Yes, nonprofits would pay the Savannah stormwater fee too

Nov. 30, 2025 – The proposed stormwater fee the city is planning to implement next year would apply to all properties, including those owned by churches, nonprofits and other tax-exempt entities.

Just don’t call the fee a tax. (The distinction was key to Athens-Clark County’s recent success after its own fee was challenged in court.)

The fee is touted by city officials as a more equitable way to pay for drainage infrastructure and mitigate flooding throughout the city. Using an “Equivalent Residential Unit” (ERU) of 2,500 square feet as the base measurement, all property owners would pay based on impervious area (think rooftops, driveways, parking lots). This means that the fee would apply to tax exempt entities such as SCAD and St. Joseph’s/Candler, in addition to single-family homes, shopping centers and warehouses.

Mayor Van Johnson recently noted that while tax-exempt properties currently benefit from drainage improvements, they do not contribute financially under the present system, which relies mostly on the General Fund and SPLOST.

With fees, everybody pays their fair share, Johnson said during the Nov. 25 workshop.

Watch the Savannah City Council Nov. 25 Workshop>

Using a four-tier system for single-family residential properties, most households will reportedly fall into Tier 2 with a proposed $4.75 monthly fee. Non-single family residential customers – including commercial, multifamily, industrial and intuitional uses – would be billed based on their measured impervious areas. Say a fast-food restaurant has 15 times the amount of impervious area than a residential property, the owner would pay about $72 as opposed to $4.75. A warehouse with 500 times the impervious area would pay 500 times, or almost $2,400, per month.

However, all property owners will have the opportunity to reduce their fee by investing in improvements that reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality. Eligible features include rain gardens, vegetated rooftops, rain barrels and permeable pavements. (At the workshop, Water Resources Chief Ronald Feldner said a detention pond could reduce a bill by 50%.)

Another advantage, staff said, is that the fee allows for more flexibility in spending, compared to Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. Fee revenue can cover maintenance costs and increased staffing, Felder said.

“SPLOST can only be used for capital projects and it’s a really important component, but it can’t be used for maintenance,” Felder said during the Nov. 25 presentation.

The city is planning to use the revenue to fund more frequent inspections, increased ditch maintenance, new equipment purchases, and 17 new staff positions, with the first year of expanded services costing about $2.6 million.

The fee is expected to generate about $4 million during the upcoming transition year and roughly $8 million annually beginning in 2027. General Fund support would continue during the transition year but could decline afterward if council chooses.

“We’ve got a lot of those smaller projects in the neighborhoods that aren’t large enough to be part of SPLOST and maybe there isn’t enough supplemental tax money to fund them,” Felder said. “So, we want to target those neighborhood projects with an annual appropriation of stormwater utility funds.”

The stormwater fee is expected to go before the Savannah City Council for consideration on Dec. 11 (A first reading was held at the council’s Nov. 25 meeting after the workshop). If approved, the fee is set to be added to the bi-monthly utility bill in July 2026. In the meantime, city officials plan to continue public outreach efforts ahead of the fee’s implementation to make sure there are no surprises when the bill comes and that eligible customers take advantage of the credits for implementing stormwater management features.

“We’ve got a plan for the first six months of next year to engage the customers further, including a postcard in the first quarter that will tell them what their bill is going to be,” Felder said.

Still got questions about the stormwater fee? This city report probably has the answers.

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