Title
Public Hearing - Amend Minor System Storm Water Fees for the City of Charlotte and Town of Cornelius
Action
ACTION:
1) Open public hearing for comments on proposed amendments to the Minor System components of Storm Water fees for the City of Charlotte and Town of Cornelius
2) Close public hearing and adopt Resolutions Authorizing Amending Minor System Fees for The City of Charlotte and Town of Cornelius
Staff Contact: Ebenezer S. Gujjarlapudi and Don Ceccarelli, Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA), Storm Water Services
Presentation: No
BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION:
In 1994, the County implemented a Storm Water fee to fund the administration of storm water management programs to improve water quality, reduce flood losses and repair and or maintain the storm drainage system.
Minor System Component for municipal jurisdictions: By Interlocal Agreement, the minor system of the storm water system is defined as ditches, swales, pipes, etc. that drain less than 1 square mile and is the responsibility of the City inside the City limits and each Town inside the town limits. The revenue generated from the minor system component of the storm water fee charged within each municipal jurisdiction is returned to that jurisdiction to fund their storm water management programs.
To address the substantial increase in unfunded projects and citizen’s requests, projects in the right of way and aging infrastructure, the City of Charlotte and Town of Cornelius propose a change to the minor system component of the Storm Water.
The changes that have been approved or still under consideration are as follows:
City of Charlotte:
Tier I: $ 7.34 to $7.66, per month
Tier II: $ 10.82 to $11.30, per month
Tier III: $ 16.00 to $16.70, per month
Tier IV: $ 26.46 to $27.62, per month
Commercial: $190.98 to $199.38, per acre of impervious acre
Town of Cornelius:
Tier I: $2.62 to $3.14, per month
Tier II: $ 3.81 to $4.57, per month
Tier III: $5.70 to $6.84, per month
Tier IV: $ 10.54 to $12.65 per month
Commercial: $67.08 to $81.02, per acre of impervious acre
Public Hearing Request: As part of the City and Town’s budgeting processes, the City and Towns have already approved or are considering changes to their minor system rates. The County’s public hearing will provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment to the Board of County Commissioners on changes to the minor system components of the Storm Water fee for those properties located in the City of Charlotte and Town of Cornelius. Each municipality either has or will conduct their own public hearing prior to altering their minor system component of the fee.
MCSWS requests a public hearing be conducted in accordance with the Storm Water Management Interlocal Agreement and State law for considering such increases. The public hearing will provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment to the Board of County Commissioners on the proposed changes.
The Board of County Commissioners should not take any action in the adoption of the City and Towns minor system fees until requested or informed otherwise by the City and Towns.
On February 19, 2026, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Advisory Committee (SWAC) voted on the City’s FY27 Operating and Capital budgets, which included a request for a fee increase, and forwarded its recommendations to the City Manager and City Council.
PROCUREMENT BACKGROUND:
N/A
POLICY IMPACT:
N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
None, revenue generated from any fee increases will be returned to the municipal jurisdiction.