City of Winchester implements a Stormwater Utility Fee

The City of Winchester announced the implementation of a Stormwater Utility Fee.

The City will join 29 other Virginia localities by implementing this stormwater utility fee starting in January.

The fee was voted on and approved by City Council in April to help develop and maintain the aging stormwater related infrastructure.

The upgrades will help prevent flooding, improve water quality and mitigate costly natural disasters.

The fee will be added to property owner’s utility bills as a supplemental charge.

The fee will average approximately $14 per month per residential property.

The fee is based on the property’s total impervious surface square footage and is applied equally to all properties in the city including tax exempt nonprofit organizations.

The City will use some of these funds to construct four wet ponds to retain stormwater runoff.

These ponds hope to aesthetically improve the North Cameron and North Kent Streets area.

By the end of 2024 ten additional stormwater capital improvement projects should be underway throughout the city.

There are methods to reduce the stormwater utility fee and additional information available here.

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