Council votes to create standalone Stormwater Management Utility

Cincinnati City Council on Sept. 30 adopted a motion directing the city manager to commence administrative, organizational, legal and budgetary actions to establish a standalone Stormwater Management Utility (SMU). The utility will be separate from Greater Cincinnati Water Works and charged with leading stormwater infrastructure, flood protection, complaints and resilience work.

Supporters described the change as a step toward clearer accountability and improved response to extreme weather and localized flooding. "Until you start pulling the kind of weeds back on this, you can fully appreciate how much SMU has been treated as the ugly stepchild in the city," Councilmember Walsh said in support of the motion. City Manager Long told council the goal of the process is to examine budget implications and how stormwater responsibilities are coordinated across departments.

Councilmembers asked that the administration produce a site review and budget analysis to identify costs and operational changes needed to stand up SMU. "We won't fully understand the budget impact of this until the site review is done that the city manager's office is leading on," Mayor Aftab Pureval said during discussion. Council adopted the motion by roll call after brief comment from several members.

The decision does not itself appropriate funds; council instructed the administration to return with recommendations and cost estimates. Sponsors framed the item as an early structural step to make future capital and operational investments more effective as climate-driven extreme weather events continue.

What happens next: the city manager's office will undertake the site and budget review and report back to council with detailed options and financial implications for consideration in the next budget cycle.