Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Charge topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
PUC outlines plan to add stormwater line item to sewer service charge, proposes GIS viewer and grant credits
Summary
Rates administrator Erin Franks told commissioners the PUC plans to separate a stormwater component from the sewer service charge, roll it in beginning with the 2022 rate package, build a GIS-linked parcel database to justify charges, and offer a grant/credit program for property owners who install stormwater management.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission heard a staff update from Erin Franks, the rates administrator, on designing a stormwater component to the city sewer service charge.
Franks said a 2018 rate study estimated roughly 17% of total wastewater costs (operations and capital) are attributable to managing stormwater runoff during wet-weather events and that the current charge embeds those costs inside the sanitary sewer component. “Our most recent rate study in 2018 calculated that about 17% of our total wastewater cost ... is related to managing stormwater runoff during wet weather events,” Franks said.
To implement a separate stormwater component, staff proposed a multi-year, phased rollout beginning with the next rate package in 2022, targeted outreach to potentially affected large landowners, and a credit/grant program to compensate property owners who have installed qualifying green infrastructure. Franks said the PUC will issue a request for proposals to build a GIS parcel database that will tie measured impervious surface areas to the billing system and allow customers to see and, if necessary, appeal their parcel assessments.
She identified customers likely to be most affected as large-property owners with extensive impervious surface — school districts, churches and large parking lots — and said the PUC will phase the new component to limit sudden bill impacts and promote grant-funded stormwater management installations.
Commission discussion focused on outreach and transparency. Commissioners asked staff to provide background materials, including a past SPUR white paper, to the commission and to document planned focus groups and neighborhood outreach. Staff said the commission will see a contract award for the database and updates through the rate-study process leading to adoption in spring 2022.
Ending: Staff will return with a contract recommendation for the parcel/GIS database, an outreach plan targeted at high-impact property owners, and materials for commissioners to review as the rate-study and credit program are developed.
