San Antonio approves higher stormwater fees to help fight flooding, pollution

Today, Environment Texas' Kern Williams delivered the following comments to the San Antonio city council in support of proposed, higher fees for stormwater: "We support this increase in the city's stormwater utility fee. It pays for essential drainage infrastructure for the city. The fee is also valuable because it's calculated on a property's impervious cover. Properties with more impervious cover pay higher fees. This is fair, because more impervious cover produces more stormwater runoff that flows into the city's stormwater drainage system. Properties that create more work for the system should pay more to support it.

Brian Zabcik

Today, Environment Texas’ Kern Williams delivered the following comments to the San Antonio city council in support of proposed, higher fees for stormwater:

“We support this increase in the city’s stormwater utility fee. It pays for essential drainage infrastructure for the city. The fee is also valuable because it’s calculated on a property’s impervious cover. Properties with more impervious cover pay higher fees. This is fair, because more impervious cover produces more stormwater runoff that flows into the city’s stormwater drainage system. Properties that create more work for the system should pay more to support it.

Still, San Antonio’s stormwater fee can be improved. The city has a voluntary permit process for property owners who use Low Impact Development. Known as LID, this includes rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement, and rain collection cisterns, all of which can keep more rain on-site where it falls, reducing the amount of stormwater that runs off into the city’s drainage system. Not only is this a benefit for the city—property owners receive many incentives from the city for using LID, including a reduction in their stormwater fee. Yet very, very few developers are taking advantage of this program.

The city should (1) take new steps to publicize the stormwater fee discount for LID developments. And (2), the city should use some of the money raised by the stormwater fee to fund LID in the city’s drainage infrastructure. Using more LID will reduce the stormwater burden for our drainage system, which means that the city won’t have to keep raising the fee to maintain that drainage.”

BACKGROUND ON THE FEE:

Stormwater fee is a utility fee just like water & electric fees:

San Antonio’s stormwater utility works to solve drainage problems and improve surface water quality, to prevent future problems, and to repair, maintain, and enhance the storm water infrastructure.

http://www.saws.org/service/rates/stormwater_fee.cfm

This is what the fee pays for:

As the primary revenue source for the City’s Storm Water Operating Fund, the Storm Water Utility Fee can only be used to fund those services that directly support MS4 Permit requirements and storm water operations. Examples of services funded by the Storm Water Utility Fee include but are not limited to the following:

Street Sweeping
Channel Mowing/Restoration
Drainage Infrastructure Maintenance
Natural Creekway Debris Removal
http://www.sanantonio.gov/TCI/Projects/Storm-Water-Fee/Learn-About-the-S…

This week’s fee increase is part of a 5-year plan to raise the SW fee.

In accordance with Ordinance No. 2015-09-10-0761, there will be a five-year rate increase from FY 2016 to FY 2020 to support a phase-in of increased revenue requirements and corresponding service improvements.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/TCI/Projects/Storm-Water-Fee

The amount of the fee is calculated based on a property’s impervious cover. Residential properties pay a flat fee as the total numerical amount of IC increases on their lot. Fee for non-residential properties is based on a fee rate per 1000sf of IC. This rate increases as the percentage of IC on a lot increases (20%, 40%, 60%, etc.)
http://www.sanantonio.gov/Portals/0/Files/TCI/Ordinance2016-09-29-0737.pdf

Authors

Brian Zabcik