The city of Durango’s stormwater focus group formed earlier this year is recommending a variable fee structure to raise funds for infrastructure maintenance and staffing totaling approximately $53 million over the next 25 years.
Public Works officials identified the need for the city to take a more proactive approach to stormwater maintenance and $51 million worth of stormwater capital projects that have yet to be completed, and said the city needs to raise about $2.5 million annually to keep up with the workload.
The city began accepting applications from residents to serve on the focus group in December and notified accepted applicants in January.
Public Works spokeswoman Laura Rieck presented the focus group’s conclusion to the city Financial Advisory Board earlier in July. The focus group recommended a two-part fee structure consisting of a base fee of $4.50 per month per parcel in addition to a variable fee of and $0.004 per square foot of impervious area per parcel with credits available based on the square feet of impervious area per parcel.
“Impervious area” is space that stormwater does not pass through and thus does not collect in the city’s stormwater system; credits would be determined on a parcel-by-parcel basis.
The fee, if approved by City Council, would appear in customer utility bills as its own line item, and an average utility bill is expected to cost $15 a month, Rieck said.
The base fee could be implemented as soon as Jan. 1, with the variable fee being rolled out in July to line up with the fiscal year, although that is still under consideration, she said.
An Engage Durango forum about the city’s stormwater management program and the proposed utility fee is scheduled for Sept. 23.
“We’ll continue analyzing our rates for rate setting, allocations, further examining credits,” Rieck said.
She said the fee rates must cover costs of service and build a reserve of funds to complete backlogged capital improvement projects.
The Durango Herald reported last year the city spent $2.8 million on stormwater maintenance over the past 10 years, and Bob Lowry, then-interim Public Works director, said the city should be spending nearly that amount ($2.5 million) on its stormwater system annually.
“We’ll be presenting our final recommendation to council in the fall based on all of the feedback that we’ve received, the further cost analysis performed, and the timing of the implementation of the fee,” Rieck said.
The focus group recommended Rate Scenario B, one of two fee rate structures based on the amount of revenue it could generate.
Rate Scenario A and B both included a base fee of $4.50 and a variable fee rate; in scenario A, the fee rate was $0.003. In scenario B, it was $0.004.
The base fee alone generates $404,000 annually.
The variable rate in scenario A generates $1.6 million. Combined with the base fee rate, that totals about $2 million annually. The variable rate in scenario B generates nearly $2.2 million. Combined with the base fee rate, that totals nearly $2.6 million annually, Rieck said.
Both scenarios assumed none of the 7,479 residential and commercial parcels within the city are exempt from stormwater fees and calculated a 20% reduction for credits for impervious areas with stormwater facilities.
cburney@durangoherald.com
