Hartford - A bill that would allow New London to create a stormwater authority passed the state Senate 32-4 Wednesday night.

The stormwater authority would be similar to a water utility authority and would be able to charge property owners, including those who are tax-exempt, based on how much of their property is impermeable. The money collected would be applied to the cost of managing stormwater or rainstorm runoff.

State Sen. Andrea Stillman, D-Waterford, advocated for the bill and said that of the three municipalities that were a part of a stormwater pilot study, only New London chose to move forward.

"The leaders of the City of New London have been asking for this opportunity for years," Stillman said.

A large percentage of New London property is not subject to property tax - hospital, colleges and other nonprofits. The measure would give the city the ability to move forward once it creates a stormwater authority, Stillman said. The bill now moves to the House for a vote.

If signed into law, and if the New London City Council passes an ordinance to create a stormwater authority, New London would have the first such authority in the state, City Council President Michael E. Passero said. The authority would have the power to sue, acquire property, borrow money, apply liens and recommend to the council the imposition of a fee on real property.

New London completed a study in 2009 to determine how much stormwater each property created and assess the costs of stormwater mitigation. The study showed that the city needed to increase the level of stormwater spending to more than $900,000 annually, from $507,000 annually.

New London has 5.54 square miles of land, and about 3.4 square miles - 61 percent - is taxable, said Zak Leavy, legislative liaison and executive assistant to the mayor.

Passero said that when he saw a presentation on the study, he thought creating a stormwater authority was a great idea.

"How do we get colleges and hospitals to kick in and carry more of their fair share of running this community?" he said.

How exactly the stormwater authority would be set up and what rate would be charged is yet to be determined, he said. But the idea would be to create a separate utility, just as the Water & Water Pollution Control Authority is separate from city government. The stormwater authority could set up a fee based on the square footage of the property and the amount of stormwater generated so everyone pays an equitable amount, Passero said.

Numerous stormwater mandates come from federal agencies and the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Mitigation might include maintaining the stormwater piping system and catch basins, Passero said.

"We are not fulfilling our legal obligation right now because there are no resources," he said.

j.somers@theday.com