Less flooding in Columbia? It’s City Council’s aim with fee hike, $93 million program

Every quadrant of the city will see major projects in the next five years to reduce flooding, as Columbia City Council agreed Tuesday on an ambitious stormwater improvement program to be funded by multiple years of fee increases for property owners.

High on the list of priorities for projects are the downtown intersection of Main and Whaley streets, the Shandon neighborhood and nearby Five Points entertainment district, Penn Branch in east Columbia and the Harlem Heights area in north Columbia.

The first projects could break ground in about two or three years, city staff members said, as it will take time to do designs, permitting and property acquition for most projects.

In all, the city plans to fund nearly two dozen projects across the city for $93 million.

They’ll come at the expense of city property owners over the next five years.

Homeowners can expect a $5 increase in their stormwater fee in the coming year, raising the average bill to $11.80 from the current $6.80. In each of the following four years, they’ll pay an extra 6.25 percent.

By the end of the five-year stormwater improvement program, the average household will pay a roughly $15 stormwater fee.

On top of that, Columbia water and sewer customers both inside and outside of city limits can expect increasingly higher bills for the next several years, starting with a 4.75 percent increase in the coming year.

That will amount to an extra $2.50 a month for water and sewer service for the typical in-city household.

The city has put a bill calculator on its website to help customers figure out what their new bills will look like with the rate increases.

Those fee increases are going toward $120 million in water and sewer infrastructure improvements across the city, including the installation of new automatic water meters over the next several years.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Less flooding in Columbia? It’s City Council’s aim with fee hike, $93 million program."