By Eric Curl
Aug. 4, 2024 – As the city prepares for the impacts of Tropical Storm Debby, following weeks of torrential rains and flooded streets, a long-term plan to address Savannah’s drainage deficiencies is once again up for consideration.
City officials are reconsidering the implementation of a stormwater utility fee to help make sure roads don’t become rivers as they have this summer.
A $300,000 contract going before the Savannah City Council on Thursday would be the second time Alpharetta-based Stantec Consulting was hired to conduct a stormwater utility implementation study. The same company conducted a study for the city after a $49,651 contract was approved for the council in July 2017.
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The previous study was put on the shelf after the 2018 implementation and subsequent rescinding six months later of a fire services fee that drew wide community opposition. City officials have since dusted off the report at the direction of the current council and staff updated the consultant’s work last year to reflect changes to land use and the city’s stormwater management plan.
City Manager Jay Melder, who came on board after the previous study, thinks a stormwater fee is more equitable than a tax increase because a property’s value is not well correlated with stormwater runoff and infrastructure needs, according to a staff memo he sent last December.
Currently, the city’s stormwater maintenance operations are funded primarily by property taxes, while a majority of the new capital projects are funded by the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Under a future stormwater fee program, the city’s maintenance program would be funded with the new revenue source, while a majority of capital drainage projects would continue relying on SPLOST funds, so those costs would not be a part of the initial billing rate.
The amount charged would be based on the amount of impervious area on the parcel and the amount of runoff the property generates, according to the RFP. City staff is recommending that the fee be added to utility bills as the method for obtaining payments.
If adopted, Savannah would be joining other Georgia cities in implementing such a fee, including Garden City, Hinesville and Richmond Hill.
In May, a city spokesperson issued the following statement to Savannah Agenda concerning the potential fee:
“The City of Savannah is evaluating all available tools to ensure stormwater drainage issues are addressed in the most comprehensive and equitable manner for the citizens and businesses within the City. This includes applying for Federal Grants, utilization of SPLOST Funds, General Fund Appropriations as well as examining the potential implementation of a Stormwater Utility. In order to effectively address historic drainage issues including increased maintenance requirements for the City’s aging and expanding drainage system, and future issues related to climate change, the City believes that measures should be taken now to assess the viability of a dedicated stormwater management related funding source that is fair and equitable to the City’s utility customers. Before any measure like the Stormwater Utility concept would be considered by City Council or implemented, a significant public engagement effort would be undertaken to disseminate key information and to garner feedback from the community.”
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It is past time that a HYDROLOGIST is hired to assess the problem with city/county drainage and flooding. Perhaps if and when that is done the bad news can be absorbed (no pun intended) that the areas behind Savannah’s bluff from about 45th Street south were designed by Mother Nature as a catch basin for the water falling on the city proper. There will be NO mitigation available for areas south of that (with the exception perhaps of some of Magnolia Park and DeRenne Avenue and areas around there unless most homes are elevated or removed (many were removed in Magnolia Park when they continued to flood). Look at a topographic map and you will discover just how vulnerable most of Savannah is to flooding, now more horrific than the last time we suffered a massive deluge in the form of David, back in the late 1970’s and long before most of the islands and southside were anywhere near as populated as they are now. We have no business building in the areas where we have, but greed always comes before common sense.