City of Kelowna seeks feedback on stormwater funding strategy

The City of Kelowna is seeking feedback from residents as city staff prepare a study to nail down a funding source to support the stormwater management program.

From now until May 3, residents can fill out an online survey or attend an open house to determine how stormwater management should be funded now and into the future, says a release from the city.

“The City has more than $350 million of engineered stormwater assets. To ensure these systems operate as intended, a stable funding source is required,” says Jim Hager, Design Technician.

Hager says if water from rain, melting snow and ice is not managed properly it can cause water quality issues, flooding and erosion.

He says the goals of the new funding strategy is to protect Okanagan Lake’s water quality, provide predictable funding, promote good management practices and be fair to ratepayers.

“Property owners currently contribute to stormwater management funding based on the assessed value of their property,” Hager says in the release.

“This means properties that don’t contribute a lot to stormwater issues have sometimes paid the same, or in some cases more, than properties who contribute significantly to stormwater issues. We believe we can do better.”

According to the release, the rate options being considered would be based on the amount of hard surface on a private property, which causes rain and melted snow to runoff in the stormwater drainage system much more quickly.

Residents can visit this link to complete a survey and learn more about three open houses being held over the next month.