’s the real kicker, though: Spreading the tax increase across two years won’t help you. The school district is very likely to do their own tax increase next year, so if we hold back this year, you’ll just get hit even harder by multiple entities next year. It makes more big-picture sense to do our full increase in a year when no other taxing entities are raising taxes.

*NOTE: I updated the number from $117.50 to $129 after the city got the final numbers from the county.

Story time tomorrow. Stay after for a fun craft.

Two different development proposals are coming before the Council next Tuesday. One is for the annexation area on our western border. The other is for land south of Vasa Fitness.

1. ANNEXATION AREA

This developer’s land is half inside Clinton and half in unincorporated Davis County. Altogether, it’s about 35 acres, near the canal and future West Davis Highway.

He’s asking the City Council two questions:

- Can he annex the western half into Clinton?
- Can he develop 361 townhomes and 18 small single-family homes? He would give the City land for a small park and a trail.

I haven’t heard any opposition to the first question, from officials or from the public. So, the real question is the second one.

The answer is entirely up to the City Council, with input from the public and the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission already reviewed the proposal and recommended, on a 4-3 vote, that the Council deny it in its current form.

I spoke to each commissioner after their meeting and asked for clarification. It turned out they were all generally in agreement with one another, but they preferred different phrasing.

Rather than “deny in its current form,” the three in the minority said they would have recommended to “approve but with changes.” They wanted the Council to address their concerns of access and density. They wished builders would build less expensive products. All seven members told me it was “too many townhomes” or they wanted “more single-family.”

Adding to their perspective, they said, was that West Point City already approved 132 townhomes on the corner of 1800 North and 4500 West. Further, the annexation developer was planning an additional 72 townhomes in West Point to border his Clinton project. The combination of all the bordering projects in that area would amount to 565 townhomes.

There is a public hearing Tuesday, July 9, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

-----------------

2. SOUTH OF VASA

This developer is requesting permission to build 75 townhomes and 34 small single-family homes in a similar fashion to the development the City Council approved in February, but smaller. The residential units would be situated between the power lines and 5.3 acres of commercial land.

The Planning Commission reviewed this proposal and recommended approval. They said they appreciated that it contained the same elements as the February project — elements that had brought down the temperature in the public and built consensus among officials after a difficult process.

One commissioner voted against, expressing desire that the council hold off until the general plan could be updated.

The City Council will vote July 9 during its 6 p.m. meeting.

Here he is -- King George III. Of course he is manspreading. 😂

On July 2, 1776, we declared independence from this man and from Britain. Two days later, we adopted the language of the Declaration of Independence.

Today my family will ponder with gratitude the power of deliverance as we listen to my husband recite every word of the Declaration — an annual tradition ever since he incredibly and insanely memorized it!

🇺🇸 Join us in never forgetting the face of tyranny:

“He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws … He has dissolved Representative Houses … He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people … He has made judges dependent on his Will alone … He has sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people …He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country … He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us … .”

🇺🇸 And if your soul needs stirring today, try these words…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

🇺🇸 Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 analysis of those precious words from the Declaration is my favorite:

“This was [the founding fathers’] majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures.

“In their enlightened belief, nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children and their children’s children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages.

“Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men, or none but white men, were entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence.”

Today’s update from UDOT…

Here’s the 2000 West update UDOT sent out today.

I voted. ✅ I also know several of the candidates personally, so feel free to reach out if you’d like my insight on any of the races. Please vote. Let’s boost Davis County’s turnout, Clinton!

Is your ballot in? Or do you have a plan to vote in person? Here’s the turnout as of this afternoon - we can do better than 18% in Davis County! If you have any questions about candidates or races please feel free to reach out to me directly.

If you are re-landscaping a large portion of your front/side yard visible to the public, or installing a front/side yard for the first time, please remember to follow Clinton City ordinances:

✅ Must file a landscape plan with the Community Development Department for approval. They'll get you all the details.

✅ No regular overhead spray sprinklers in park strips or areas less than 8 feet wide. (So much water waste!) That means no regular grass in those spaces. No concrete in park strips unless on a major street.

✅ No more than 35% of the front and side yard areas capable of being landscaped can be grass. (It’s 15% for commercial and multi-family.)

✅ At least 35% (at mature growth) of the total non-grass area must be living material. So, even though grass is not required, you can’t just do rocks by themselves. They create heat islands. Clinton’s ordinances have always required some percentage of living material.

Residents with tons of grass that was installed prior to June 2023 under the old ordinance are not forced to redo their yards. But if you do choose to redo your yard, you must follow the new ordinance.

I’m curious…have any of you used Weber Basin’s lawn exchange program to get rebate money for replacing your grass?

https://weberbasin.gov/Conservation/Rebates

This Wednesday in the recreation room!

I’m grateful for the many Clinton City staff members and volunteers who made Heritage Days so fun. Thank you to the public for coming together to celebrate our city. Life is good.

⭐️ Come introduce yourself if you see me at Heritage Days. I won’t think you’re a creeper! I’ll love it! I love putting faces to your names.

Don’t forget to stop by the art show in the entryway of City Hall. There’s air conditioning, cookies, water…and amazing art. Also, some amateur art from yours truly! I gave it a try and learned I’m not terrible. ⭐️

I need to make you aware — we will be getting a property tax increase later this year. The final hearing and vote will be in August.

I’m referring only to the Clinton City line on our tax bill (not the school district, not the county). We haven’t finalized any numbers, but I’m guessing the increase will be about $110 for the entire year on the average residential property.

It’s actually a small addition considering everything the city does. But I’m sorry, particularly for those who are stressed. Tax increases are never fun. My only solace is I know it’s the right move for the city's health.

I have studied this since last year, because I knew we were running super lean. The city has saved taxpayers so much money over the years by running lean.

The Utah Taxpayers Association has ranked Clinton #1 in the state for at least the past four years for lowest overall taxes and fees per capita. I like lean.

But the population has grown enough that now our operations are TOO lean. We can’t go on like that. Now it’s time to increase our baseline — our most stable revenue source, the property tax — and get us on a more appropriate track. We’ve got a new city manager who is ready and able to do that.

Here is a quote of my own words in a post to the public last summer: “There is a good chance we will need a property tax increase next year anyway, because we foresee needing to hire a few new employees and needing more revenue for street repairs.”

That turned out to be right. The new city manager — the person who runs the city — is working hard to fill gaps and modernize. We need a new finance director and human resources software. We need to boost training budgets, address building maintenance, and make technological upgrades. (Fun fact: We’ve been running on Windows 7!) We have city employees wearing too many hats.

We also need a major shot in the arm for our neighborhood streets. Infrastructure costs have doubled over the past few years. We especially need money for preventive maintenance. We’re still seeking grant money for the repairs on our major streets. But we have deferred too much preventive maintenance on neighborhood streets. We must budget more for those oily, goopy surface treatments that save us a lot of money, um, down the road.

More information will be coming throughout the summer.

✅ Did you know?

- Clinton has used sales tax revenue to compensate for low property taxes, but that revenue has plateaued and isn’t enough now.

- Farmington, which operates similarly to Clinton and has about the same population, brought in about $4 million in property tax revenue last year and about $8.4 million in sales tax revenue. Clinton brought in $3 million and $5.4 million, respectively.

- A city can only bring in the same amount of property tax revenue that it did the previous year, plus whatever comes from new growth. That’s it…unless their city council votes to actually increase taxes.

UDOT’s update today…

Can you believe it? Heritage Days is next week! The schedule of events is online at https://clintoncity.net/2226/Heritage-Days.

We're frequently asked about our most popular events: the parade and fireworks. Here's what you need to know.

🚴‍♀️𝐁𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞: The Bike Parade will kick off on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. Anyone who would like to participate in the Bike Parade can decorate a non-motorized bike, scooter, wagon, etc., and meet for staging at 9:15 a.m. For more information about how to participate, visit https://clintoncity.net/2454/Bike-Parade.

🇺🇸𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞: The Parade will kick off on Saturday at 10 a.m., starting at the corner of 1800 N & 1000 W. The Parade will head north until it reaches 2300 N, then it will head west. It will end at 1850 W & 2300 N. It's not too late to participate in the Parade! Registration is available until June 3. For more information, visit https://clintoncity.net/2403/Parade.

🎆𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: Our fireworks will light up the sky on Saturday at 9:45 p.m. at Civic Center Park. There will be many activities and entertainment leading up to the grand finale.

🚧𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬: We expect limited parking and heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the areas of Civic Center Park on Friday and Saturday night. Road closures will occur on Saturday morning in preparation for the morning activities. 1000 W will also be closed for parade staging between 1300 N & 1800 N. Please drive with caution and plan ahead.

These are the people who make our world go round. I started meeting them 3 ½ years ago, and I’m a better person for it.

I’m teary-eyed as I type, because it’s employee appreciation week, and I want the employees of Clinton City to know how special they are to me. I also want the public to understand the high caliber of human beings they employ. My fellow residents, your lives are better, too, because of these good souls.

I snapped pictures of some employees, but not all, this week when they gathered for a little celebratory pickleball (check out those moves!) and lunch. The faces of those not pictured are equally in my mind. Every one of them matters. Every one of them has performed meaningful work to increase the peace, safety, smooth function, beauty, and joy of Clinton City.

But can I tell you what’s so special beyond the strong work they provide? It’s who they are to their very cores. They are loyal, humble, warm, and kind. I’ve watched them put the city’s interest above their own, time and time again. Do you know how valuable that is?

They keep going, even when things are hard. They show up and don’t give up. They have great senses of humor, which is handy when chaos is thrown in their laps. They are stewards of the crazy, the gross, the fun, and the serious.

And when there are this many people in one place dedicated to something bigger than themselves, the result is POWER. We don’t have a lot of money, but we have the power of our people. That’s what makes our world go round. And by my count, Clinton is the most powerful city in the world.

𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝟮. Please read and give your feedback. Clinton needs to figure out how it should grow. We recently received a grant to start formally updating our city's general plan this summer, but that could take awhile.

In the meantime, we are faced with decision making. We are getting requests from developers who want to build two-story attached townhomes (multi-family) in the future annexation area and in our central city areas near 2000 West. The City Council already approved one development that has townhomes and small single-family homes, on the northern end of the city, just west of 2000 West.

A colleague and I talked to the governor’s senior advisor for housing strategy, who heavily emphasizes home ownership. He strongly recommended we make way for neighborhoods with less expensive single-family housing on smaller lots, similar to the kind of housing built after WWII, without the extra costs associated with HOAs.

We asked what he would recommend for a proposed 35-acre annexation area, and he said instead of only an “ocean of townhomes,” he would encourage adding single-family homes. He would recommend those homes not all be two stories, but include some less expensive one-story homes with only two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a carport to reduce costs.

I appreciated the idea of variation in home heights, not only for reduction in cost, but also for protecting the city’s feel. No seas of sameness.

What do you think?

A year ago, I made a post telling you we were considering townhomes in the annexation area if we ended up annexing it. I told you we were worried about the housing crisis, but that we were also concerned the state would force us to allow multi-family housing. A lot has changed since then, and I want to make sure we’re adapting as we gather new information.

The state has not forced multi-family housing. See PART 1 of my post: https://www.facebook.com/MarieClintonCityCouncil/posts/868877415254292

But there’s still a housing shortage. I think Clinton can help. My fellow council members may have different thoughts, but I think we should limit the 5- and 6-unit townhomes in favor of options that blend better, and I think Clinton is a good candidate for smaller, less expensive single-family homes.

Thank you for your tremendous patience with all the construction! (Even if you don’t always feel patient inside, you are keeping it together admirably. 😆 In my book, you are rockstars.)

I know the lane shifts and traffic backups are frustrating. Your lives and schedules are disrupted.

The best advice I can offer is to get weekly updates and alerts straight from UDOT so you can mentally and logistically prepare. Send UDOT’s team an email and ask them to put you on their email list. You can also call their project hotline if you have questions or concerns. These contacts are solely for the 2000 West project:

[email protected]
888-556-0232
https://www.publicinput.com/2000west

The 2000 West project goes a little ways onto 1800 North in each direction to improve the intersection and its underground utilities.

The lane closures and shifting traffic patterns at the intersection will be ongoing and ever-changing until June for a variety of reasons: sewer lateral realignments, sewer line from center of intersection to Zaxby’s, storm drain diagonal through the intersection, water line crossings.

[Begin deep breathing.]

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝟭. I want to update you on where things stand after the 2024 legislative session. I’m pleased to report that state lawmakers served up carrots, not sticks.

I want to express appreciation to House Speaker Mike Schultz, and other legislators, for understanding and responding to cities’ pleas for local control.

🟥 WHAT UTAH DOESN’T HAVE

There is no state mandate for cities to allow certain kinds of housing or densities. Zoning authority remains squarely in the hands of city councils. The Legislature made no attempt to mandate multi-family housing, but there was a bill that would have required cities to allow 5,400-square-foot lots in all residential zones (that’s similar to Clinton’s patio home lots). The League of Cities responded robustly, and the bill didn’t move forward.

🟩 WHAT UTAH DOES HAVE

1. An initiative from the governor, asking cities to allow 35,000 starter homes to be built over the next few years, saying, “While condos, townhomes and apartments are part of the overall solution to our housing needs, the focus of this program is on detached, owner-occupied, single-family starter homes.”

2. A requirement for cities to file a plan with the state every year showing how they propose to help boost moderate-income housing. We can pick from a menu of options, such as rezoning, reducing lot sizes, allowing “mother-in-law suites,” updating ordinances, creating incentive programs, etc.

3. A housing affordability crisis that threatens the long-term financial stability of the rising generation, made worse by a housing shortage of 30,000 units across the state and a rapidly increasing population.

4. Early data from the League of Cities showing there are about 190,000 entitled units across the state that simply haven’t been built yet! Cities have planned and zoned for these units, but developers haven’t built them, in many cases because they can’t finance the infrastructure. Those units would solve the housing shortage multiple times over. This proves the problem is much more nuanced than the narrative of “cities just need to allow more high-density housing” can hack.

5. New tools: an option for developers to access financing through the public bonding market; an option for tax increment funding for first-home housing projects.

Get ready to hop into Easter fun like never before! Rain or shine, we're all set for our Easter Egg Walk. We'll see you at Civic Center Park tomorrow from 10 - 11 a.m. (or until the candy disappears). 🐣

This year, we're mixing things up with stations along the path! Kids can enjoy collecting candy, eggs, and prizes as they stroll along. Check out the green-highlighted path on the map below! 🍬

And don't miss the chance to snap a pic with the Easter Bunny! 🐰

Hey! We've extended our deadline. Have your young writers submit their essays soon.
Learn More: https://www.ulct.org/events/contests-and-awards/ulct-youth-essay-contest

🇺🇸 March 5 at 7 p.m. is caucus night. It’s also the first round of voting for the U.S. presidential race.

These events are governed by the political parties. Here are the basics:

If you are registered as a Republican, caucus night is the only way to cast your vote for president. The Utah Republican Party decided not to do a regular mail-in primary this year, so you will NOT get a ballot in the mail.

If you are registered as a Democrat, you will have already gotten a presidential ballot in the mail.

The other reason for caucus night is that neighborhoods (precincts) gather to choose a few representatives (delegates) from among themselves who will go to the county and state conventions in the spring. The conventions are run by the political parties. Delegates vote for which county-level and state-level candidates should be on the ballot later in the year for various races.

🟥 utgop.org
Go to the website to find your Republican caucus location and to pre-register. You must be registered as a Republican to participate. It looks like most of Clinton is gathering at either Sunset Junior High or West Point Junior High.

🟦 utahdemocrats.org
The Democratic caucus is at Kaysville Junior High. You don’t have to be a Democrat to participate.

If you belong to a different party, go to caucus.utah.gov.

I hate increasing fees. I know some Clinton residents are struggling financially, and it kills me. But we also have no choice but to be responsible stewards of the City’s funds and systems. We adjusted the water billing a while back, and now it’s time to address the other fees on our utility bill.

The image you see is the result of the audit from fiscal year 2022-23, which ended June 30. Each of those funds is run like its own little business: water, sewer, solid waste, storm water. Those funds do not receive property tax money. Instead, they are covered by our monthly utility bill.

But if you look at the audit, you’ll see “covered” is a strong word. The expenses for the sewer, solid waste, and storm water funds are higher than the revenues.

The City has been making up the difference by using the fund balances — basically the savings — which are really not meant for normal operating expenses. And while the City made do with that for a bit, allowing the public to keep money in their pockets, we would really regret it if we used up the savings and then had a burst sewer line or some other fiasco.

So, here’s the new monthly billing the City Council implemented to properly manage these accounts. The total increase is $6.50 per household per month:

💩 SEWER:
Fee goes from $5.20 to $8.20
(Last increased in 2016)

🗑 SOLID WASTE:
Fee goes from $16.50 to $18
(Last increased in 2022, but only by 50 cents, and then the dump increased fees)

⛈ STORM WATER:
Fee goes from $4.50 to $6.50
(Last increased in 2013)

These are vast, expensive systems that we mostly take for granted. They keep Clinton from flooding, stinking, inundating, swamping, plaguing, rotting, and otherwise befouling ourselves. Thank you to the dear souls who maintain them.