City Council Meeting

Melissa Shinaberryclerkby voiceAll right. Our first work session is a review of the Capital Improvement Program, Stormwater Utility Fund, and Wastewater Fund. I'm going to recognize J.C. Martinez, Chief Financial Officer, to provide the staff report.

J.C. MartinezstaffThank you, Mayor, Council. TONIGHT WE HAVE DAVENPORT, SPECIFICALLY MR. LUX AND MR. SACKS WHO WILL BE PRESENTING TWO OF THE THREE PRESENTATIONS. OF THE PRESENTATIONS, ONE WILL DEAL WITH THE GENERAL FUND FY27 PLAN OF FINANCE SPECIFICALLY ON CAPITAL. THE OTHER ONE WILL BE ON WASTEWATER FUND ANALYSIS AND THE THIRD ONE WILL BE ON THE STORMWATER UTILITY UPDATE AS WELL. happy to answer any questions during those presentations or any time after those presentations as well again we have Kyle Lux from Davenport with the city having a 25 year relationship with Davenport who have really walked us through the financing also they were a part of the city when we were upgraded from our double A to our triple A bond ratings as well so with that being said

sure so mayor council we have one more presentation on stormwater utility accounting the slides about 14 slides I'm sure mr. Ito and Annie can go through them very quickly if council so chooses but this is also in conjunction with the FY 27 budget to try to give council and the residents an update of what we're projecting when it comes to any rate increases am

Satoshi EtostaffGood evening, Mayor and Council. This should not take very long. I wanted to provide you with an update on what the stormwater utility has accomplished in FY26, what we'll be doing in FY27, also provide an update on credit and appeal metrics. Just a quick background on the stormwater utility. Regulatory requirements encompass a large portion of the stormwater program. has a municipal stormwater permit through DEQ and that includes four major components. One of those is total maximum daily loads or pollution reduction requirements, oversight of construction activities, management of the property yard, and minimum control measures, which are other requirements associated with the stormwater permit.

In addition to that, we also maintain drainage infrastructure, provide drainage improvement projects, and floodplain management. And going back to why the stormwater utility was developed, equity was one of the main benefits of the stormwater utility. In the pie chart on the left, that shows the distribution of property values in the city. And two-thirds, in blue, of the property values are associated with residential properties and one-third with non-residential. Under the prior tax-based approach to funding the stormwater program, the amounts funded does not have a direct correlation to the amount of stormwater impact a property has. In the pie chart on the right, that shows the amount of impervious surfaces and how

they're distributed across property types in the city, and it's the exact opposite. Approximately two-thirds are associated with non-residential properties and one-third with residential properties. The stormwater utility, the fee is based on the amount of impervious area in 500 square foot increments, and so the amount of impervious area directly correlates to the stormwater the associated fee. The same process and the same rate is used for every property to calculate the stormwater utility fee regardless of the type. The impervious surface is the metric used to calculate the fee and it's evaluated in portions of 500 square feet or billing units. Each value is rounded down to the nearest whole billing unit.

That is to the advantage of the property owner and it addresses data resolution issues because assessments are not survey grade, they are approximations. When assessed through the stormwater utility using impervious surface instead of property value, residential properties end up paying less towards stormwater costs than they did under the tax-based approach. And that was because they only account for one-third of the impervious surfaces in the city. The outcome was a shift in burden to non-residential properties for stormwater costs. This is a distribution of stormwater expenditures. Approximately one-third goes to regulatory compliance activities. Those include pollution reduction projects such as stream restoration,

And we've continued public outreach, education, and participation initiatives through media outlets and community events. Outreach and education is accomplished through both media and events, and these are examples across a variety of topics from the city scene, the city website, and Engage Fairfax pages. This content is also delivered through electronic newsletter and social media through collaboration with the Communications and Marketing Department. Some of the events that we've hosted included a rain barrel workshop, participation in spring and fall community cleanups, public meetings on projects, and fall festival. Citizens are engaged to encourage in stormwater positive activities through the Stormwater Utility Credit Program,

Annie FierrystaffGood evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Annie Fierry. I'm the utilities coordinator. I've just got a couple slides to go over the credit program metrics and appeals and any improvements we've made. so the stormwater utility credit program provides incentive for property owners to participate in stormwater positive activities which creates education and outreach opportunities and provides property owners with opportunity to manage their fees there are two types of credits there's structural credits which are available for stormwater management facilities that are properly maintained and in good condition regardless of their age or whether they're installed voluntarily or as a part of developmental requirements eligible

larger group efforts to reduce their stormwater utility fees which strong community engagement. The Public Works Department supports these larger group efforts by providing materials and supplies and also scheduling trash pickup at the end of these larger events. A total of 32 new rain barrels were installed during the 2025 billing cycle, contributing to approximately 1,600 gallons of rainwater harvesting and storage capacity. The Public Works Department hosted a Build Your Own Rain Barrel Workshop in August of 2025, which encourages participation and expands stormwater management practices at a residential level. Residents installed 275 storm drain markers on inlets while also monitoring conditions,

removing debris, and reporting any maintenance issues with those inlets to Public Works. The Department of Public Works is currently coordinating with a local vendor to also develop an updated storm drain marker so that we get a little bit more flexibility and explore a broader public awareness campaign that we can use for the storm drain marking program. City staff participated in and hosted multiple outreach events to promote stormwater utility credit opportunities and stormwater best practices. Some of those outreach efforts, as Satoshi mentioned earlier, included participation in community events such as the fall festival, the community cleanups, invasive species removal events, and we also helped promote the Friends of Akatink activities as well.

The primary benefit of these efforts extends beyond the measurable volunteer hours, fostering a more informed, engaged, and environmentally conscious community. The next slide speaks to the Stormwater Utility Appeals and those metrics associated with the appeals. So the Stormwater Utility Ordinance includes a former appeals process for property owners who believe their fee has been calculated in error. Common grounds for appeals include errors in impervious surface area calculations. That's often due to the aerial or GIS imagery, mathematical errors in fee calculation, sometimes incorrect application for approved credits, as well as incorrect property ownership or billing assignments. Appeals were much more prevalent during the implementation of the stormwater utility

However submissions have significantly decreased over the billing cycles that we've already been through so far And that's because of improved processes community outreach and also an increased public understanding of the stormwater utility Many current appeals are related to adjustments in impervious surface area particular features such as wooden slatted decks or imagery Satoshi also mentioned this earlier but I will reiterate that the city's GIS impervious layer is intended to serve as an approximation it is not survey grade accuracy so there are errors when when we use that approximation GIS data is also updated regularly and approved appeals are reviewed annually to ensure that they are still applicable because in some cases if the

the stormwater utility credit application deadline has been revised from October 1st to the first Friday in December. Based on the Public Works Department's experience administering the credit program, processing applications prior to the finalization of the utility fees will not be affected by this adjustment. And lastly, the fixed October 1 date has occasionally caused confusion when it falls on a non-business day, which has happened actually several billing cycles thus far. this will create less confusion as well

Speaker 37happening in context with zoning staff as well one thing missing was the stormwater utility funds the urban forestry program