The 2027 bond package approved by council in October includes $442 million for infrastructure needs across the city and $208 million for a stormwater revenue bond.
Unlike the bond propositions on infrastructure improvements and housing expected to go on the ballot in May, voter approval is not needed for the stormwater bond.
A stormwater bond is determined by city council, in keeping with statutory legislation, along with any increases in the stormwater utility fee that property owners pay.
That’s expected to happen in January when the council also considers a final list of 2027 bond projects.
During the last bond cycle, 23 stormwater improvement projects were included in the general obligation bond, which Proposition B funded with nearly $167 million.
It’s been two decades since the city had a stormwater bond separate from its general obligation bond.
In 2003 and 2005, the city issued stormwater revenue bonds, a debt it is still paying off today.
Since then, there was no need for a stormwater bond due to favorable economic conditions, said Art Reinhardt, director of Public Works, which manages the San Antonio Storm Water Utility.
This year is different. Faced with a budget crisis, raising taxes and fees, and a lower-capacity bond, city staff and leaders decided to change things up in the hopes of keeping major citywide projects, including Project Marvel, on the slate.
“If drainage was only being funded by the general obligation bonds, that would leave much less opportunity for other important projects to get funded, whether those are streets or parks or facilities,” Reinhardt said of projects that do not have other funding sources in the city’s budget.
The stormwater utility fee was first established in 1993 to fund the drainage and flood control systems that the city is required to maintain, according to state and federal permits.
The San Antonio Storm Water Utility is responsible for drainage services and installation, operation and maintenance of drainage infrastructure throughout the city, and is separate from the San Antonio Water System (SAWS).
Utility fee revenue currently comes to about $57 million annually, Reinhardt said. About 90% of that amount goes to pay for operations and maintenance, such as street sweeping, clearing debris from the draining system, managing vegetation and mowing water channels.
It also covers some capital costs from past stormwater revenue bonds.
The city increased the fee several times through 2008, and again in 2015 when a five-year planned increase for 2016 to 2020 was put in place.
During the initial bond proposal in early October, city staff proposed a stormwater bond of $175 million and a list of projects in all but two council districts. Later, the council voted to increase the stormwater bond so it would support projects in every district throughout the city, the most in District 1.
Now at $208 million, the city is considering an increase of about 20% over five years. Rates would go up by 5% in 2028 and 2029, then 3.5% in 2030 and 2031, and 3% in 2032.
That would bring the average residential customer’s stormwater fee to $4.94 a month the first year, or 25 cents per month more than the customer pays now. These fees show up on property owner’s water bill from SAWS.
Rates vary by three tiers of impervious area, or ground surface that water cannot easily soak or infiltrate. The city provides a map showing the amount of impervious area where people live or own a business.
The stormwater utility fee can only be used for stormwater-related projects and equipment, and the 250 Public Works employees in the stormwater division. The utility fee revenue cannot be directed for other capital projects, like streets.
Bexar County leverages a similar stormwater fee, mandated under a different statute, to administer its stormwater quality program in unincorporated areas. The county also has a road and flood control tax program which generates revenue it uses for building stormwater projects.
The city’s potential stormwater fee increase comes as the City of San Antonio and other entities are planning tax rate and fee increases for the first time in many years.
In September, the San Antonio River Authority, which is responsible for managing the San Antonio River Basin, including major flood mitigation and response efforts, approved a 5.46% fee increase for fiscal year 2027.
The River Authority’s revenue from taxes is statutorily limited to support for planning, operations and maintenance, but not capital projects beyond the management of those projects.
The San Pedro Creek Culture Park is one example in which the River Authority managed a project funded mostly by Bexar County with some city funding.
“It’s a little messy, but we all work together,” Reinhardt said.
The city’s 20 proposed projects in the 2027 stormwater bond came from a list vetted and ranked by the city’s new Storm Water Management Advisory Board. They include $26.2 million for the fourth phase of a drainage project on Barbara Drive in District 1 to $1 million for a culvert replacement in District 9.
The Storm Water Management Advisory Board ranks projects on factors such as the number of residential properties it would take out of the floodplain and whether a project will improve roadway safety, where most flood-related deaths occur.
The scoring matrix aims to take the politics out of determining which flood control projects get chosen for city funding, and is an idea born out of the 2022 bond committee.
Reinhardt said the advisory board’s project list gives the bond committees that will be meeting in the coming weeks, “a good starting point.”
