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CHAPTER 7 ADMINISTRATION OF STORMWATER UTILITY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What is a stormwater utility? Does my community need one? How should it be organized? These questions and ultimately what steps my community will need to undertake to determine if a stormwater utility will be right for us is the stuff this book seeks to address. One thing that should be apparent for readers of this document is that a stormwater utility is not just a financing mechanism or and organizational entity. It is both! How a stormwater utility should be administered can best be determined by an examination of the structure, function, and needs of the local government. The final decision to create a stormwater utility funded organization is political, but the process to decide how to administer the stormwater functions involves political leaders, managers and operations staff. Political, managerial, and operational personnel must understand each other's role in the administrative processes. Local governmental decision-making is highly variable and complex. Depending on where they are made in the organization, differing outcomes can be expected. When all entities understand each other's ongoing contributions, progress follows. All power ultimately resides in the electorate who establish the form of government and the functions it is to carry out. Political leaders select the managers who have the responsibility to effective and efficiently carry out the functions of the local government. Managers determine the operational requirements to fulfill the local government's mission. All local governments do not need a stormwater utility funded organization. However, all local governments could benefit by the analysis necessary to determine whether a stormwater utility funded program is appropriate. The process of self-evaluation and analysis of a local government's stormwater programs, not the final product, can benefit all of Florida's local governments.
7.1 Staffing The Stormwater Management Function 7.2 Organizational Structures/ Functions 7.3 Some Examples of Local Stormwater Programs 7.4 Importance of Mission Statements 7.5 Other Considerations
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