Filling the gap: A comparative analysis of stormwater utility fees and stormwater program budgets in the Puget Sound watershed

Stormwater utility fees (SUFs) are one way to fill the growing gap between stormwater management needs and available funding. However, there is a lack of data on the overall role they play in stormwater program budgets. This paper presents an evaluation of SUFs across multiple jurisdictions to under...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of the American Water Resources Association 2023-10, Vol.59 (5), p.1128-1145
Hauptverfasser: Kinney, Aimee, Evrard, Raye, Bogue, Kevin, James, Christopher Andrew
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Stormwater utility fees (SUFs) are one way to fill the growing gap between stormwater management needs and available funding. However, there is a lack of data on the overall role they play in stormwater program budgets. This paper presents an evaluation of SUFs across multiple jurisdictions to understand their contributions to overall revenue, the uses of revenue, and the extent to which ratemaking is equitable within and between jurisdictions. We compiled data on SUFs for 124 jurisdictions and program budgets for 80 jurisdictions to describe the composition of revenues and influence of municipal stormwater permit status. We also calculated SUFs applied to individual parcels in 11 jurisdictions to assess two equity outcomes: proportionality and affordability. Results indicate that SUF revenue contributed 91% of the $537.7 million in total 2019 stormwater program operational revenue. There was enormous variation among jurisdictions in annual SUF revenue per capita ($17–328), per housing unit ($42–1007), and on an area‐normalized basis (
ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/1752-1688.13123