Aurora stormwater costs expected to double in next 10 years due to climate change

Increasing storms, waterflows attributed to climate change, aging infrastructure, will increase cost for taxpayers

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 10, 2019
Teresa Latchford

The effect of climate change is expected to hit Aurora taxpayers in their pocket books.

Aurora town council was presented with a report penned by Engineering and Capital Delivery Manager Anca Milhail highlighting the need for the town’s stormwater program to have a sustainable funding source for infrastructure improvements. The town needs to consider implementing a funding structure that is dedicated, stable, predictable and fair.

In 1998, the town introduced a “tiered” flat rate to cover the cost of operating, maintaining and upgrading stormwater infrastructure and move the cost away from the property tax bill. This approach uses separate cost formulas for residential and non-residential areas, which currently sit at rates of $5.44 per month for residential users and $69.08 per month for non-residential users.

“Stormwater funds generated from these accounts are credited to the stormwater reserve, which are then used to fund all stormwater related operating and capital expenditures,” Milhail wrote in the report. “It is the town’s policy to strive for a target stormwater reserve balance twice the annual average reserve draw that is needed over a 10-year forecast period.”

While the formula is working well at the moment, Milhail warns that with the increasing water flows brought by more frequent and intense storms attributed to climate change combined with the town’s aging stormwater infrastructure, the cost to maintain the town’s stormwater system will more than double in the next 10 years, which could have a significant impact on the taxpayer.

“Because of climate change, storms are occurring at a greater frequency and intensity,” she added. “Other changes taking place include variations to seasonal water flows, increased winter flows, more frequent and severe freezing and thawing cycles, decreased lakes’ ice cover and increased pollution.”

The town, like many others across the province, are seeing ways to generate sustainable funding to be able to address the significant need to adapt its infrastructure to the challenges and stressors resulting from development and climate change.

Traditionally, municipalities fund their systems through development charges, cash-in-lieu compensation, perpetual maintenance fees, infrastructure renewal levy, local improvement charges and property taxes.

“Each funding program is different, each with its own advantages and disadvantages,” she said. “The key in funding stormwater management programs is to find the most effective approach for a specific community and to fund it sustainably over the long term.”

While a number of funding options used in other municipalities were analyzed by DFA Infrastructure International Inc., hired by the town to undertake a financing study and review, the firm’s John Murphy is recommending a financial structure currently being used by Newmarket. The approach is known as development intensity, a unique stormwater charge for each property based on multiplying the area of property by the runoff level group. The runoff group rate is a derived number arrived at by classifying properties based on how much water can be absorbed through the ground (imperviousness), grouping like property categories into low, medium and high levels, averaging imperviousness of the categories in each runoff group and applying the weighted average imperviousness of each runoff level to the total stormwater funding requirement.

While there was consideration of stormwater incentives, including credits and reductions, town staff does not recommend implementing any at this time due to high administration needs and the potential revenues could be significantly decreased.

However, the town does intend to continue to educate the public on stormwater management.

Council received the report for information and approved $100,000 for a Storm Sewer Reserve Fund and Rates Study, meaning town staff will proceed to select an engineering consultant to lead the process of designing a new and more fair funding approach and report back at a later date with an outline of the final rate structure and timeline for implementation.