That’s the question legislators are debating at the NC General Assembly, as we draft this post.
Two Sides
On the one side you have the environmentalists who claim the rules aren’t strict enough. You can read more about this over at the left-leaning Independent Weekly Web site. On the other hand, you have local governments, businesses and folks in the real estate and building industry (in a unusual coalition) saying the rules will cost billions to implement—and may not even clean up the water.
The issue is simple: clean up Jordon Lake. The solution is more complicated. State regulators want local governments and private businesses to “retrofit” existing buildings and development. Guess what, there’s no money from the state to meet this mandate.
Not a Win-Win
So guess who pays? You do. In the form of higher taxes from government and increases in the cost of living. While everyone agrees something has to be done—the proposed solution of retrofitting is too costly, and the benefit unknown.
So our question to our readers is this: Is it fair for the state to make local governments and businesses go back and retrofit properties with storm water devices—costing billions of dollars? If not, what is a fair solution?
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