The recent increase of DuPage County’s sales tax has led officials to back away from a proposal to charge property owners a fee to fund flood-control measures.

The county had been considering the new fee that would charge property owners based on the amount of impervious material — such as concrete and asphalt — on their land. The fee would be assessed in 500-square-foot increments, and it would generate about $15 million annually, officials estimated.

The proposal has been met with criticism from municipal governments, schools and churches, which would be among the hardest hit because of their large parking lots and paved surfaces.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett said the County Board does not have the authority to create such a fee.

The county’s portion of the sales tax increased by one-quarter cent April 1, along with another quarter-cent increase to fund regional mass transit. The county’s portion is dedicated to public safety and transportation programs, but officials have said it will free up revenue to be used in other areas of county operations.

“Obviously, with the quarter-cent sales tax, we’re going to be having some additional funds coming in from the general fund,” said County Board member Jim Zay, R-6th District, of Carol Stream, chairman of the board’s Stormwater Committee.

Zay said he wants to see how the new revenue will affect funding for flood control before the committee moves any further with the additional fee.

Still in the long run, Zay said he thinks it is important to have a dedicated fee for flood control rather than relying on general revenues, which mainly come from property taxes.

“We don’t want to put the board in a position where we’re deciding between the Convalescent Center and making sure people’s houses don’t flood,” Zay said.

Tony Charlton, director of the county’s Stormwater Management Division, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires the county to have programs to manage flooding under the Clean Water Act. The county’s major flood-control infrastructure includes the Wood Dale-Itasca Reservoir and the Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Facility.

While the county most likely won’t face fines or penalties because of its current funding structure, the EPA prefers these programs to be funded by a dedicated source, Charlton said. Flood-control facilities are the only major infrastructure in the county funded by property taxes, he said.

“It will be brought back up at some point in the future,” Charlton said. “I can’t see that happening for at least a year, maybe longer.”

Birkett said that because the county does not have home rule powers, it doesn’t have the authority to create the new fee. The Illinois General Assembly would need to sign off on such a fee, he said.

The Stormwater Committee did not solicit Birkett’s opinion on the issue, opting instead to seek legal advice from a law firm that successfully defended a similar fee in Rock Island.