Following a series of town hall meetings last week on San Juan, Lopez and Orcas islands, the County Council’s stormwater sub-committee set aside three proposed funding tools and opted for a hybrid instead on Oct. 13.

In a unanimous decision, the three sub-committee members endorsed a formula of parcel fees in which nearly all property owners would pay a so-called “base rate” of $23.84, and that would divide project costs among those on the islands on which they will be constructed.

The council will weigh in on the new-found formula, known as the “50-50” plan on Nov. 4, with an expectation of having some way of financing stormwater projects in place by the time the 2009 county budget is approved. Fees must be enacted as part of the budget for collection to occur beginning next year.

But for now, Eastsound and Lopez Village property owners may be able to rest a bit easier. Prior to last week’s meetings, San Juan Island councilman and sub-committee Chairman Rich Peterson said that the three-person panel was “leaning” toward the “50-25-25” formula, in which property owners in the two unincorporated urban growth areas of the county, Eastsound and Lopez Village, would pay yearly stormwater fees in excess of $200, on par with those in Seattle.

That formula, according to Peterson, was intended to recoup the bulk of project costs from those who presumably would gain the greatest benefit from them. The hybrid was offered up by council Chairman Howie Rosenfeld, Friday Harbor, embraced by Councilman Gene Knapp, Orcas East, and originally welcomed by Peterson.

“I can live with it,” Peterson said, “though I might end up voting the other way.”

Under the 50-50 plan, property owners on San Juan Island, with the exception of Friday Harbor, would pay $55.96 a year, while their counterparts on Orcas and Lopez would pay $84.44, and $63.74, respectively. (Those on Shaw would pay $55.70 and on the outer islands, $44.17).

Any stormwater fee enacted by the county would not apply to property owners in Friday Harbor, which funds and operates a stormwater utility of its own. Town property owners pay a minimum of $128 a year in stormwater fees.

According to county officials, failure to put some type of funding package in place could be a catalyst for state-issued sanctions. Council members have repeatedly said that the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board is poised to hand down penalties, such as a ban on building permits for anything other than a single-family residence, should the county fail to fund its stormwater management plan.

The council, according to county Communications Manager Stan Mathews, as well as the public works department, would like to revise the existing plan, which calls for $3.36 million in countywide improvement projects – $2 million targeted for Eastsound – over the next six years. However, Mathews said the Hearings Board has warned that the county must show “good faith” by promptly funding projects already identified in the plan.