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Home My WebLink About26-28789 - City Council - OrdinanceORDINANCE 26-28789 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 12.5 "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND COMPLIANCE," ARTICLE III "STORMWATER PROTECTION," DIVISION 4 "MUNICIPAL DRAINAGE UTILITY SYSTEM," SECTION 12.5-340 "CATEGORIES OF DRAINAGE UTILITY RATES" OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS (2015). AS AMENDED, TO REVISE THE MONTHLY RATES FOR THE DRAINAGE UTILITY FEE; PROVIDING THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, on January 24, 2006, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth adopted Ordinance No. 16781-01-2006 to establish a municipal Drainage Utility System (M&C G- 15066); and WHEREAS, on January 24, 2006, the City Council of the City of Fort Worth also adopted Ordinance No. 16782-01-2006 to amend the City Code by adding Division IV, Sections 12.5-336 through 12.5-347, entitled "Municipal Drainage Utility System" to Article III of Chapter 12.5, by which the rules and regulations of the Drainage Utility System would be governed (M&C G-15067); and WHEREAS, the Municipal Drainage Utility Systems Act (the "Act"), Texas Local Government Code §§ 552.042 etseq., as amended, authorizes the City to prescribe a basis upon which to fund the municipal Drainage Utility System and to assess the fees and charges to support the municipal Drainage Utility System; and WHEREAS, Section 552.045 of the Act authorizes the City to establish a schedule of drainage charges and to revise those drainage charges after three published notices and a public hearing; and WHEREAS, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025, the City Council revised the rates and charges for the Municipal Drainage Utility System; and WHEREAS, on June 13, 2023, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 26205-06- 2023 (M&C No. 23-0474) to amend the City Code to replace outdated definitions for different categories of properties to ensure correct stormwater utility rates are charged to each respective property within the Municipal Drainage Utility System; and WHEREAS, on September 16, 2025, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 28003- 09-2025 (M&C No. 25-0864) to amend the City Code to clarify the billing basis for Low Occupancy Residential Property billing tiers to ensure that the billing tiers do not overlap; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that an increase in the rates is now warranted to continue to provide funds for necessary stormwater operations and capital project delivery; and Ordinance No. 26-28789 Page 1 of 4 WHEREAS, notice of the public hearing on this ordinance was published in the Fort Worth Star -Telegram three times before the date of the public hearing, with the first publication occurring on August 12, 2026, said date being on or before the 30thday before the date of the hearing, in accordance with the requirements of the Act; and WHEREAS, in setting the schedule of charges for drainage utility service, the calculations are based on an inventory of the parcels within the Municipal Drainage Utility System and the actual or estimated impervious area on the benefitted properties; and WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City to fund the Municipal Drainage Utility System to fairly and equitably allocate the cost of storm water control to properties in proportion to storm water runoff potential for each type of property. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS THAT: SECTION 1. Chapter 12.5, Article HI, Division 4, Section 12.5-340 "Categories of Drainage Utility Rates" of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (2015), as amended, is hereby amended to amend subsections (a) and (b) in their entirety to be and read as follows: SECTION 12.5-340 CATEGORIES OF DRAINAGE UTILITY RATES. (a) The City Council finds that impervious cover increases runoff and associated pollutants. For the purposes of calculating the drainage utility fee, an ERU shall be the established standard billing unit. One ERU shall be billed at $7-.29 $7.65 per month. Each benefitted property shall be categorized as one of the following: (1) Low occupancy residential property. A low occupancy residential property shall be placed in one of four billing tiers based on residential square footage, identified below, with building permits or the most recent appraisal district data used as a means of estimating the total amount of impervious area on the property. The median single-family residential parcel in Fort Worth has been determined to have approximately 2,600 square feet of impervious area or surface or one ERU. (2) High occupancy residential/non-residential property. Fees for high occupancy residential/non-residential properties shall be based on the total estimated impervious area on each parcel, with building permit information, aerial photography, or actual measurement used as a means of estimating the total amount of impervious area on the property, divided by 2,600 square feet to determine the number of ERUs or billing units. Ordinance No. 26-28789 Page 2 of 4 (b) The City Council finds that it is equitable to assess the drainage utility fee to each low occupancy residential user on the basis of four low occupancy residential billing tiers and such rates are hereby established. Low Billing Unit Occupancy Equivalent Billing Basis Monthly Rate, Effective Billing Residential Units January 1, 20267 Tier (ERU) Up to 1,300 square feet Tier 1 0.5 ERU $3.83 1,301 to 2,475 square feet Tier 2 1.0 ERU 87—.2-g $7.65 2,476 to 3,394 square feet Tier 3 1.5 ERU e'�94 $11.49 31395 square feet and above Tier 4 2.0 ERU $'� $15.31 SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (2015), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 3. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. Ordinance No. 26-28789 Page 3 of 4 SECTION 4. This ordinance shall take effect on January 1, 2027. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: Al ICe vin A;4e�J, 11 By: M. Kevin Anders, II (Sep 21 2026 10 17:40 CDT) M. Kevin Anders, II, Assistant City Attorney ADOPTED: September 15, 2026 EFFECTIVE: January 1,2027 �A� x Jannette S. Goodall, City Secretary Ordinance No. 26-28789 Page 4 of 4 FORT WORTH,, MAYOR AND COUNCIL COMMUNICATION 12.2 ADOPT PROPOSED FY27 STORMWATER UTILITY FEE INCREASE DATE: 09/15/26 M&C FILE NUMBER: M&C 26-0740 DEPARTMENT: TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS SUBJECT (ALL) Conduct Public Hearing and Adopt Ordinance Amending Chapter 12.5 "Environmental Protection and Compliance," Article III "Stormwater Protection," Division 4 "Municipal Drainage Utility System," Section 12.5-340 "Categories of Drainage Utility Rates" of the City Code, to Revise the Monthly Rates for the Municipal Drainage Utility System (PUBLIC HEARING - a. Staff Available for Questions: Jennifer Dyke; b. Public Comment; c. Council Action: Close Public Hearing and Act on M&C) RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council: 1. Conduct a public hearing; and 2. Adopt the attached ordinance amending Chapter 12.5 "Environmental Protection and Compliance," Article III "Stormwater Protection," Division 4 "Municipal Drainage Utility System," Section 12.5-340 "Categories of Drainage Utility Rates" of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (2015), as amended, to revise monthly rates for the Municipal Drainage Utility System. DISCUSSION The Transportation and Public Works Department, Stormwater Management Division is recommending a monthly rate increase of $0.36 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) for the stormwater utility as a part of the Transportation and Public Works Department's Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget request. One ERU equals approximately 2,600 square feet of impervious surface. This 5% rate increase will support the delivery of mid -sized flood mitigation projects, increase funding for capital project partnership participation, and create a new position that will increase the annual inspection of city engineered channels and infrastructure under Stormwater Facility Maintenance Agreements. The increase will improve public safety, reduce flood risk to homes and businesses, create more opportunities for cost effective, coordinated capital work through partnerships, strengthen infrastructure asset management, and improve maintenance, capital planning and system performance, while enhancing the community's long-term resilience, benefiting neighborhoods across the city. 1of3 FORT WORTH,, In February 2026, Stormwater Management Division staff met with the Stormwater Management Program Stakeholder Group to update stakeholders on the stormwater program and to discuss and obtain feedback on a potential fee increase including the proposed purpose, benefits, and impacts of the potential increase on rate payers. The Stormwater Management Program Stakeholder Group is comprised of community members representing residential homeowners, civic groups, developers, and large rate payers. The following table presents the proposed fees for the four tiers of low occupancy residential property, as well as the fees for high occupancy residential/non-residential property, which includes properties such as apartments and those with commercial, industrial, and institutional land uses. For low occupancy residential property, the total amount of impervious area on the property and corresponding billing tier is estimated based on structure square feet, using building permits or the most recent appraisal district data. For high occupancy residential/non-residential property, the fees are calculated based on an actual measurement or an estimate of the impervious area on each property using resources such as building permits and aerial photography. Low Occupancy Residential Property (such as single family and duplex) Billing Unit Proposed Billing Equivalent Residential Billing Current Monthly Rate, Tier Units Basis Monthly Effective (ERU) Rate January 1, 2027 Up to 1,300 Tier 1 0.5 ERU $3.65 $3.83 square feet 1,301 to 2,475 Tier 2 1.0 ERU $7 29 $7.65 square feet 2,476 to 3,394 Tier 3 1.5 ERU $10.94 $11.49 square feet 3,395 square Tier 4 2.0 ERU feet and $14.58 $15.31 above High Occupancy Residential/Non-Residential Property (such as apartments, commercial, industrial, and institutional) High Occupancy Estimated or Per ERU (2,600 square Residential/Non- feet of impervious measured $7 29 /ERU $7.65 /ERU Residential impervious Property surface) surface 2 of 3 FORT WORTH,, The rate increase will result in approximately $66,285.00 per year in additional revenue generated from City -owned property. The total anticipated additional revenues for FY27 and FY28 are as follows: • FY27 (collected over 9 months: $2.6 million FY28: $3.5 million Section 552.045 of the Local Government Code requires the City to hold a public hearing before revising and levying the drainage utility rates. Notice of the hearing, including the full text of the proposed ordinance, was published in the Fort Worth Star -Telegram on August 12, 2026, August 19, 2026, and August 26, 2026. This ordinance will become effective on January 1, 2027. This will serve ALL COUNCIL DISTRICTS. This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity. FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Director of Finance certifies that upon approval of the above recommendations and adoption of the attached ordinance, funds will be deposited into the Stormwater Utility Fund. The Transportation & Public Works Department (and Financial Management Services) is responsible for the collection and deposit of funds due to the City. SUBMITTED FOR CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE BY: Jesica L. McEachern, # 5804 ORIGINATING BUSINESS UNIT HEAD: Lauren Prieur, # 6035 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Dyke, # 2714 ATTACHMENTS 1. Ordinance Adopting FY27 Stormwater Rates [12.2.1 - 4 pages] 3 of 3