Stormwater July/August 2012 : Page 17

Given the increasing costs of capital programs in response to federal and state stormwater regulations, many municipalities have started to leverage revenues from stormwater utilities and use long-term fi nancing to support signifi cant capital programs. Much of this is due to the fact that stormwater utilities are ma-turing and have track records for being stable and dedicated sources of revenues for stormwater management programs. As previously mentioned, Montgomery County is addressing its MS4 permit requirements through a $295 million CIP. As part of its planning process, the county is considering debt fi nanc-ing as part of its CIP. This will help leverage current revenues, minimize spikes in the stormwater charge, and spread the costs over the useful lives of the stormwater facilities. The city of Richmond, VA, implemented a stormwater utility in 2009, which funds inspection and maintenance for stormwater facilities, catch basin cleaning, pretreatment of stormwater runoff, fl ood protection, and capital projects to renew and repair the system. The city has annual budget of approximately $8 million and is anticipating the implementa-tion and compliance costs for federal and state stormwater regulations. The stormwater charge of $45 per ERU has not increased since 2009, but escalating costs of regulations and capital improvements are being evaluated by the city to de-velop a fi nancial plan. As many stormwater utilities contemplate plans for address-ing increasing costs associated with federal and state regula-tions, review of the utility’s rate structure and rates can help a stormwater utility develop a fi nancial plan. For example, availability of and improvements to impervious area data en-able stormwater utilities to review their rate structure and rates more effi ciently. Improved Impervious Area Data and Tiered Rate Structures Impervious surface information, as interpreted from aerial or-thophotography and stored in GIS, is being used increasingly by stormwater utilities such as the one in Clayton County, GA, to determine utility fees. As the costs for acquiring aerial photography and interpreting the impervious surfaces have decreased and the quality of the orthophotography (spatially adjusted aerial imagery) has increased, it is now feasible to ac-curately determine fees for individual properties and perform periodic updates. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the cost for acquiring high-quality color orthophotography has dropped to the point where many utilities can afford a new set and perform updates to the impervious surface layer every few years. In addition, most jurisdictions now have a GIS-based parcel layer, which can be used to automatically assign the impervious surface area to a property. The orthophotography has high enough resolution to ac-curately distinguish pervious from impervious surfaces and to capture smaller features such as driveways, walkways, and patios. It is also spatially accurate so that impervious features can be properly correlated with GIS-based property boundaries Storm Capture ™ 'HWHQWLRQ‡5HWHQWLRQ‡5HFKDUJH‡5HXVH Patent Pending  (DV\,QVWDOO(DV\0DLQWHQDQFH 7UDI¿F/RDGLQJ'HVLJQ
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