Creating a Stormwater Utility

Welcome to the Engage Fairfax page for the development of the Stormwater Utility.

Below is basic information on stormwater runoff, the Stormwater Utility, and the city’s stormwater program. An FAQ with more information can be accessed through the menu on the right side of this page. Please use the tools below to provide feedback on the concept of developing a Stormwater Utility. You can also sign up for updates. Presentations from the October public meetings are available on the right.

What is Stormwater Runoff?

Stormwater runoff occurs when rain or melting snow flows across land and impervious surfaces like roofs, driveways, parking lots, streets, and other hard surfaces. Impervious surfaces don't allow stormwater to soak into the ground, and so it flows to other areas. Stormwater runoff has the potential to cause drainage problems such as flooding and erosion. Stormwater runoff can also pick up and carry pollutants like grease, oil, pet waste, fertilizer, metals, and others, to the city's storm drain system. The storm drain system does not treat runoff for pollutants and the city's storm drains lead directly to local waterways, such as Accotink Creek, and ultimately, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Stormwater pollution and drainage problems have impacts on our environment and wildlife, and can damage property. View the stormwater utility fact sheet.

What is a Stormwater Utility?

Like utilities for water and sanitary sewer, a Stormwater Utility (SWU) is a fee-for-service approach to providing stormwater management services in the City of Fairfax. Rate payers are charged a fee based on the stormwater runoff impact their respective properties generate, using impervious surface as the measurement of that impact. A SWU provides a dedicated funding source for existing stormwater management services and new capital projects to reduce sediment and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorous) pollution into our local waterways, the Potomac River, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Stormwater Utility Feasibility Project

The city started a Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study in September 2020 to explore this option for funding the stormwater program. The stormwater program is currently funded through a dedication of the real estate tax, equivalent to $0.03 of the city’s real estate tax rate. The current tax-based stormwater funding source is based on a property’s assessed value.

A stormwater utility fee differs because it is calculated based on the amount of impervious surface present on a parcel. Under a stormwater utility, properties with more impervious surfaces, which contribute more stormwater runoff to the storm drainage system, would pay a proportionally higher fee.

Many Virginia communities have transitioned to a stormwater utility to fund their stormwater program, rather than continuing to use a real estate tax set-aside or general fund revenues. Twenty-eight Virginia jurisdictions have created formal stormwater utilities, including the Cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Manassas.

Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study Considerations

We looked at the following aspects when we explored the feasibility of a SWU:

• Current program levels of service and documented unmet stormwater program needs
• Evaluation of stormwater Capital Improvement Program (CIP) needs
• Current funding method and adequacy of that funding moving forward
• Evaluation of SWU rate methodologies and potential billing delivery systems
• Analysis of customer impacts from different rate structures

The study concluded that a SWU is feasible and beneficial in the City of Fairfax based on the findings developed around the considerations listed above.

Why is the City Developing a Stormwater Utility? 

As city drainage infrastructure ages and city regulatory compliance requirements continue to expand, the city recognizes that the costs associated with stormwater management programming, including municipal stormwater permit compliance, system operations and maintenance, and capital improvement projects for both water quality enhancement and water quantity management (flood control) continue to increase. In addition, the region has recently experienced multiple, significant rain events that have highlighted additional drainage improvement needs. The city’s current Storm Fund offers limited flexibility for funding program priorities, flexibility that the city will need to address an ever growing list of needs, including foreseeable capital improvements.

Stormwater Utility Benefits

• Community engagement and stormwater-positive activities can be incentivized. Credit programs are common components of SWUs and they allow localities to incentivize behavior by offering credits to customers who reduce their properties’ runoff impacts on the stormwater system or undertake additional activities that reduce stormwater runoff impacts. The credit program is under development and will include credits for:
  1. Owning and maintaining a stormwater management facility
  2. Voluntarily installing and maintaining a stormwater management facility
  3. Organizing and participating in stormwater-positive volunteer events like litter pickup and stream cleanup events, and installing “Only Rain” storm drain markers
  4. Expanding urban tree canopy and improving riparian buffers through tree planting.
  5. Developing and implementing a nutrient management plan to limit the use of fertilizers and other lawn care chemical compounds.
     
     
• Stormwater Utility fees are more equitable. A property’s value does not have a direct correlation to a property’s runoff impacts.The amount of impervious surface on a property does have a direct correlation to the runoff it generates, and so using this property characteristic to determine the stormwater utility fee is more equitable than the tax-based assessment.
  
  
• Stormwater Utility fees are shared by the community. Under the current tax-based dedication, untaxed properties do not contribute towards stormwater management, though they do contribute to stormwater runoff. Under a SWU, all properties would be charged a stormwater utility fee, including untaxed properties.* The SWU represents a more equitable way to pay for stormwater service as a greater number of properties will be paying into the stormwater utility fund.

*A small number of property types are exempted from utility fees by law, such as public roads, municipal properties, and properties covered under their own municipal stormwater permits.

• Allows greater funding flexibility and stable program costs. A utility would be able to utilize bond funding options for capital projects beyond what is available through the current funding mechanism. These financing options allow for the stormwater program’s initiatives to be funded while still keeping utility rates stable and reasonable.
• Allows the stormwater program to be fully funded. The economic value of properties can be maintained through proper stormwater management. This includes being able to improve maintenance capabilities, perform system upgrades to improve drainage conditions, address public drainage concerns, and further improve water quality and quality of life in the city.
  
  

Learn more about the Stormwater Utility and stay informed during the development process:

To help property owners in the City of Fairfax answer questions they may have about the development of a SWU, the city has compiled an FAQ document, which is available on the right side of this page.

If you have any specific questions, please use the questions to tool below.