ORLANDO, Fla. — As the City of Orlando continues to grow, commissioners are having to reevaluate the current stormwater plans.
Staff met Monday morning to discuss a possible increase to the rate.
Orlando’s current stormwater plan hasn’t been updated in 15 years.
Staff said the current budget can’t keep up with the projects that need to be done.
So, they said this increase needs to happen.
“Stormwater is important,” Patty Sheehan, an Orlando Commissioner, said. “You don’t know about it until it doesn’t work.”
Right now, property owners are paying $9.99 a month for a 2,000-square-foot residence.
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By fiscal year 2025, the rate would increase by $3.50 a month and owners would see slight increases for the next three years after that.
“We can’t even pay what we owe in 2025 if we keep the current rate that we have,” Corey Knight, Orlando’s Public Works Director said.
Last year, the city had to take out $23 million in loans to keep up with stormwater improvements.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said with the continued increase in growth in the community and historic flooding in 2022 change needs to happen.
“These types of storm events are becoming more frequent for us, and we know the growth is going to continue, that puts a significant demand on our stormwater infrastructure,” Dyer said.
Knight said an increase will help the city focus on updating that aging infrastructure as well as improve flood control and water quality.
“Our streets sometimes you see potholes accompanied by wastewater or stormwater, joint failures or pipe failures,” Knight said. “There’s a lot of capital projects that we need to do that are a replacement of our current aging infrastructure stormwater pipes.”
Nothing is being voted on or increased now.
City commissioners plan to go out to communities to discuss increases before rates are voted on.
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