Title
Presentation: Stormwater Advisory Committee Discussions and Recommendations to Council
Body
Issue/Request
Presentation: Stormwater Advisory Committee Discussions and Recommendations to Council
Key Issues:
o City Council Directed Staff to meet with a Stormwater Advisory Committee to develop recommendation for funding dedicated for stormwater management
o The Stormwater Advisory Committee (SWAC) met on April 21, May 12 and June 2, 2023
o The SWAC recommended moving forward with the process to approve a Stormwater User Charge as the funding source for an Enhanced Level of Service (Option 2) as described in this presentation to City Council
o A public election is recommended this coming November if the City wants to create an impervious area user charge to manage stormwater resources in Lee's Summit
Background
City Council directed staff to form and meet with a volunteer group of citizen stakeholders, called the Stormwater Advisory Committee (SWAC), to discuss the concepts related to creating dedicate funding source for the City's stormwater management programs, focused on stormwater operation and maintenance. The SWAC included citizens representing all areas of the City, Downtown, various subdivisions, lake neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, business, etc. The SWAC held three meetings. The first two meetings presented in depth information describing the levels of service (and options) needed to manage the municipal stormwater systems in Lee's Summit. The SWAC also considered alternative funding sources as presented to the City Council (e.g. Property Tax, Sales Tax, User Charge).
The SWAC recommended sizing the stormwater programs to support two operations and maintenance crews, engineering, regulatory oversight, public education, along with billing and administrative staff. This level of service was described previously to the City Council as an Enhanced Level of Service (Option 2). The SWAC also recommended a user charge basis of funding in lieu of a property tax or sales tax alternatives. Having set a recommended level of service, City staff and the Consultant presented, in detail, the methodology needed to develop user charges necessary to support these activities. The user charge would be approximately $1.18 per 500 square feet of impervious area per month. 500 square feet was selected as the base unit and minimum area. The GIS data indicated the median impervious area for a single-family home in Lee' s Summit was 3,500 square feet, which would equal 7 billing units. For the median impervious area, the user charge would be about $100 per year. More details regarding the costs, and levels of service are in the presentation.
Also attached to this packet are the verbatim comments SWAC members submitted as part of a survey before the third meeting.
Presenter
George Binger, P.E., Deputy Directory of Public Works/City Engineer