From: Trees: The Oldest New Thing in Stormwater Treatment?
Getting a Charge out of Stormwater
Similar to Garland, TX, many stormwater utilities base their charges on the percentage of a property's impervious area. The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment and the Watershed Management Institute's joint Web site (http://stormwaterfinance.urbancenter.iupui.edu) offers "An Internet Guide to Financing Stormwater Management," which includes profiles of seven communities' stormwater utilities: Sarasota County, FL; Griffin, GA; Louisville-Jefferson County, KY; Valparaiso, IN; Union, OH; Fort Collins, CO; and Olympia, WA. Monthly stormwater charges range from $2.95 to $7.44. Of the seven, only tiny Union, OH, (population 6,400) does not charge based on impervious area.
In Cincinnati, OH, the stormwater utility acknowledges imperviousness but doesn't use it for rating, per se. "We rate properties by an Intensity development factor, or IDF, which ranges from zero to 0.85," says John Morrell, an administrative specialist with the Cincinnati Stormwater Utility.
"The IDF affects runoff; a property rated 0.85 contains lots of concrete or asphalt, and a plot of mowed grass would rate about 0.2. A zero rating would go to woods, or an undeveloped site, which isn't charged for stormwater. A park would rate 0.05; agricultural, 0.08; and residential, 0.25, although we charge a flat rate for residential. A single- or two-family with property under 10,000 square feet is charged $26.52 per year; over 10,000 square feet is charged $37.13."
Morrell says residential is flat rated because the stormwater utility doesn't have the funds or personnel to rate each and every residential plot in the city. "Institutional buildings rate 0.40. Transportation, such as railroad tracks, has an IDF of 0.50. Multifamily properties rate 0.60; industrial, 0.75; and commercial properties, 0.85. Once we've established the IDF, we can establish the equivalent runoff units, or ERU."
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The Cincinnati Stormwater Utility establishes the area range number (total square footage divided by 2000, rounding to next single number), then uses the following calculations to determine a property's annual charge: ARN x IDF = ERU x ERU rate charge ($2.21) x 12 (months) = annual charge. As an example, using a 50- x 110-ft. (5,500-ft.2) multifamily residential (0.60) lot: 5500 ÷ 2000 = 3 (rounded up from 2.75) x 0.60 = 1.80 x $2.21 = $3.98 x 12 = $47.74.
Nearly everything in the city limits is charged for the stormwater utility. "We do charge all city departments," Morrell says, "but we don't charge for streets or highway right of ways."
March-April 2002
From: Trees: The Oldest New Thing in Stormwater Treatment?
Getting a Charge out of Stormwater
Similar to Garland, TX, many stormwater utilities base their charges on the percentage of a property's impervious area. The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment and the Watershed Management Institute's joint Web site (http://stormwaterfinance.urbancenter.iupui.edu) offers "An Internet Guide to Financing Stormwater Management," which includes profiles of seven communities' stormwater utilities: Sarasota County, FL; Griffin, GA; Louisville-Jefferson County, KY; Valparaiso, IN; Union, OH; Fort Collins, CO; and Olympia, WA. Monthly stormwater charges range from $2.95 to $7.44. Of the seven, only tiny Union, OH, (population 6,400) does not charge based on impervious area. In Cincinnati, OH, the stormwater utility acknowledges imperviousness but doesn't use it for rating, per se. "We rate properties by an Intensity development factor, or IDF, which ranges from zero to 0.85," says John Morrell, an administrative specialist with the Cincinnati Stormwater Utility.
"The IDF affects runoff; a property rated 0.85 contains lots of concrete or asphalt, and a plot of mowed grass would rate about 0.2. A zero rating would go to woods, or an undeveloped site, which isn't charged for stormwater. A park would rate 0.05; agricultural, 0.08; and residential, 0.25, although we charge a flat rate for residential. A single- or two-family with property under 10,000 square feet is charged $26.52 per year; over 10,000 square feet is charged $37.13."
Morrell says residential is flat rated because the stormwater utility doesn't have the funds or personnel to rate each and every residential plot in the city. "Institutional buildings rate 0.40. Transportation, such as railroad tracks, has an IDF of 0.50. Multifamily properties rate 0.60; industrial, 0.75; and commercial properties, 0.85. Once we've established the IDF, we can establish the equivalent runoff units, or ERU."
The Cincinnati Stormwater Utility establishes the area range number (total square footage divided by 2000, rounding to next single number), then uses the following calculations to determine a property's annual charge: ARN x IDF = ERU x ERU rate charge ($2.21) x 12 (months) = annual charge. As an example, using a 50- x 110-ft. (5,500-ft.2) multifamily residential (0.60) lot: 5500 ÷ 2000 = 3 (rounded up from 2.75) x 0.60 = 1.80 x $2.21 = $3.98 x 12 = $47.74.
Nearly everything in the city limits is charged for the stormwater utility. "We do charge all city departments," Morrell says, "but we don't charge for streets or highway right of ways."