Show All Answers

1. Why is the City imposing a stormwater user fee now?

The City has provided stormwater infrastructure and services for some time. However, several recent federal and state laws have increased the cost of providing these services, including a requirement that the City obtain a permit as a Small Municipal Stormwater Sewer System. This permit requires that the City develop and maintain a stormwater management program to reduce the amount of pollutants carried by stormwater during storm events to waterbodies to the “maximum extent practicable.” The City determined that the most efficient way to comply with these requirements for many years to come is to establish a stormwater utility funded by a stable and dedicated funding source.

In addition, climate change is increasing the demands placed on the City’s stormwater services. In the 2014 National Climate Assessment, the United States Global Change Research Program stated that the Northeast region of the United States is experiencing increased precipitation as a result of climate change, including “more than a 70% increase in the amount of precipitation falling in very heavy events” over the last fifty years, “a greater recent increase in extreme precipitation than any other region in the United States.” (http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/northeast#narrative-page-16957.)

Finally, the costs associated with recent issues such as the ice jams of January 2014, needed Flood Control Channel dredging, and maintenance of our channeled streams required that the City consider new sources of stormwater funding.

2. How was the stormwater user fee established?

As with other municipal services, the City has to raise funds from residents and property owners to pay for stormwater infrastructure and services through one of the available funding mechanisms. There are two primary ways for the City to fund services: taxes and user fees/benefit assessments.

Before the stormwater fee was established in 2014, stormwater services were funded by property taxes. Property taxes in the City are based on the value of a property as assessed by the Tompkins County Department of Assessment, which does not accurately reflect how much stormwater is generated by a property. Further, when stormwater is funded out of taxes, the many tax-exempt property owners in the City do not contribute toward the cost required to handle the stormwater flowing off of their properties.

In 2013, Mayor Svante Myrick established a task force to examine whether a funding mechanism other than property taxes would be appropriate for the City’s stormwater expenses. In particular, the Mayor was interested in a new funding mechanism that: improved incentives for reducing stormwater runoff from each property; shared the cost burden of stormwater services and infrastructure in proportion to each property’s contribution to the need for it; included tax-exempt property owners; and was dedicated to current and future maintenance and regulatory obligations.

The stormwater user fee meets all of these goals. It allows the City to bill each property (including those owned by tax-exempt entities) based on the amount of runoff it creates. By including more properties in the funding, the amount paid for stormwater infrastructure and services by the average residential property owner is being cut roughly in half in 2015, to under $50 per year. The fee also encourages property owners to reduce the amount of impervious surface area on their properties, which reduces the amount of stormwater runoff. Finally, because the user fees are placed into a separate account, the fee provides a dedicated funding source for these costs that is not affected by the overall economy.

3. Why isn’t funding for the stormwater program just included in my property taxes?

Property taxes are based on the value of a property as assessed by the Tompkins County Department of Assessment, which does not accurately reflect how much stormwater is generated by a property. The stormwater user fee allows the City to bill each property based on the amount of runoff created by the property owner’s decision to install or maintain impervious surface areas. Further, when the stormwater program is funded out of taxes, the many tax-exempt property owners in the City do not contribute toward the cost required to handle the stormwater flowing off of their properties. By broadening the base of properties that are responsible for contributing to funding, the amount paid for stormwater infrastructure and services by the average residential property owner was cut roughly in half in 2015 to under $50 per year.

4. Do other cities have stormwater user fees?

Yes, stormwater user fees are used throughout the country to pay for stormwater services, largely due to their fairness and the environmentally-friendly incentives they create.