Use of Ad Valorem Tax To Satisfy Statutory Requirement for a User Charge System for Water Treatment Works

The propriety of the Environmental Protection Agency's authorizing grant recipients to meet the user charge requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act through the use of ad valorem taxes was questioned. The statutory requirement that grantees adopt a system assuring that each recipient of waste treatment services pay its proportionate share of operation and maintenance costs would not be met by an ad valorem tax. Tax- exempt properties would not pay for any services, and an ad valorem tax does not achieve proportionality according to use. The Congress intended the adoption of a user charge to raise the needed revenues.