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Midland council approves drainage-fee increase, pledges audit and review after public objections

City of Midland City Council · January 27, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

On a 6–1 vote the Midland City Council advanced a revised drainage-fee ordinance after staff presented multi‑decade backlog estimates and a funding plan; residents called the fee regressive and some threatened legal action, and council members asked for audits and targeted relief to return in 12 months.

The Midland City Council approved a second‑reading motion on proposed changes to the city’s municipal drainage utility code after a lengthy presentation on infrastructure needs and an hour of public comment and council debate.

Staff said the city faces decades‑old maintenance needs, listing roughly $135 million in identified drainage and street projects over a 10‑year horizon and estimating up to $200 million over 20 years. Since implementation in 2017 the stormwater utility has collected about $17.3 million; staff estimated the proposed rate change would generate about $7.3 million and said drainage revenues are held in a segregated utility fund.

The mos…

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