The monthly stormwater drainage fee on Frisco utility bills would go up on Jan. 1 if the City Council adopts a new rate schedule after a public hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The fee is charged by property type. Single-family homes are billed on a three-tier scale based on parcel size, while businesses and other non-exempt property pay by the amount of hard, impervious surface on the lot. Under the proposal every rate climbs by roughly 10%:
| Property | Now | Proposed | |---|---|---| | Homes on lots under 5,000 sq. ft. | $4.36 | $4.79 | | Homes on lots of 5,000 to under 20,000 sq. ft. | $7.26 | $7.99 | | Homes on lots over 20,000 sq. ft. | $14.01 | $15.41 | | All other non-exempt property, per 100 sq. ft. of impervious area | $0.207 | $0.228 |
For the middle tier, which covers lots from 5,000 to just under 20,000 square feet, that is 73 cents more a month, or $8.76 a year.
Why the city says it needs the money
A memo from the city's Budget and Strategic Planning Department says the increase was already built into the revenue projections of the budget council adopted for this fiscal year. Staff wrote that the higher rate is needed to keep the stormwater fund financially stable, pay for planned capital improvements and meet the requirements of a new permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The memo also says further rate increases are expected in coming fiscal years.
The change would add about $1.16 million to the fund's revenue in fiscal 2027, according to the memo. That is part of the $9.57 million the fund is projected to collect this year, and staff projects it will end the year with a balance of about $4.17 million.
Frisco created its stormwater drainage district in January 2009. Staff noted that the proposed increase was discussed during the budget public hearings and at council's budget work session in August, and the ordinance was published in the newspaper three times in September and October.
