Council adopts stormwater assessments amid public calls for maintenance-first approach

Tampa City Council voted Aug. 7 to adopt the city’s annual non-ad valorem stormwater service assessment and the stormwater capital improvement assessment roll, while the public and several council members urged the city to prioritize maintenance and smaller capital pockets over a single large project.

Assistant City Attorney McLean Evans told the council the service assessment rate remains $82 per Equivalent Stormwater Unit (ESU), unchanged since 2015, and that the non-ad valorem roll adopted in 2003 funds stormwater management across the city’s service area. No written objections were submitted prior to the hearing, Evans said.

After public comment, Councilwoman Lisa Hertek moved the resolution for the service assessment roll; the council approved it unanimously. Later, the council adopted the stormwater capital improvement assessment roll, which funds targeted capital projects in the Central…