1.3 BENEFITS OF A STORMWATER UTILITY
Stormwater utilities require a commitment of time and resources to
develop and implement, but what are their benefits? This important question
can be answered from two different points of view.
The first answer is from the perspective of the elected representatives
and senior managers who are responsible for annual funding of the community's
stormwater management program:
- New Funding Source - Revenues generated by stormwater utilities
can be used as a new source of funds to supplement the community's
current stormwater management funding.
- Supplemental Funding Source - Stormwater utility revenues
can be used to replace current general fund/ad valorem tax funding
which enables the tax based funding to be used for other community
needs.
- Sustainable Revenues - Revenues generated by stormwater utilities
are constant, tend to gradually increase with the community's growth,
and can be gradually increased through rate hikes and increasing/imposing
special user fees.
- Bondable Revenue Stream - Bonds for capital improvements
can be issued to facilitate constructing stormwater management facilities
because the revenues generated by stormwater utilities can be used
to pay back bonds.
The second answer is from the perspective of the technical individuals
responsible for daily operations and has three key components:
- Programmatic Stability - The community's stormwater management
program will tend to operate on a stable basis, which supports staff
stability, continued levels of maintenance operations, and continuity
in CIP programs since stormwater utilities have stable revenues.
- Long-Term View - Stormwater managers are allowed to adopt
a longer view in planning for capital investments, undertaking maintenance
enhancement, and developing staff since they are not operating in
a year-to-year funding environment with no certainty of follow-on
funding in successive years.
- Facilitation of NPDES Compliance - Communities that are regulated
under the Federal NPDES Stormwater Permitting Program are more readily
able to comply with the specific permit conditions requiring the development
of funding for annual operation of the Storm Water Management Program
that is contained in their MS4 Permits.
It is obvious that a stormwater utility can provide a community with
numerous, continuing benefits that amply compensate the initial effort
and costs of stormwater utility development and implementation. If this
were not the case, it is unlikely that over 90 Florida communities would
have undertaken their development and implementation.
