Forth Worth residents brace for a bump in their utility bills come January 1st, when a 15% increase in the stormwater fee kicks in. The city's making the move to rake in about $7.7 million more each year, earmarking this dough for flood prevention and upgraded drainage maintenance. No more band-aid solutions. This is about staving off the kind of heavy water that's wreaked havoc before. Flashback to August 2022, when Fort Worth grappled with a deluge: 52 structures swamped, 22 folks needed high-water rescues, 237 vehicles kissed pavement goodbye, and 58 roads crowned by water, according to the City of Fort Worth.
The average Joe with a single-family home pays $79.35 a year, your corner gas station or boutique—dropping $1,329.40, and enterprises of medium size—forking over a cool $13,294 annually. And to those wanting the digits crunched, the city's provided a neat rate table. Rained on five times since 2006, the fee's latest swell in 2020 was 6.5%.
This isn't just about plugging holes when Mother Nature strikes. The cash bump means the city's Stormwater Management Division can assemble a new five-person brigade to check and clean culverts, get hands on a remote-controlled cleaning gizmo, and put together a seven-strong squad and then some, to keep storm drain pipes from becoming blockage victims. Besides, there's talk of more channel maintenance crews and concrete repairs joining the fight in FY27, and another team lined up for FY28, as per the City of Fort Worth.
