Michigan City details stormwater inspection gains, maintenance priorities and $800K storm fund

At a May 20 joint workshop, Michigan City staff outlined recent improvements to inspection throughput and stormwater maintenance and presented a snapshot of the municipal stormwater budget and funding choices.

Engineers said the sanitary district adopted an acoustic sewer‑inspection technology in early 2025 that increased inspection output significantly — from about 6 miles in 2023 to roughly 71 miles in 2025 — helping the district meet its three‑year inspection requirement. The acoustic system uses a transmitter and receiver placed at manholes and a van to collect signals and speed inspections.

Staff described inventory and condition assessments for storm assets: roughly 110 miles of storm sewers, 1,785 storm‑sewer manholes, about 5,400 catch basins and 17 large roadway culverts (3–9 ft diameter). GIS analysis identified about 160 priority catch basins in low‑point areas where crews will pre‑position work crews when storms are forecast and remove leaves and debris during dry weather to reduce flood calls.

The district is also responsible for about nine miles of so‑called legal drains (White Ditch, Beck Ditch and Kinsel/Stream Pond), which were conveyed to the sanitary district in 1972; staff said those drains are now maintained on a three‑year rotation and noted recent sediment removal and vegetation control work.

Budgetarily, presenters said total stormwater revenue for the 2026 budget is a little over $800,000, with the largest components coming from the property‑tax levy and smaller shares from wagering tax and local option tax distributions. The team compared Michigan City’s model (no monthly fee) with neighboring jurisdictions that use dedicated monthly stormwater fees and larger revenues: Dyer raises nearly $2 million via a monthly fee (about $18.75 per residential equivalent unit) and Merrillville raises ~ $1.4 million at roughly $9 per unit. Presenters noted that Dyer and Merrillville do not maintain legal drains inside their municipalities in the same way Michigan City does.

Staff said they were recently audited by Indiana’s stormwater regulator (IDM) and reported a clean audit with no findings on several MS4 program elements. They also noted grant research is underway to address corrosion and structural needs on large culverts.

Presenters said the stormwater budget is developed annually with the mayor, controller and sanitary‑district staff in late summer and brought to City Council as part of the standard budget‑reading process. Officials emphasized the tradeoffs between relying on a property‑tax levy and charging a dedicated monthly fee, and said additional information on staffing in peer cities will be provided at future meetings.