Lakeland officials are staring at a long list of more than $69 million in needed stormwater drainage and water quality improvements with no funds to pay for it.
The proposed fix: A stormwater utility tax increase that would nearly double the tax for residents over the next five years and more for businesses.
On Dec. 11, Lakeland commissioners could vote to raise the city’s stormwater utility fee from $9.72 a month, or $116.64 a year, for the average homeowner to $17.47, or $209.64 a year.
It would be the city’s first stormwater rate increase since 2021.
Laurie Smith, manager of Lakeland’s Lakes and Stormwater Division, said the city’s existing stormwater fee generates about $9.3 million a year in revenue. Of that, $8.6 million is used to cover day-to-day operating expenses for city staff, equipment and materials, Smith said. That leaves about $700,000 a year to pay for all the city’s drainage and water quality improvements.
“You have a math problem,” she said. “We’re not generating enough revenue to make up for the $69 million that we know about today. That’s it.”
The city currently has more than $69.4 million in unfunded stormwater drainage and water quality improvement projects. Of that, about $43 million is for stormwater conveyance and drainage system work, Smith said.
“We learned a lot during last year’s hurricane season, including that we actually have more problems than we were previously aware of,” she said.
Homes in a mobile home park near Bonny Lake in Lakeland were flooded after heavy rains from Hurricane Milton in 2024. The Bonny Lake Watershed is one of Lakeland’s major stormwater projects in need of funding.
Some of the unfunded stormwater improvement projects he presented to city commissioners that received engineering and preliminary estimates include:
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Stabilization of San Gully Road to prevent erosion and potential flooding of neighboring 55+ mobile home communities.
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Drainage improvements on Highland Hills causing erosion between Westover Street and Cleveland Heights Boulevard.
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Lake Bonny catchment management plan following the Milton floods.
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Drainage improvements on the south side of Lake Hollingsworth Drive.
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Rehabilitation of a stormwater ditch along Wayman Street.
Smith said there are several other known problem areas, including Dixieland, the Mass Market Area, Lake Mirror, Lake Morton and downtown that need improved stormwater drainage. She specifically named Ingraham Avenue at Osceola Street, the South Lincoln Avenue ditch and Webster Avenue as also high on the list of priorities to be addressed.
“As we continue to redevelop, we really need to evaluate stormwater drainage improvements where we can,” Smith said.
Lakeland also faces the burden of about $25 million in unfunded surface water restoration projects, Smith said. The city went from four lakes on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s impaired list in 2016 to nine.
Lakes included are Bonnie, Bonnet, Crystal Lake, Gibson, Hollingsworth, Hunter, Mirror, Morton and Lake Parker – the largest, covering more than 2,200 acres.
San Gully Road is among the major stormwater projects that Lakeland has prioritized. Neighboring communities of over 55 years are often flooded during heavy rains.
“There has been an increase in state regulatory requirements in stormwater system monitoring and maintenance,” she said. “We will be required to meet state standards for stormwater treatment. It’s a new mandate, also unfunded, with additional inspection requirements.”
If commissioners agree to implement the scheduled stormwater utility fee increase, Smith estimated it would provide the funds needed to address those issues over the next 10 to 15 years.
“This is not a five-year fix,” she warned the committee. “This increase in costs assumes that we will get to these projects in the next 10 to 15 years.”
The change in the rate structure raises concerns for businesses
Lakeland is considering changing the way it calculates its stormwater utility fee, which, combined with the rate increase, could hit utilities with a 133 percent increase.
The city’s stormwater tax is calculated based on how much impervious surface a structure has, or how much coverage area rain and stormwater cannot seep into the ground.
Currently, any home or business owner that has less than 5,000 square feet of paved or built-up area is charged a flat rate of $9.72 per month per equivalent residential unit, commonly referred to as an ERU. Commercial or industrial enterprises whose buildings and pavement cover more than 5,000 square meters receive a proportional tax.
Lakeland’s 5,000-square-foot allowance for an ERU is generous compared to other municipalities in the state, said Chief Financial Officer Mike Brossart. Other municipalities average closer to 2,400 square meters.
The city is considering reducing the size of the ERU from 5,000 square feet to 3,850 square feet, a size that would still cover the average residential home.
However, this could mean a large increase for businesses, which would be pro-rated based on every 3,850 square meters of impervious surface, rather than 5,000, resulting in an increase of around 133% over five years when combined with the rate increase.
Commissioner Stephanie Madden questioned whether the city’s stormwater utility rate calculation is fair, given that many commercial developments are required to install drainage systems and stormwater ponds. Madden said many individual residents don’t, but still she expects they’ll get the most benefit from the cleaner lake water capital improvement projects and be less likely to see their homes flood.
Commissioner Guy LaLonde said many newer residential developments are required to install stormwater drainage and retention ponds per building codes. LaLonde said a development of 300 to 500 residential homes pays 300 to 500 ERUs, which could be more than an industrial warehouse on a similar-sized property.
LEDC takes a stand against the proposed rate hike
Steve Scruggs, president of the Lakeland Economic Development Council, said the organization does not support the city’s proposed stormwater increase and recalculations.
Scruggs said the city’s stormwater rate study by Geosyntec Consultants Inc. and its sub-consultant Anser Advisory was flawed. It compared Lakeland’s stormwater charges to several cities that are not like Lakeland, with significantly different populations, different sizes, or different geographies, such as being located on the coast.
“The city of Lakeland and its consultant should consider Lakeland’s competitors rather than picking the highest jurisdictions,” Scruggs said.
If Lakeland’s proposed stormwater tax were compared to several similar cities, it would look very different, Scruggs said.
“Lakeland will have one of the highest stormwater utility rates in the state of Florida, the highest rate compared to our peers,” he said. “The highest monthly rate will be added by changing part of the unit.”
Scruggs offered LEDC’s help in working with staff and city officials to go back to the Lakeland consultant and adjust the study, offering more options for revising the unit size used to calculate the rate that he said would more evenly distribute capital improvement costs between businesses and residents.
What’s next?
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the increased stormwater utility fee at their next meeting, 9 a.m. Dec. 15 at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave. The commission has a study on the agenda for December 12, where the proposal can be amended or tabled for a future date.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: With too many critical stormwater projects, Lakeland looks to raise fees