If anyone needed a lesson on the urgency of upgrading the town’s stormwater system, it rained down on them earlier this summer, on July 15 and 16.
Less than two months ago, Oakville was bailing out from severe back-to-back summer storms that flooded basements, buildings, roadways and sports fields. The Sixteen Mile Creek flooded Glen Abbey golf course, washed out town trails and sent boats and docks into Lake Ontario.
Over the next 30 years, the town expects to spend $732 million ($24.4 million per year) to maintain and improve its aging stormwater infrastructure.
That infrastructure – storm sewer pipes, culverts, ditches, ponds, creeks and harbours – protects properties from flooding and prevents water pollution.
But to pay for it, homeowners and businesses may soon be hit with a new stormwater tax.
Read more here: New stormwater tax may soon be coming down the pipes
The fee is likely to be in the range of about $100 a year for residents - but the same fee could cost local businesses thousands annually.
Deciding who should pay, and how much they should be charged, is the subject of a public consultation campaign the town will launch starting next week.
The aim is to find a system that fairly reflects the impact a property has on the stormwater system, while remaining easy to understand and manage, explained consultant Pippy Warburton, in a presentation to town council earlier this week, on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
Right now, the town spends about $12.6 million a year on its stormwater system – an investment that needs to roughly double.
Residential taxpayers fund about three-quarters of that cost, despite contributing less than half of the runoff water flowing into the stormwater system.
By billing property owners based on their amount of impervious area (such as parking lots and rooftops), the town could shift the burden of paying for new infrastructure away from homeowners and toward commercial and institutional properties.
"It is obvious that residential is paying a disproportionate amount of money compared to non-residential," said Ward 4 councillor Allan Elgar.
Along with a new stormwater fee, the town could also develop incentives that would lower costs for properties that find ways to better manage their own stormwater.
"If you’ve got an incentive program, you’ve got a carrot instead of a stick," explained Warburton. "For me, one of the best parts about the stormwater fee is that it incentives people to do the right thing on their properties."
But several town councillors are worried that it will be hard to get people to pay attention to a topic that usually only interests them when they are wading through a flooded basement.
In an attempt to counter that, the town has developed a variety of materials, including short videos, to help explain stormwater issues and the range of funding options.
Starting Sept. 16, the town will be surveying the community to gather feedback on how stormwater infrastructure should be funded.
A recommended strategy and implementation plan is expected to go to town council for a decision next April.
If approved, fee collection would likely begin in January 2027. The next municipal election is scheduled for the fall of 2026.
How can you have your say?
Virtual and in-person public meetings have been scheduled for the beginning of October, including one specifically aimed at business owners.
An online community survey will open next week on Monday, Sept. 16, and run until Friday, Oct.18, 2024.
For more information, visit oakville.ca and search stormwater fee.