Council adopts ERU rate structure to base commercial stormwater fees on impervious area

Ann Phillip, the town's stormwater technician and floodplain administrator, presented Raftelis' ERU (equivalent residential unit) study recommending an impervious-area based billing unit for non-single-family parcels. "The median value for the ERU is 3161 square feet of impervious area," Phillip said, explaining the sample of 400 single-family parcels used to determine a community-specific ERU and the rationale for using the median value.

The study proposed keeping a flat residential charge for single-family homes while charging commercial and industrial properties in integer ERU increments based on their measured impervious area; staff emphasized that the change is to the billing methodology and that rates themselves will be modeled and proposed later. Council voted to adopt the ERU study and direct staff to explore options and return with recommended rate-setting materials and potential credit programs.