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Stormwater fee will now show up on your hydro bill

Homeowners should shoulder less of the burden under the city's new system, which is based on how much rain, and melted snow a property needs to get rid of
stormwater

The average homeowner in Guelph will start seeing a new $4 charge on each hydro bill starting in 2017 to cover the cost of stormwater management.

The city is changing the way it collects costs related to managing stormwater — rainwater and melted snow that runs off roofs, driveways and roads rather than soaking into the ground.

Those costs are being shifted from property taxes to a user-fee system.

The new fees have already been approved and a new by-law needed to make the changes, which come after two years of study and consultation by the city, is expected to be rubber stamped at Monday's council meeting.

The change will see single residential property homeowners pay an average of $4 on each hydro bill. Commercial, institutional, multi-residential unit properties and industrial property owners will pay based on how much stormwater service they require. Bigger properties and multi-residential properties will pay more.

The new system is considered a fairer way of funding the program, with the biggest users of the service shouldering more of the burden.

Multi-residential units will still be billed based on the number of units, but how that billing is done is still being worked out with Guelph Hydro.

It is also seen as a way of closing the current gap between costs and funding and of building a reserve fund.

Guelph Hydro is being used to collect the fee that previously was part of the property tax bill.

The city currently spends roughly $2.3 million a year on stormwater management. It believes $6.4 million annually is the sustainable cost.

It is not an extra charge to taxpayers, just a different — and according to city staff — fairer way of collecting the fees.

"It is critically important to ensure the community is well informed about the importance of stormwater management and how the change to a user fee will affect them," the staff report says.

Staff also looked at charging $2 a month or $6.35 a month but felt the $4 charge was a good balance between "initial user affordability and achieving a sustainable level of funding in a reasonable period of time."

"The ultimate goal for the city is to achieve a sustainable level of funding that will address all capital needs, operations and maintenance requirements as well as full stormwater asset renewal," says the staff recommendation going to council on Monday.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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