Stormwater Funding Rate Study Survey

The interim fee charges property owners based on how much their property is worth. But that does not reflect the actual impact their property has on the City’s stormwater system. For example, a big box store with a large parking lot generates more stormwater runoff than a smaller downtown business since hard surfaces (like parking lots) prevent water from naturally soaking into the ground. Yet if the smaller business has a higher assessed value, it pays more – despite placing less load on the stormwater system. 

This Study is considering three different residential funding options:

• Same Fee for Every Residence. Every residence pays the same fee, based on the average amount of hard surface area for residential properties in Peterborough. This option is simple and low cost to manage but does not reflect actual stormwater runoff from the property (e.g., a single unit in a condo will be charged the same as a large single-detached home).

• Residential Fee by Housing Type. Each residential property type (e.g., single-detached house, townhouse or condo) has a different rate. Residential types with larger footprints would pay more than smaller property types. This option more accurately reflects stormwater runoff but is more effort to administer than charging all properties the same fee. This would charge all residences within a property type (e.g. detached house) the same. So, a large home with a lot of hard surface pays the same as a small home.

• Residential Fee by Housing Size and Type. Different detached houses pay different fees, depending on the size of their footprint (or hard surface area). This option is the most accurate way of all three options to match fees with actual runoff, but it is also the most complex and costly to manage of all three options. 

Non-Residential Properties

Under all three scenarios, non-residential properties would be charged a stormwater fee based on their measured hard surface area.

Many municipalities with stormwater fees provide incentives to encourage and reward property owners that take steps to reduce the amount or improve the quality of stormwater that runs off their property. Incentives could include:

• Subsidies and rebates. This is a one-time reward to reduce the cost of implementing stormwater measures like rain barrels or rain gardens at home.

• Credits. This is an ongoing reduction to your stormwater fee for installing and maintaining measures like a stormwater pond or stormwater infiltration system.

Many municipalities limit stormwater credits (ongoing fee reductions) to non-residential, mixed use or large multi-family residential properties (like condos). 

This is because:

• These property types tend to generate more stormwater runoff than low-density residential properties. This means that a credit program for these property types can have a significant impact on the amount and quality of stormwater runoff going into the City’s system.

• Peterborough has far more low-density residential properties than non-residential properties, mixed-use buildings or condos, so offering credits to all properties would be much more administratively costly.

• Fees for low-density residential property fees tend to be low, so a stormwater credit that only saves a few dollars per month may not be enough of an incentive to justify implementing on-site stormwater measures.