A growing number of Pennsylvania farms and other rural property owners are getting billed by their municipality for stormwater management services. These new recurring charges are called stormwater fees or stormwater utility fees because they are modeled after the way municipalities have historically billed residents for other public services like water and sewer. Stormwater fees help local governments pay for their growing stormwater management costs. Rural residents often wonder why the fees apply to the landscapes where they live which are surrounded by croplands and woodlots instead of roadways and parking lots.
Why do local governments manage stormwater runoff?
Stormwater comes from rain, melting snow, and ice that runs off the land instead of soaking into the ground. Stormwater was uncommon when most of Pennsylvania was covered with old-growth forests that essentially acted like giant sponges. Today, stormwater is common in both urban and rural settings because natural areas have been replaced with landscapes that don't readily absorb water, such as compacted turfgrass, asphalt, concrete, rooftops, and roadways, and rainstorms are becoming more powerful due to climate change.
Townships, boroughs, and other local governments in Pennsylvania have a civic duty to manage stormwater to reduce floods and protect water quality. Floods happen when stormwater overwhelms municipal drainage systems. Water pollution occurs when runoff washes pollutants, including trash, eroded soil, fertilizers, toxic materials, and animal wastes, into drainage systems and natural waterways. Both flooding and water pollution cause property damage, threaten human health, and harm the environment.
Why does managing runoff cost money?
Municipalities install and maintain elaborate networks of ditches, pipes, basins, and other structures to minimize flooding and keep stormwater as clean as possible. These stormwater removal systems are getting more expensive to maintain and build. Many contain aging structures that need repair or retrofitting to meet modern construction standards and to handle larger loads generated by new development and increasingly intense rainstorms. Regulations also add costs. An increasing number of municipalities are now required to obtain stormwater discharge permits to comply with state and federal laws. These "permitted communities" must develop detailed stormwater management programs and implement extensive best management practices to manage the stormwater they discharge into creeks and rivers.
Communities have traditionally used various funding sources to pay for stormwater management, including general tax revenue, grants, and bonds. While most local governments in Pennsylvania still use a piecemeal approach to pay for their stormwater-related activities, permitted communities frequently seek more stable revenue streams, which basically leaves two options: raising taxes or implementing a stormwater fee. Fees are preferred because the revenue they generate can only be used for stormwater services, can be levied on all properties in the community that generate stormwater runoff, and are easier to apply equitably than a tax.
Stormwater fees are considered dedicated funds. This means the money they raise can only go towards stormwater management-related activities. Tax money, on the other hand, is subject to competition from other municipal programs. Fee programs apply to everyone who uses the billed service. So, under a user fee program, all stormwater-producing properties, even those owned by tax-exempt organizations like public schools, universities, churches, and other nonprofits, must still pay the fee. Finally, stormwater rates are easier to calculate equitably using a fee structure instead of relying on existing tax criteria like assessed property values, which don't correlate accurately to the amount of stormwater that properties actually produce.
How are stormwater fees calculated?
Stormwater fees in Pennsylvania are usually based on the amount of impervious cover a property contains because these are the areas that generate stormwater runoff. The square footage of hard surfaces such as roofs, driveways, patios, driveways (including gravel drives), and parking lots on a property are frequently lumped together to determine the total impervious cover on a lot. Properties with more hard surfaces generate more stormwater runoff and, when compared to other properties in the community with fewer hard surfaces, typically pay higher stormwater fees.
Municipalities use different approaches to estimate the amount of impervious cover local properties contain. Some communities visit properties to take measurements on site, but most municipalities use aerial imagery and computer software to calculate coverages remotely. After they have an accurate idea of the existing impervious cover in their community – especially for residential properties – many local governments will calculate a value to represent the amount of impervious coverage on an average-sized residential property. This value is called an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU.
The ERU represents a base billing unit. Properties with very little impervious cover may be charged some fraction of an ERU, whereas properties with greater amounts of impervious cover – which often includes rural properties -- may be charged multiple ERUs. The average ERU in Pennsylvania is approximately 3000 square feet1. Municipalities divide the total impervious area in their community by the square footage of a single ERU to determine the total number of ERUs available for billing. The annual fee for a single ERU is then determined by dividing the community's annual stormwater budget by the total number of ERUs available. State law prohibits communities from charging more than this amount. Stormwater fees for residential properties in PA currently average around $7.25 per month per ERU1.
Why are rural properties included in stormwater fee calculations?
Very few people like to get a new bill, so it is no surprise that property owners are frequently unhappy when they first realize they will be charged a new recurring fee for community stormwater management services. But rural residents in particular are upset and confused about their stormwater fees because they commonly believe their properties absorb more runoff than they produce, and they don't understand why their bills may be higher than what residential property owners in urbanized parts of the community pay. Although many rural properties contain areas that absorb runoff, stormwater fees are not based on a property's ability to absorb runoff. Instead, they are usually based on the amount of impervious surfaces a property contains. Rural properties frequently contain extensive hard-surfaced areas, including barns, machine sheds, and paved or packed gravel lanes.
Municipalities frequently mention three reasons why both urban and rural properties are included in stormwater fee programs.
- Because all properties contain impervious areas, they all contribute runoff to the community's stormwater management system and should therefore support its operation.
- Shared community benefit. Although rural properties are often located on the edges of the community's stormwater management system, they still benefit from the protection that system offers the entire community when it comes to issues like flood control and water quality protection.
- Fees on suburban and urban residents would be higher if rural properties where not billed for the municipal stormwater services they receive.
Can fees be challenged or reduced?
Municipalities strive to make their stormwater fee programs accurate and reasonable, but mistakes may happen. Property owners who believe their fee has been calculated incorrectly should contact their municipality to see if a reassessment of their impervious area is warranted, their tax parcel has been incorrectly identified or delineated, or there is a math error in their bill. Rural property owners in some municipalities can lower their fee by 50% or more by installing or adopting best management practices (BMPs) that reduce runoff and improve stormwater quality. These "stormwater credit programs" vary in complexity but usually include a defined list of eligible BMPs, an application form and fee, and an annual compliance process.
Stormwater credits ranging from 5% to 30% are generally available for property owners who install and maintain structural BMPs such as rain gardens, rain barrels, riparian buffers, native trees, or deep-rooted perennial plants. Additional discounts are available in some communities for rural properties with minimal impervious cover relative to the total property size and for owners who agree to a long-term property easem*nt to allow the municipality to install a larger-scale BMP that may manage runoff from multiple properties. A small number of municipalities offer special credits for farms if they have manure, nutrient management, or soil conservation plans; or if the agricultural operation has certain structural or agronomic BMPs such as a grassed waterway or conservation tillage. Contact your municipality, or visit their website, to learn if a credit program exists, which best management practices are eligible, and how to apply.
Western Kentucky University Stormwater Utility Survey 2024, C. Warren Campbell
