The rain expected to hit the ground today in Manteca is free but making sure it doesn’t create flooding problems is anything but free.

Homes built in the future south of the 120 Bypass will have to pay $7,295 apiece as their share of a massive storm damage system.

It is the primary reason why it will cost $4,000 more to build a home south of the 120 Bypass than anywhere else in Manteca.

The Manteca City Council on Tuesday adopted fees for sewer, water, and storm drainage that reflects unique challenges - and the actual cost - of providing those services for growth in various regions of the city. There is one fee that has yet to be adopted that promises to be the most expensive of all - the traffic mitigation fee. The price tag alone for interchange work has been pegged at $150 million plus. The traffic fee would go toward that as well as major arterials and related traffic signals.

How that fee is divided up - whether it is by zone or citywide - is a policy decision for elected leaders. But even so city leaders have conceded that the fee won’t cover all of the costs of building the interchanges and roads. It has partially to do with fact growth can only pay for services it will use but also the fact the overall amount needed is staggering. If once all road needs to service growth are calculated and it comes in at $180 million, it would cost more $9,741 for each of the 18,477 homes currently somewhere in the approval process in Manteca.

Zoning the traffic fee based on direct benefit areas would shift more of the burden to development south of the 120 Bypass since all of the interchange work planned would serve those areas directly.

It is all part of Manteca’s effort to make sure growth pays its way while complying with state mandates that prevent cities from charging growth to pay for improvements that should be shouldered by existing residents.

Based on what the council adopted, a typical home - identified as medium destiny residential- south of the 120 Bypass would be assessed $11,333 in Public Facilities Implementation Plan (PFIP) fees for water, sewer, and storm drainage. A home north of Lathrop Road would have to pay $7,331 at the time a building permit is issued. A home being built in West Manteca west of Airport Way would pay $3,680.

The water charge - $3,083 - is the same regardless of where a home is built in Manteca. The sewer charge varies due to what it takes to get wastewater to move as some areas require pumping stations or more pipes that have to go deeper and therefore cost more to put in the ground.

The biggest variation in charges is for storm water. Other areas in Manteca are piggy backing on established systems. Everything south of the 120 Bypass has a seperate way to reach the San Joaquin River via South San Joaquin Irrigation District canals..

The council is expected to hire a consultant in the coming weeks to develop the traffic fee. It should take six months for that work to be done. The cost of the consultant is being covered by fees charged to growth.