Storm Water Utility Fee

The Storm Water Utility was created by the City Council pursuant to Municipal Drainage Utility Systems Act, found in Chapter 552 of the Texas Local Government Code. The Storm Water Utility is separate from the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) sanitary sewer system and is operated by Public Works Department (PWD).

The fee was created by the City Council 1993 in response to the federal Water Quality Act of 1987 and implementing regulations enacted by the United States (U.S.) Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in 1990. All cities with populations over 250,000 were required to develop comprehensive drainage plans, services, and programs to reduce the discharge of point and non-point pollutants into streams and rivers. Cities that fail to comply are subject to potential fines and criminal prosecution of elected officials. The Storm Water Utility plays a critical role in protecting public health and safety in the community by maintaining water quality and reducing flooding events.

Drainage infrastructure and services are funded through a combination of general funds, capital bond financing and storm water utility rates. Through its annual budget process, the San Antonio City Council determines the appropriate expenditures for drainage infrastructure and services for each fiscal year. Major drainage infrastructure projects have been funded through capital bonds with debt expense paid with storm water utility rates.

Drainage needs resulting from new development are addressed through on-site detention, off-site mitigation, or participation in a regional storm water project at the option of the developer in most areas. Participation in a regional storm water project requires the payment of a fee-in-lieu-of (FILO) on-site detention which pays for a portion of these drainage projects. Other drainage needs are addressed through local storm water projects which may be financed through general funds and storm water utility rates. Storm water operation services are funded through utility rates exclusively. Under the Municipal Drainage Utility Systems Act, the City Council has the obligation to set storm water utility rates based on the cost of service.

Examples of Funded Services

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 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (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

In 1993, the San Antonio City Council approved a schedule of storm water rates based on the cost of providing storm water plans, services and programs.  The Storm Water Utility Fee is a rate intended to cover capital and maintenance expenses associated with local drainage projects, and fund operational services related to the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit, which is required by United States (U.S.) Environment Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). 

The fee is assessed on residential and commercial benefited properties and collected on a monthly basis through SAWS bills where it appears as the "Stormwater Fee."  SAWS serves as the City's billing agent and supports MS4 operations through a contractual agreement.  Under the previous rate design, originally established in 1993, the Storm Water Utility Fee was assessed based on lot size and land use type of benefited properties.  On September 10, 2015 City Council adopted a new billing structure for the storm water utility fee using an impervious cover approach.

Under the rate structure originally established in 1993, the Storm Water Utility Fee was assessed based upon the lot size and land use type of benefited properties and included a "rate cap" for non-residential properties. The rate structure included four user classes as shown below.

Residential

Commercial/General

Multi-Family

Public

In FY 2013, PWD conducted a pilot study to include completing a comparative analysis of best practices on what was the most equitable and defendable method for billing storm water fees as well as recommendations on how to implement such a method. It is well accepted that a rate structure based on impervious area is most equitable and considered a best practice. The pilot study determined that this methodology is utilized by 55 of 91 Texas municipalities surveyed and recommended that San Antonio adopt the impervious surface based rate methodology.

Based upon the findings of the pilot study, FY 2014 Budget included funding to complete a Storm Water Utility Fee Comprehensive Study to restructure the Storm Water Utility Fee from based upon lot size and land use to one based upon impervious cover. The scope of the study included an external component to be completed by a consultant and internal component to be completed by PWD staff as the table below demonstrates.