Streetsville Village Times Article- September 2015 The City of Mississauga is introducing a new stormwater charge, which will be included in the Region of Peel water bill beginning on January 1, 2016. The stormwater charge is a dedicated source of funding that will be invested directly into the Citys $1.8 billion stormwater system to ensure it is kept in good working order and avoid costly future repairs and flood damage. Stormwater refers to the rain and melted snow that flows from properties into the streets and down into the storm drains; this water then flows through a large network of pipes and waterways directly into Lake Ontario. Mississauga has extensive stormwater infrastructure with a total replacement value of $1.8 billion dollars. This stormwater infrastructure consists of:

Storm sewers 2,000 km Catch basins 48,000 Stormwater manholes 28,000 Outlets to receiving waters 1,000 Diversion structures (trunk sewers) 100 km Ditches / storm water swales in urban areas 250 km SWM Facilities (Hard and Soft Components) Watercourses, Streams, Rivers, and Creeks (31 Separate Creeks) 200 km

A significant proportion of Mississaugas stormwater infrastructure was installed in the last 50 years. This infrastructure, which has a replacement value of $1.8 billion, is aging and nearing the end of its lifecycle. The stormwater charge will cover repair and replacement costs that the City can no longer afford to pay through the property tax base or through development charges. Mississauga is a rapidly growing city, and with the increased population and more businesses operating in Mississauga, the amount of water running off hard/impermeable surfaces, such as roofs and parking lots is increasing. Furthermore, climate change patterns have brought heavier rainfalls and rapidly melting snow, and there is much more stormwater entering our stormwater infrastructure than previous years, which is causing costly wear and tear on the aging infrastructure. Recent incidents of flooding in the city from major rainstorms have also demonstrated that the stormwater infrastructure has been unable to handle the increased stromwater run-off from so much hard/impermeable surfaces in the city, such as streets, driveways, and roofs. Since 2011, the City has been looking into options beyond the property tax base and development charges to support current and future stormwater management and infrastructure needs, and a Stormwater Financing Study was undertaken. The Study was completed in 2012 and identified a stormwater charge as a dedicated source of funding that is needed to manage current and future stormwater and infrastructure needs. Municipalities across North America and Canada are facing similar challenges with regard to stormwater management and infrastructure needs, and there are presently over 1500 municipalities in North America, including 19 in Canada, who have implemented stormwater charges to fund stormwater utilities. In Ontario, the municipalities of Kitchener, Waterloo, London, Aurora, St. Thomas and Richmond Hill have all implemented stormwater charges. Across Canada, the municipalities of Halifax, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, St. Albert, Strathcona County, Pitt Meadows, Richmond, West Vancouver, Surrey, White Rock, and Langley have also implemented stormwater charges as dedicated sources of funding. The calculation of the stormwater charge is the same for all properties, and each property will receive a stormwater assessment. The stormwater charge is calculated by multiplying the stormwater rate by the number of stormwater billing units assessed for a property. The stormwater rate will be reviewed each year by Council as part of the Citys annual budget process. The number of billing units assessed for a property is determined by the tier under which the property is categorized. Each residential property is categorized into one of five tiers based on the size of its rooftop area. The City is using the rooftop area as a predictor of the total amount of hard surface area on a property. For this purpose, the surface area will be considered a flat roof. The height (or pitch) of your roof will not be part of the calculation. The residential tiers, areas, and billing units are as follows:

Smallest Tier- Examples: freehold townhomes and row houses Rooftop Area: 26.7 - 99.0 m2 Billing Units: 0.5

Small Tier - Examples: Semi-detached homes, linked homes and small single detached homes

Rooftop Area: 99.1-151.0 m2 Billing Units: 0.7 Medium Tier - Medium single detached homes

Rooftop Area: 151.1 -194.0 m2 Billing Units: 1.0 Properties in the "medium" tier are assessed one billing unit as the area of one billing unit (267m2) is the average hard surface area found on a single detached residential property in Mississauga.

Large Tier- Large single detached homes Rooftop Area - 194.1 - 242.0 m2 Billing Units: 1.2

Largest Tier- Very large single detached homes Rooftop Area: 242.1 + m2 and above Billing Units: 1.7

Residents whose properties are categorized under the Smallest Tier will pay $50/yr for the stormwater charge; those under the Small Tier will pay $70/yr; those under the Medium Tier will pay $100/yr; those under the Large Tier will pay $120/yr; and those under the Largest Tier will pay $170/yr. The implementation of the stormwater charge will result in approximately $6.7million being shifted away from the municipal tax base in the 2016 budget, which amounts to a reduction of approximately $25 per household. For more information about stormwater and the stormwater charge, please visit the Citys website at www.stormwatercharge.ca or call 3-1-1. As always, if you need any assistance on this or any other municipal matter, please dont hesitate to contact my office at george.carlson@mississauga.ca or 905-896-5011.