When a property owner paves land, they increase runoff but don’t pay for the added sewer burden. Instead the rest of us pay higher bills to cover costs. A stormwater charge is a fairer way to pay for fixing our sewers.
The newly released draft Combined Sewer Overflow plan isn’t coy about the scale of our stormwater problem, estimating Cambridge will be on the hook for between $257 million and $2.4 billion in costs. Residential water bills will rise significantly.
Boston recently began charging for impervious surface area. Most residential customers pay $9.06 per month (see Exhibit K in this commission report), while institutional and commercial customers pay for the amount of hard surface they maintain. This is estimated to raise $24.2 million this year, with residents paying 28 percent. Property owners get discounts when they remediate runoff onsite.
Cambridge would benefit from a stormwater charge even more than its neighbors, since much of our land is tax-exempt. Institutions would pay for the stormwater they generate just like everyone else, regardless of tax exempt status.
A stormwater charge is the best way for Cambridge to pay for decades of sewer improvements.
Brendan Hickey
Donnell Street, Cambridge
Feature image by Melanie Magdalena via Unsplash.
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