Cawthra Road flooding. Photo Taken and featured by The Mississauga News July 8, 2013.
The City of Mississauga owns $1.8 billion in stormwater infrastructure that needs to be properly maintained. This is why Council unanimously approved a stormwater charge which is a new, dedicated source of funding that will be added to the Region of Peel water bill beginning in 2016.
Mississauga is a growing city. With more people living here and more businesses operating here, the amount of water running off hard-surfaces like roofs and parking lots is increasing.
Changes to our climate can bring heavier rainfalls and rapidly melting snow. These changes mean there is more stormwater entering our system than ever before, causing costly wear and tear on our already aging infrastructure.
Our stormwater drainage system protects water quality and reduces the risk of flooding that can damage homes, businesses, and our environment.
We want to minimize potential risks to residents, their property and our environment. We simply cannot kick the can down the road. We must take responsibility and invest more money in our stormwater system to keep it in good working order and to avoid costly repairs in the future.
We undertook a study with input from the public to find the best solution for Mississauga. We concluded a stormwater charge to be a fair and dedicated source of funding that is needed to manage stormwater now and in the future.
Different types of properties have different amounts of stormwater runoff. A property owner’s contribution to the funding of the stormwater program will be fairer because it will be based on the amount of hard-surface that generates run off and not the value of the property.
The less hard surface you have, the less you will pay. The majority of residential property owners will pay $100 or less. A credit program will be available for multi-residential and non-residential properties. Churches and places of worship, as well as other organizations such as school boards and Royal Canadian Legion branches, will be exempt from the fee.
The stormwater charge is expected to raise $37 million in 2016. To learn more about the charge and how it will work, visit www.stormwatercharge.ca.