City staff outline stormwater and street‑maintenance fee changes; council sets second reading

John Brown of Stockwell Engineers briefed the City Council on proposed amendments to Chapter 8.04 that would change how stormwater drainage and street‑maintenance fees are calculated.

Brown said the ordinance would let property owners identify zoning classifications and apply weighting factors to determine fees; he said the city is not proposing a rate increase now but plans a minor adjustment later to meet budget targets. He described proposed reductions to classification weightings — an 80% decrease for churches (there are two in town) and a 21% reduction for storage units — to better reflect actual vehicle trips and impact to street infrastructure.

Brown compared Harrisburg's fee structure with nearby communities and said the city falls in a similar range. He also described the technical assumptions used in the comparison (example R‑1 taxable valuation of $400,000, typical front footage and water/sewer usage assumptions) and said the finalized multiplier that sets the exact fees will be adopted in a later step.

Council action: The council set the second reading of Ordinance 2024‑11 (stormwater drainage) for Oct. 15, 2024 and asked staff to provide comparisons for school classifications in nearby communities at the next reading.

Why it matters: The weighting factors determine how much individual property owners pay for stormwater and street maintenance; reclassification could lower costs for churches and storage units while preserving the city's ability to meet budgeted maintenance targets.

Next steps: Staff will return with the finalized multipliers and comparative data for school classifications before the Oct. 15 second reading.