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1. What is a Storm Water Utility?

On October 23, 2012 the City Council adopted Ordinance 578-2012-27 establishing Storm Water Utility System within the City Limits of the City of Weatherford. The utility is a service charge or fee based on "use", just like sanitary sewer or drinking water. The revenue from the Storm Water Utility System can only be spent on storm water related activities and will provide a funding source for maintenance, repair and construction of storm water facilities.

2. Who pays the Storm Water fee?

The fee is charged against developed property within the City limits and will be included in the City utility bill. If the owner of the property normally pays for utility services on the property, the storm water fee is sent to the owner for payment. If an occupant, or tenant, of a property is responsible for payment of utilities, the City considers the tenant responsible for payment of the Storm Water fee. However, the owner will be expected to pay the Storm Water fee if the property has been vacated by a tenant.

3. How much is the Storm Water Utility fee?

The Storm Water Utility fee is based on impervious surface area within the City. A sampling of the City's residential dwelling units was used to determine the amount of impervious surface to calculate for an ERU (Equivalent Residential Unit). After the ERU was calculated each residential dwelling unit was defined as one (1) ERU, which equals 3,300 sq. ft. of impervious surface and starting January 1, 2016 a residential property shall be billed at $4.50 per month.
Developed non-residential property (including commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and multi-family) fees are calculated by taking measurements of their impervious surfaces and dividing by 3,300 sq. ft. which determines the number of ERU's that apply to the development. Starting January 1, 2016, all non-residential property shall be billed at $4.50 per ERU per month.

4. What does impervious area mean?

Impervious area is defined as a surface that is resistant to infiltration by water. Several examples of impervious areas include asphalt or concrete pavement, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks and buildings.

5. How does the City know the impervious area of a property?

The City uses aerial photography and a geographic information system to identify and measure impervious area.

6. What if I think my fee is not calculated correctly?

The residential fee is a flat rate for each dwelling unit, or ERU, and cannot be adjusted. Fee calculations for non-residential properties can be reviewed for accuracy by filing a utility fee appeal from with the City Engineer. A customer can provide additional information about impervious area from land surveys or other supporting documents.

7. Are there exemptions to the fee?

Yes. State owned properties and colleges are exempt from paying the fee by State law.

8. What does the City plan to do with the revenue raised by the fee?

The City will be developing a Storm Water Master Plan that inventories the existing facilites, documents the extent of water related problems across the city and develops an overall long-term strategy to effectively address issues.
Funds will also be used to complete a backlog of smaller drainage projects that have not been funded in the past.

9. Who will administer the Storm Water Utility Program and Storm Water fee?

It will be administered through and in conjunction with the Engineering Department and the Transportation and Public Works (TPW) Department.
For additional information call the TPW Deparment at (817) 598-4244 or the Engineering Department at(817) 598-4016.