Kyle's Storm Drainage & Flood Risk Mitigation Utility

SEE UPDATE OF PROGRESS TO DATE IN ATTACHMENT BELOW

Flooding is part of our lives here in Central Texas. A rainstorm that drops six or more inches of rain can often result in road closures and creek and banks overflowing. In the past, Kyle and other neighboring towns experienced massive storms that released many more inches of rain. The October 2015 flood unleashed 17 inches of rain on Kyle in about 24 hours.

Many cities, including Kyle, design infrastructure for a 10 to 25-year flood event, although some infrastructure is engineered for 100-year flood events. The 2015 Halloween flood was about a 500 to 700-year flood. Our drainage infrastructure wasn’t able to handle that volume of rain in such a short period of time.

Realistically, municipal governments aren't able to engineer drainage infrastructure to handle that amount of water. Or rather, they could, but no one could afford to develop in those areas because it would be cost-prohibitive.

The City of Kyle's Engineering Department now has a Stormwater Management Plan Administrator. This is the person who is leading the city's efforts in protecting the city's stormwater and making sure the city uses Best Management Practices (BMPs) before it goes to our local waterways and eventually the ocean. She is also involved in the city's Storm Drainage & Flood Risk Mitigation Utility (SD&FRMU).

On November 15, 2016, Kyle City Council adopted the SD&FRMU Ordinance that includes a storm drainage fee. Having this fee allows the city to start addressing future flooding, maintain our existing infrastructure, design and install new infrastructure and focus on stormwater issues and a backlog of drainage projects.

Uses for the utility fee funds

The SD&FRMU fee establishes a dedicated, long-term funding source for much needed drainage operations and maintenance activities. The funds are going to allow the city to hire a dedicated crew for operation of maintenance of the city's drainage system and stormwater infrastructure, while providing funding for capital improvement projects to the city’s drainage system.

Please note: The utility fee was not intended to provide drainage mowing services on private property. Some drainage ditches are owned by private landowners and the city is not responsible for mowing those areas.

Fee

Kyle homeowners (residential) will see a $5 fee on their monthly utility bills.

The monthly commercial fee will be based on the following formula:

Monthly Fee = Monthly Base Rate x Impervious Cover (sq. ft.) x Adjustment Factor

Monthly Base Rate = $0.0021 per sq. ft. of impervious cover

Adjustment Factor = The adjustment factor is unique to each commercial property and is based on the percent of impervious cover. It is calculated using the following formula: (1.5425 x % of impervious cover) + 0.5064

This fee first appeared on utility bills in January 2017.

While some may believe this is just another way to tax residents, the SD&FRMU is not related to the taxable value of a property, so it is a fee not a tax.

If Kyle were to fund the proposed drainage activities with the ad valorem tax instead of the SD&FRMU fee, a tax rate increase of $0.0784 per $100 valuation would be necessary to generate the same revenue.

The SD&FRMU will provide a revenue stream that will allow the city to address necessary drainage and stormwater activities and projects that are independent of property values. The fee structure will more fairly reflect the cost to build and maintain drainage infrastructure than the ad valorem tax, because the value of a property is not necessarily related to the amount of stormwater runoff generated from the property.

The fee will also assist in determining the needs for new detention facilities and drainage improvements, assist with compliance of the city’s federally and state unfunded mandated Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) program and purchase the necessary equipment to repair and maintain the existing and future drainage infrastructure.

In addition, the revenues generated from the SD&FRMU can only be spent on drainage and stormwater related activities.

Benefit to Kyle residents

Prior to the adoption of the SD&FRMU, drainage improvement funding came from monies taken from the city’s General Fund, which competes with the city’s other budget items and high priority projects. A number of factors led the city to consider the adoption of a SD&FRMU fee, which includes regulatory obligations and growing infrastructure needs.

The city has identified a number of capital improvement projects and significant maintenance items related to drainage and stormwater requirements that are not currently funded through the General Fund. These projects include maintenance issues, such as the dredging and de-silting of water bodies and bridge and channel repair. Capital improvement projects identified will be designed and completed to address existing flooding issues and provide the capacity necessary for future development and redevelopment.

Two significant advantages over the continued reliance on the General Fund are:

1) The establishment of a dedicated, long-term funding stream that can only be used to cover costs specifically related to the drainage system and stormwater requirements; and

2) Customer equity by implementing a fee structure proportional to the demand placed on the drainage system by a given property.

For additional questions, contact:

If you have questions regarding the SD&FRMU, contact the city’s Stormwater Management Plan Administrator, Kathy Roecker, at (512) 618-8296 or email kroecker@cityofkyle.com.

If you have a drainage issue on city right-of-way or drainage easement, contact Public Works at (512) 262-3024.