The Chattanooga Stormwater Regulations Board voted Monday to postpone action on two agenda items, including the issue of water-quality fee exemptions for elderly and disabled city residents that has been called into question after a recently discovered state attorney general's opinion from 2006.
"We had on the agenda an item to review that, to recommend to the City Council that we figure out how to maintain doing that," board Chairman Doug Stein said Monday. "And that has not been done as I understand. I'm not sure there's anything that can be done here today."
The board is waiting for a detailed explanation from the state before tackling the issue. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 19.
Presently, the exemption, which applies to more than 1,930 Chattanoogans, is classified as a tax exemption. But the attorney general's opinion found those fees can't be covered by the state's tax relief program because they are fees not taxes.
The exemption was created when the city began charging water-quality fees in 1993.