In April of 2005, due to persistent issues with stormwater related problems in our community and increasingly stringent mandates from the federal and state governments, the City of Cartersville convened a committee of 23 community representatives to examine the current stormwater issue and recommend a plan of action. After a long series of meetings and discussions, the Stormwater Advisory Committee (SAC) made several recommendations:

• Establish a separate Stormwater Utility to fund the stormwater program
• Establish a fee scale which reflects individual customers level of impact on stormwater runoff
• Maintain low impact fees with regards to stormwater
• Supplement funding for stormwater projects through the use of SPLOST and moderate fees on new development
• Establish credits for non-residential entities which meet certain stormwater mitigation criteria

As a result of the SAC, the new Stormwater utility was launched in February 2007 and has been operational since.