Sacramento considering a ballot measure to increase property owner stormwater fees
Sacramento city officials are considering a ballot measure that would increase the amount property owners pay for a stormwater system fee.
The City Council could consider whether to approve the ballot measure in January. It would increase the fee for most single-family homeowners by about $70 per year, from about $135 to $205 per year, based on the size of impervious surfaces, said Carlos Eliason, the city’s department of utilities spokesman.
If passed, the roughly $20 million per year would fund repairs, maintenance and improvements to the city’s aging stormwater system, Eliason said. More specifically, it would be used to protect drinking water quality; keep chemicals, sewage and human waste out of rivers and creeks; prevent sewage and human waste from overflowing onto neighborhood streets; replace deteriorating pumps that prevent flooding; and repair aging water pipelines and infrastructure.
“Sacramento’s storm drain system is up to 100 years old and many levees, pipes and pumps are deteriorating rapidly,” a city web page on the potential ballot measure reads. “Without repairs or improvements, many communities are at an increased risk of flooding and polluting our rivers and water sources.”
The increase would apply to commercial, industrial and residential property owners. The city’s stormwater fee has not been increased since 1996, and the city’s storm drainage fund is projected to be in the red starting in fiscal year 2026, according to a city presentation.
City polled residents
The city recently paid $48,250 to poll about 1,200 residential property owners about the idea earlier this year, via phone interviews and an online survey, Eliason said. Fifty-four percent of those polled said they supported an increased fee. That includes 32% who said definitely yes, 17% who said probably yes, and 6% who were undecided, but leaning yes. Those results indicate the measure may be viable, the city presentation said.
Political consultant Steven Maviglio received one of those calls, and found the questions to be one-sided.
“It was a definite lopsided poll designed to get the results they wanted to hear,” Maviglio said. “Clearly they have a political agenda ... and they’re using tax dollars to do it.”
Eliason said the purpose of the poll was to gather honest feedback. The poll did contain statements supporting the measure, asking respondents if they agreed, such as: “Sacramento’s flood risk is the second highest in the nation compared to other cities at risk from flooding caused by rivers. This measure would maintain the area’s levees and protect Sacramento from a devastating flood.”
But it also asked respondents’ opinions on statements that were opposing it, such as: “Every election there are more taxes on the ballot and the cost of living just keeps going up. Enough is enough — we should vote no on this tax.”
Maviglio does not think the City Council should approve the ballot measure. Even if it does, he does not think property owners will approve the increase, especially during a pandemic, and because the 2018 Measure U sales tax increase is still recent, he said.
“In a unbiased independent poll, the appetite for a tax increase right now is nonexistent,” Maviglio said. “Even in a progressive city, enough is enough.”
Last year, county leaders dropped plans to place a half-cent transportation sales tax measure on the ballot, after polling showed the measure was unlikely to pass. Officials cited the coronavirus pandemic as one of the reasons.
If city staff decide to have the City Council consider the ballot measure in January, and the council approves it, the city would mail ballots to property owners several weeks after, Eliason said. The question would not be included on the ballot for the June 2022 local election.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 12:38 PM.
