Issue Statement: A final Stormwater Management Assessment Rate Resolution must be adopted by the City Commission after a public hearing once comments and any objections of all interested parties have been heard and considered as required by the terms of the adopted Stormwater Assessment Ordinance.
On July 15, 2026, the FY 27 preliminary stormwater rate of $145 per ERU was approved by the City Commission. This proposed FY 2027 rate is an increase of $7 over FY 26 and was included in the TRIM ("Truth-in-Millage") rate notices sent to all City property owners in August. These notices also included the time, date, and location of the public hearing for the final adoption of the FY 2027 stormwater assessment rate.
The proposed FY 27 increase would be only the fifth increase in approximately 20 years. The more recent increases beginning in FY 2023 reflect the phased rate adjustments recommended following completion of the 2022 Stormwater Master Plan and rate study. The additional revenues generated from the rate increases are intended to provide sufficient resources to meet current operating needs and fund the anticipated debt service associated with State Revolving Fund (SRF) financing for stormwater infrastructure improvements.
Last year, the City Commission adopted the FY 26 Stormwater assessment rate of $138 per equivalent residential unit (ERU), an increase of $13 over the FY 25 rate of $125. In FY 25, the City Commission increased the rate to $125 per ERU from $114 per ERU after maintaining the same rate for two years (FY 23 and FY 24). Prior to FY 23, the rate increased only once over a 20-year period. The rate change in FY 23 was adopted based on the rate study which was conducted in conjunction with the City's Stormwater Master Plan study. As can be recalled, the results of the two studies were presented to the City Commission in June 2022.
Recommended Action: It is recommended that the City Commission conduct a public hearing and adopt the final Stormwater Management Assessment Rate Resolution, thereby adopting the final Stormwater Assessment Roll and a rate of $145 per equivalent residential unit to be placed on the tax bill, an annual increase of $7.
In FY 2011, based on staff recommendation to facilitate billing and collection, the City Commission directed that fees for the operation and improvement of the City’s stormwater system be moved from the City’s utility bills and added to the annual property tax bill as an assessment. The City Commission held a public hearing on this issue on December 1, 2010, and the Commission approved the Resolution of Intent for the non-ad valorem assessment to place stormwater fees on the annual tax bill. There were no public comments at that hearing.
On July 20, 2011, the City Commission, on second reading, adopted Ordinance No. 0-2011-015, amending Chapter 12 (Stormwater) of the City Code of Ordinances authorizing the creation of the stormwater assessment area and authorizing the imposition of assessments to fund the stormwater services to properties within the stormwater assessment area.
In accordance with the ordinance, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. R-2026-086 on July 15, 2026, which estimated the citywide stormwater management cost, described the method of assessing the cost of stormwater services against the real property that will be specially benefitted by the services and, on a preliminary basis, adopted a preliminary annual rate of $145.00 per ERU. The resolution adopted the preliminary Assessment Roll and rate required by the Assessment Ordinance which was transmitted to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office for inclusion on the TRIM notice.
This method of billing is expressly permitted for stormwater charges in Florida Statutes Section 403.0893. The tax bill collection method provides a highly reliable revenue collection rate to fund ongoing operations, maintenance, debt service and capital improvements.