City Council members were told Tuesday that Chattanooga's water quality fees are far below many other cities.
Jim Luebbering, assistant city engineer, said Chattanooga's $30 per acre charge is 970 percent below an average of 39 other cities that were sampled.
He said, "A lot are in the range of $200, $250 or $400 an acre."
Mr. Luebbering used as an example a five-acre site where a gas station was put in. He said the Chattanooga total water quality fee would be $165.
In Orlando, where he once worked, the charge would be $17,000 for the same project, he said. But he said Orlando's water quality program is "100 percent developer funded."
He said other cities for the five-acre development example would include $4,330 for Asheville and $1,580 for Atlanta. Smyrna, Tn., would be $700.
Mr. Luebbering said, "The charge (to the developer) here is extremely low."