DALTON, Ga. — Dalton Utilities water customers in the city of Dalton won’t be paying a stormwater fee just yet.

On Friday, the city’s Public Works Committee, which consists of City Council members Gary Crews and Annalee Harlan, tabled a vote on possible stormwater fee rates after several representatives of local industry spoke to them about their concerns about the rates.

“We need to bring these concerns back to the full mayor and council,” said Crews.

There are three plans with different rates for each category.

In one plan, residential customers would pay $2 a month, commercial would pay $14.22 per month per meter and industrial would pay $35 per month per meter. In another, residential customers would pay $1.50 per month, commercial $16.10 per month per meter and industrial $40 per month per meter. In the third, residential customers would pay $1 per month, commercial $17.25 per month per meter and industrial $50 per month per meter.

On Monday, the council members had voted 4-0 to approve an ordinance creating new stormwater fees and giving the Public Works Committee the authority to set the rates.

On Friday, several industry representatives raised concerns about the plan, which would charge them based on the number of water meters they have. They noted that some facilities might have multiple water meters and there’s no relationship between the number of water meters a facility has and either the amount of water it uses or the amount of storm runoff it creates.

They also noted that they not only pay city taxes but are themselves required by environmental regulations to create expensive stormwater control ponds and other infrastructure to control runoff.

“If the city is going to special assess the fee, it should be based on something other than water meters,” said Ken Harris, chief financial officer of Arrowstar. “Our preference would be to keep it within the operating budget of the city. Industry already pays a larger portion of the city tax and this should be a part of what their taxes go toward.”

City officials say they want to raise some $628,000 a year to fund the four-man crew that inspects and maintains stormwater infrastructure as well as to fund the $175,000 the city pays the Whitfield County engineering department to manage regulatory, plan review and permitting aspects of stormwater control. The city has been paying those costs out of general revenue since it assumed responsibility for stormwater control from Dalton Utilities in 2015.

Assistant Public Works Director Andrew Parker said officials just want to make sure they have the resources to meet their obligations under the city’s stormwater permit from the state Environmental Protection Division, such as inspecting and maintaining its stormwater system.