Admin Order 58-22-14-F -- Final SW User Fees

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Exhibit B to Administrative Order 58-22-14-F Page 1 of 7 CITY MANAGER’S FINDINGS Investigation of Stormwater Service Revenue Needs Pursuant to EC 6.411(2) and Responses to Public Comments Regarding the Proposed Stormwater User Fee Amendments Stormwater fees support services that protect clean water in Amazon Creek and the Willamette River, enhance fish and wildlife habitat, and reduce the risk of flooding. An investigation was conducted to determine stormwater revenue needs through FY23. The investigation included the following factors, as outlined in Eugene Code 6.411. There are many components to the stormwater program. When it rains in Eugene, water hits roofs, lawns, sidewalks and streets, and picks up oil from cars, sediment, bacteria, grease, and other chemicals associated with urban life. Instead of soaking into the ground, nature’s natural filter in non‐urban areas, these contaminants are carried along streets and through underground storm pipes, culverts and roadside ditches, discharging directly into Amazon Creek or the Willamette River. Pipes and culverts catch leaves, sediment and litter and must be cleaned regularly. Green infrastructure such as vegetated swales and rain gardens have been installed to provide treatment for stormwater runoff in some areas and must also be maintained. Street sweeping, leaf pick up, piped system cleaning, and vegetation maintenance of rain gardens are just a few of the stormwater operations that the city provides to maintain this system. In addition to protecting clean water and healthy habitat, a functioning stormwater system also reduces the risk of flooding. The City of Eugene is proposing to increase the stormwater user fee by 4%, effective July 1, 2022. This rate increase provides additional resources to maintain the City’s rapidly growing inventory of green infrastructure, required to meet federally mandated stormwater treatment standards, which is forecasted to increase 44% over the next two years. Additionally, this rate increase provides investments into our urban forestry program to more effectively manage sidewalk and tree conflicts and for ongoing additional plantings to sustain our urban canopy. Small investments in critical stormwater operations buildings that that have inadequate electrical systems, roofing concerns and other major system issues will also be addressed with this rate increase. This fee increase also helps pay for the additional costs this service will see with the recent adoption of the AFSCME contract, which is estimated to cost approximately $300K per year, in addition to the general inflationary increases seen across many industries. As a reminder, user fees were held flat through FY20 and FY21. To help keep the fund balanced through these fiscal years, the policy team implemented $1M of underspending. The deferred maintenance from the underspending resulted in slower response on urban forestry non‐emergency tree issues, longer maintenance cycles on green infrastructure facilities which increases the chances of localized flooding, and less cleaning performed on the stormwater pipe system which reduces flow and increases the chances of localized flooding. Assuming modest annual increases around 2‐4% for FY24‐FY27, revenues can keep pace with expected inflation. The policy team will evaluate future rate increases with the declining condition of our infrastructure while also trying to support our community members and customers in these uncertain economic times.