Stormwater Utility
The City of Essex Junction is forming a stormwater utility to create a fair, equitable, and stable source of funding for stormwater management that is paid by all properties, including tax-exempt. This initiative is in response to State-mandated permitting, which requires the City to manage and decrease the amount of stormwater runoff entering local waterways and Lake Champlain.
Over the past few years, the permit requirements and aging stormwater infrastructure have led to an increase in the general fund budget. To address this, the proposal to create a Stormwater Utility aims to separate these fees from the general fund. The utility fee would apply to taxable and tax-exempt properties and be dedicated to funding essential stormwater infrastructure and administrative costs. While this is a new fee, the stormwater expenses in the general fund (i.e., paid for via the tax levy) will be removed in the future except for the City's own stormwater fee that it will be responsible for paying. However, overall expenses are likely to increase in FY26 in order to fully meet the permit requirements.
The stormwater utility fee would be structured similarly to water or sewer fees and is based on a property’s impervious surface, which contributes to stormwater runoff. It would also be part of the utility bill sent tri-annually for sewer and water use. The Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) has been established as the standard unit of charge. For single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes, the charge will be 1 ERU. Non-single-family residential property fees will be calculated based on their measured impervious area. A credit manual is being developed for non-single-family properties to provide incentives for stormwater management practices. This manual will offer up to a 50% credit towards fees for eligible properties.
The City anticipates presenting a Stormwater Utility ordinance at an upcoming City Council meeting in October.
Check back with this page for updates about the Stormwater Utility.
Stormwater Utility Ordinance
The next step in establishing a Stormwater Utility is to develop a stormwater ordinance and a credit manual for non-single-family properties. These ordinances and the credit manual were presented to the City Council at their meeting on October 30, 2024, and are available below.
Two public hearings regarding the formation of the Stormwater Utility were held during the City Council meetings on November 13, 2024, and December 11, 2024. The City Council requested that questions be collected and a formal response be prepared for the meeting on January 22, 2025. If any changes to the ordinances and manual are proposed during this meeting, two additional public hearings will need to be scheduled for February 2025. The utility is expected to be formally established at that time. The first prorated bills will be sent out in June 2025 along with the utility bills.
- New Chapter 20 Regulation of Stormwater Management (DRAFT)
- New Chapter 21 Regulation of Stormwater Utility (DRAFT)
- Amended Chapter 19 Establishing Permit Transfer Authority for Expired and Unpermitted Discharges to Impaired Waterways (DRAFT)
- Amendments include 1) transition to the City 2) updated references 3) updated permit statuses
- New Stormwater User Fee Credit Manual (DRAFT)
October 17, 2024
Check out a detailed breakdown of the fee structure.
Stormwater Utility Fee Flowchart
October 9, 2024 Update
Do you have a Question about the Stormwater Utility? Check out our Q&A fact sheet.
September 23, 2024 Update
Check out this edition of Junction City News, where Chelsea Mandigo, Water Quality Superintendent of the Water Quality Resource Facility, discusses the formation of the stormwater utility.
September 6, 2024 Update
At the August 28 City Council meeting, the City Council heard a presentation discussing the establishment of a stormwater utility fee in Essex Junction. This initiative is in response to State-mandated permitting, which requires the City to manage and decrease the amount of stormwater runoff entering local waterways and Lake Champlain. The City is forming a stormwater utility to create a fair, equitable, and stable source of funding for stormwater management that is paid by all properties including tax-exempt.
The stormwater utility fee would be structured similarly to water or sewer fees and is based on the impervious surface of a property’s contribution to stormwater runoff and would be part of the utility bill sent tri-annually for sewer and water use. The Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) has been established as the standard unit of charge. For single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes, the charge will be 1 ERU. Non-single-family residential parcels’ fees will be calculated based on their measured impervious area. While this is a new fee, the stormwater expenses in the general fund (i.e. paid for via the tax levy) will be removed in the future except for the City’s own stormwater fee that it will be responsible for paying. However, overall expenses are likely to increase in FY26 in order to fully meet the permit requirements.