Stormwater Utility Information

ATTENTION CITY OF LANCASTER UTILITY CUSTOMERS:

Effective July 1, 2008 your City Utility bill includes a fee for Stormwater Utility. For residential properties, this fee is a flat $2 per month. Non-residential properties are charged according to the calculated area of surface area of property that does not absorb water (roofs, driveways, parking lots, etc.).

Following is a summary of the purpose of the utility that was included in a past newsletter.

Complete Stormwater Utility Study 565 Kb
Stormwater Utility Ordinance 48 Kb
Stormwater Utility Credit Policy 174 Kb
Stormwater Maps

The goal of the Stormwater Utility is to provide a stormwater drainage system with adequate capacity to accommodate major storms while maintaining the quality of stormwater discharged into receiving streams. The Stormwater Utility provides for the collection and conveyance of stormwater within the City through the use of public streets, catch basins, storm sewers, detention/retention basins and greenways. The system is comprised of over 13 miles of storm sewers, 600 drainage structures, 6 detention/retention basins, and greenways. The Utility serves all properties within the City and the cost of operation and maintenance is supported through user fees, which are due and payable monthly on the combined City utility bill.

This program provides for three sweeping cycles in residential areas and four cycles for downtown street and main arterials. The spring cycle removes the accumulated debris from the winter and the fall cycle follows leaf collection. In addition, catch basins and storm sewers are cleaned routinely and repairs to the collection system are performed as needed. This program also includes maintenance and erosion control activities for the greenway and detention/retention basins.

The City is required to control the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff in accordance with Federal and State requirements. Compliance with the City's erosion control ordinance will require review and monitoring of stormwater runoff of new developments during construction. In addition, development plans will be reviewed for post construction compliance with the City's Stormwater Management Ordinance.

Until 2008, the costs of expansion, operation, and maintenance of the City's stormwater management system were paid for by property taxes through the General Fund. Increasing pressures on the general fund caused by rising municipal costs and reduced revenues from the State of Wisconsin may make the general fund a less reliable source for stormwater management funding. The Council created a stormwater utility fee as a means of addressing stormwater management funding needs without placing an additional burden on property taxes. Unlike property tax funding, user charges under a stormwater utility are established in proportion to the relative amount of stormwater runoff "generated" by an individual property. The following table summarizes the adopted 2008 stormwater utility budget.

Benefits of a stormwater utility include the following:

1. A stormwater utility more equitably allocates stormwater system costs to property owners than does the present property tax-based system.
2. A stormwater utility increases the number of properties contributing to funding of the stormwater management system.

The stormwater utility service area is the area within the Lancaster city limits. Primary goals include:

1. Provide a more equitable means of funding the city's stormwater management program.
2. Eliminate property tax-based revenues for the operation and maintenance of the city's stormwater management program.
3. Provide a mechanism to fund the city's future stormwater needs, including new EPA requirements and remedial storm sewer improvements.

The basis of the fees is as follows:

1. Stormwater service charges are based on Equivalent Runoff Units (ERU). Single-family residential parcels are assigned one ERU.
2. The annual stormwater user fee per ERU is established based on the total annual stormwater utility costs divided by the total number of ERUs assigned to properties in the Utility Service Area.
3. The stormwater fee includes two main components:
   1. Operation and Maintenance Component
   2. Capital and Debt Service Component (major projects)
4. The fee per ERU would be approximately $2 per month per ERU. This means the annual stormwater management fee for a typical residential user (1 ERU) would be $24/year. Since the fee in 2008 will not be charged until July, the estimated annual fee per residential property will be $12.