2010 Drainage fee update
Each year District staff conducts a fee study of what it costs to build pipelines and excavate stormwater basins that provide urban storm drainage to new construction, including homes and commercial facilities. The purpose of the study is to ensure the cost to construct the urban storm drainage system is fully paid through land development fees. The fees cover the costs of facility construction and acquisition. Following the recent study, the District Board of Directors voted to keep fees for development at 2009 levels.
See below for detailed information on drainage fees:
In prior years the District has relied on regional construction cost indices to help determine fee changes. By analyzing locally collected information, the Board was able to confirm a fee increase was not necessary. Had the District relied on regional data, the recommended fee increase may have been as high as six percent.
The District's service area is divided into 162 local drainage areas, which generally vary in size from one to two square miles. Local drainage plans consisting of collection systems and storm water management basins are designed based upon topography, planned land uses and local hydrological conditions. The basins and the pipelines leading to them remove storm water from streets and store it to prevent flooding in urban areas.
Drainage fees are required of new development to pay for basins and pipeline needed to serve the areas being developed, for example new housing tracts and shopping centers. Each of the 162 drainage areas utilize the drainage fee revenue from the local drainage area for the purchase of land and construction of storm water basins, pipelines, inlets, and pump stations. Drainage fees are updated annually to keep pace with changes in the costs of construction and land acquisition.
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