CITY OF MCPHERSON PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Understanding the Utility Fee

A stormwater utility fee is a charge for a public service provided by the City to manage stormwater quantity and quality.

September 2016

Fee Overview

The City of McPherson has approved a stormwater utility fee, effective October 1, 2016. How will the rate on my bill be established? The stormwater utility fee will appear on your monthly BPU The stormwater utility fee has been set by the bill. Fees collected will be used McPherson City Commission. Residential customers to address unfunded mandates will pay $7 per month. Single-family homes, individual required by the EPA and duplex units and individual apartments will pay the infrastructure needs caused by same monthly fee. drainage issues. Other properties will be charged by the number of Equivalent Residential Units (ERUs) times a monthly charge of $7. See detailed example on reverse side.

Contact Information

For more information regarding the City of McPherson Stormwater Utility Program, call 620.245.2545 or visit www.mcpcity.com/214/StormwaterManagement

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City of McPherson Public Works Department

Frequently Asked Questions

Understanding the importance of funding our stormwater program

What does the stormwater What is stormwater program do? The stormwater runoff? Stormwater runoff is program maintains and the water that flows off roofs, improves the City’s stormwater driveways, parking lots, streets systems located within the and other hard surfaces during public street rights-of-way rainstorms. Hard surfaces ERU Example including storm drains, catch cause the rainfall to pour into basins, underground pipes, ditches, culverts, catch basins Properties not classified open channels, culverts and and storm sewers. The water as a residential customer creeks. does not receive any treatment will be charged by the before entering the streams and number of Equivalent What are the City’s goals lakes. Residential Units (ERUs) for the stormwater What is water ? times a monthly charge program? The stormwater Water pollution comes from of $7. An ERU equals program focuses on reducing diverse sources and is hard to 3,318 square feet of the the potential for the loss of life control. Common pollutants average impervious or property due to flooding and include grass clippings, surface area found on a protecting the quality of our fertilizers, pesticides, pet single-family property. lakes and streams. Fees waste, sediments, oils, salts The number of ERUs for collected will support ongoing and trace metals associated non-residential properties maintenance and capital with farms, yards, roofs, is determined by dividing improvements on the City’s construction sites, autos and storm drainage infrastructure. the amount of the streets. Uncontrolled

property’s impervious stormwater can have What is by 3,318. Thus, a detrimental effects on the 33,180 square foot surface area and how is it environmental and financial building and parking lot determined? An impervious health of a community. is assigned 10 ERUs and surface is any hard surface that will pay $70 per month does not absorb water and What is the advantage of since it is 10 times larger impedes the natural flow of charging a stormwater fee than an average home. water into the soil. The City rather than a tax? Using a measures impervious area fee structure based on using aerial photography data. impervious surfaces allows for a

more equitable method of I rent the that I live charging for stormwater in so why will I be services. Fees are directly charged? The stormwater related to the service property utility fee will be included with owners receive from the City. the BPU bill. Thus, whoever pays the electrical bill will be charged the stormwater utility fee.