Stormwater

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STORMWATER DEPARTMENT

Stormwater is water that originates during rain showers or snow/ice melt, and flows over land, streets or paved surfaces and does not soak into the ground. The Federal Government requires municipalities to manage that runoff so that it does not become polluted. To help with the costs of managing that process, the City of Milford created a Storm Water Utility and Fee system. The revenue created from a new storm water fee will be used to comply with federal regulations, improve water quality and to upgrade the storm water infrastructure in our city.

The Stormwater fee is used to:

  • Monitor water quality of local waterways to control potential discharge of pollutants;
  • Identify and eliminate improper connections that illegally dump waste, instead of storm water, directly into our rivers and streams;
  • Develop plans to properly address storm water runoff throughout the existing storm water system;
  • Help with projects to maintain, upgrade, repair, and replace the existing storm water infrastructure to reduce flooding and pollution;
  • Comply with federal and state regulations.

In 2004, a City of Milford survey concluded that a typical residential property contains 2,400 square feet of impervious area. This value is known as the equivalent residential unit or (ERU). All residential properties, defined as single-family and two-family residential homes, will pay a flat bi-monthly charge of $11.00 ($5.50 per month).

Non-residential properties (industries, businesses, churches, schools, governments, etc.) containing three units or more, will pay a fee based on the amount of impervious area contained on the property. Impervious areas include pavement, rooftops, driveways, parking lots, private sidewalks and other hard surfaces that prevent rain water from soaking into the soil.

 The monthly storm water rate for non-residential properties will be $5.50 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU). For example, if a property contains 24,000 square feet of impervious surface, this would equate to 10 ERUs. This non-residential property owner would pay a monthly fee of $55.00.

Non-residential properties may reduce their monthly storm water fee through the implementation of storm water controls on their properties that reduce the impact on the overall storm water system.