2023-73 Ordinance Amending City Code Chapter 38 Stormwater Ordinance

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in Public Works DATE: 10/25/2023 MEMO: 2023-101 TO: Honorable Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe and City Council Members FROM: Scot Wrighton, City Manager Matt Newell,P.E.,Public Works Director Paul Caswell,P.E.,City Engineer SUBJECT: Ordinance Amending City Code,Chapter 38, Stormwater Ordinance SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION: Staff requests that Council approve the proposed ordinance amendments to City Code Chapter 38, Stormwater Ordinance,which increases the monthly Base Fee from$3.00 to$5.00 and the monthly Usage Fee from$0.67 to$1.10,per Equivalent Residential Unit(ERU), over a two-year period. The Ordinance also adds an annual cost escalation tied to the Consumer Price Index or a minimum of 2.5%beginning in 2026,rising language identical to the escalator language in the water and sewer rate ordinances. BACKGROUND: Chapter 38 of the City Code was amended by the City Council in 2014 to provide a regular funding source for stormwater infrastructure improvements and maintenance. Currently,the City receives about$1.6 million per year in stormwater revenues. The stormwater fee has not been changed since it was originally implemented. From the beginning the Storm Water Fund was underfunded--meaning that it does not produce enough revenues to fund all of the storm water and flood control projects it is intended to support. In short, current revenues do not support the capital program. Table 1 provides a listing of major storm drainage projects that the City has not been able to address due to a lack of funding. TABLE 1 STORM DRAINAGE CAPITAL PROJECTS Updated from the 2009 Storm Drainage Master Plan 2024 Project Updated Improvement Project Area 2023 Priority (Acres) Estimate I NE Drainage Ditch 10.0 $2,500,000 Cleaning 2 Garfield&Summit Area 6.7 $3,000,000 Drainage 3 Airport Road(E Powers) 25.0 $2,200,000 Area Drainage 4 Meadowlark Subdivision 37.3 $2,650,000 Waterway Improvement 5 Fitzgerald&Fontenac 56.7 $4,000,000 Area Drainage 6 East Court&North 42.7 $3,000,000 Court Area Drainage 7 Montgomery Hills/Karen 32.1 $2,300,000 Drive Area Drainage 8 Sullivan&Elizabeth 4.7 $350,000 (Wilcox addition) 9 Constant View and 57.9 $4,100,000 Warren(N of Mound)