Council agrees to accelerate stormwater rate to metroplex average; staff to implement higher one-time adjustment

Council debated whether to continue incrementally increasing the stormwater fee or move immediately to the metroplex average. Staff recommended a 50-cent incremental increase, noting the Metroplex average has continued rising; several councilmembers favored a larger, immediate adjustment to bring Garland closer to regional peers and reduce the multi-year gap.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Ott and Council Members Thomas and Dutton urged an immediate increase "to rip the band aid off," arguing the fee is a moving target and incremental small raises will never catch up. Council directed staff to update the FY27 fees schedule to raise the stormwater fee to align with the metroplex average and to present detailed customer impacts in the next budget sessions.