Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval wants to establish a Stormwater Management Utility that would operate as a standalone agency, separate from its current position as a division of Greater Cincinnati Water Works.
Pureval has submitted a motion for City Council consideration that would direct city administration to take that action by the start of 2027. He tells WVXU this step is part of broader efforts to respond to significant flash flooding this summer.
"This will allow us to give the administration the autonomy they need to start making planning and strategic decisions around the budget, around investment, and also around plans to prevent and mitigate future flash floods," he said.
The Cincinnati Stormwater Management Utility (SMU) has been a division of the drinking water utility, Greater Cincinnati Water Works, since 2016. Before that, it was part of the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD). Although MSD is wastewater utility, parts of the system also take in a significant amount of stormwater runoff.
Pureval says despite overlapping concerns and goals, it's important for SMU to be independent from MSD.
"MSD is, in fact, trying to keep stormwater out of the system, whereas [SMU] is trying to get the stormwater in," he said.
The motion directs city administration to establish SMU as a standalone agency "with responsibility for leading, coordinating, and executing the City's stormwater management, stormwater infrastructure, flood protection, stormwater compliance, and stormwater resilience functions."
The agency would report to the city manager. The motion also asks the administration to conduct a review of stormwater related "activities, responsibilities, personnel, funding, and services" that exist in other city departments and agencies and could instead move under SMU.
The motion has been referred to the Budget, Finance and Governance Committee, which next meets on Sept. 28.
What is the stormwater management utility?
SMU is currently a division of Greater Cincinnati Water Works, the drinking water utility. It manages:
- 300+ miles of storm sewers
- ~30,500 inlet and intake structures
- 6,000+ storm sewer manholes
- The Mill Creek Barrier Dam
- Four pump stations
SMU is funded by an "equitable storm drainage service charge" collected from property owners, except for undeveloped land and street rights-of-way.
According to the city's website, the charges depend on the type and size of the property:
- One and two-family residential properties that are 10,000 square feet or less pay $9.04 a month.
- One and two-family residential properties that are more than 10,000 square feet pay $12.66.
- All other properties pay a variable charge based on a formula that includes the lot size and an "intensity development factor" related to the amount of impervious surface on the property. In other words, a property that is mostly grass with a small shed will pay less than a fully-paved lot.
Revenue from these fees are placed in a restricted fund, meaning the money can only be spent on stormwater management — it cannot be transferred to the General Fund to be spent on another purpose.
This funding is separate from the proposed impervious surface fee for the Metropolitan Sewer District, which Hamilton County Commissioners are considering.
According to city budget documents, SMU brings in about $31 million in revenue per year.
The current budget, which City Council approved in June, also includes $115,000 "to fund a cost of service study for a future stormwater rate increase to allow the city to fund drainage projects that improve the reliable performance of the stormwater collection system."
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