Deltonans may see a huge increase in the special assessment they pay for stormwater control next year — and the years that follow.
A consultant firm has compiled a report recommending a 32.8-percent boost in the annual charges that property owners must pay to maintain and improve drainage and thus prevent flooding. That means the stormwater assessment would rise from $128 per year per standard home or “equivalent residential unit” to $170 for the next fiscal year.
“We have not seen an increase like this before,” City Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vazquez said.
Other increases would come in subsequent years, if the City Commission adopts the recommendations submitted by GovRates, the Casselberry consulting firm headed by Bryan Mantz. The stormwater assessment, based on the five-year planning horizon Mantz has presented, would top out at $250 per ERU in 2029. Commercial and institutional properties, such as private schools and churches, also must pay the assessments.
Deltona’s stormwater charge has not changed since 2019. Over the past five years, construction costs and operating expenses for the stormwater system have risen by 70 percent, according to the GovRates report. Deferring maintenance of the system only adds to the future costs of addressing problems, Mantz noted. To make up for the lack of increases since then, Mantz recommended the $42 rate hike for the upcoming fiscal year.
Mantz and GovRates were hired by the city to analyze the stormwater utility’s funding, and said Deltona should spend more on fixing its drainage system and averting problems such as those created by hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022. About 250 homes in Deltona were flooded by one or both of the storms.
“There is a need, obviously, for more repairs,” Mantz told the City Commission May 13.
Mantz said Deltona must have more revenue for its stormwater fund to pay to replace aging equipment and pipes, as well as meet higher costs for construction supplies and labor.
“The stormwater system is basically unsustainable,” he added.
Deltona’s stormwater system is part of the city’s Public Works Department. The stormwater utility’s budget for the current 2023-24 fiscal year is almost $6.9 million. Of that sum, the annual stormwater assessments raise approximately $5.1 million. City leaders shifted $2.5 million from Deltona’s general fund to the stormwater utility for this current fiscal year.
Yet, Mantz noted, the city has a need for at least $25.5 million in new capital projects and items, which may be paid for over the next five years. Approximately half of that capital program — $12.6 million — is within the Lake Theresa Drainage Basin, situated in north central and the middle part of Deltona.
“Deltona has infrastructure that in some areas is over 50 years old — assets have reached or exceeded useful service lives,” his PowerPoint presentation noted.
Mantz said a $170 stormwater rate is “considered affordable and competitive.”
Last year, the City Commission rejected a proposal to increase the stormwater assessment by $32, after an angry crowd showed up for a meeting and demanded the higher charge be scrapped.
Commissioner Dana McCool has said the governing body should have raised the charge last summer, despite the political opposition, and used the new revenue to complete critical stormwater projects.
“Last year one of the problems was that we were not good at explaining this,” she said.
Referring to the proposed $170 charge, McCool said she is convinced it is necessary for Deltona.
“This assessment takes us out from behind the eight ball,” she also said.
“Residents want to see what is being done with this money,” Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. said. “I don’t know any residents that object to paying a little more.”
Avila suggested the city create “a projects dashboard” on its website, so that Deltonans could monitor stormwater improvements throughout the city.
“This is going to show you guys where the money is going,” he added.
The increased revenue could also enable to city to set aside funds that could uplift Deltona to receive state grants for stormwater improvements, McCool said.
McCool added she has talked with Florida lawmakers who told her the availability of local matching funds increases the likelihood of landing state dollars.
“I am a very strong supporter of this assessment, based on the information I’ve been given,” she told her colleagues.
As well as a higher stormwater assessment, people living in Deltona may likewise see an increase in the bill for hauling away their trash and garbage. The solid-waste assessment is currently $202.80 per customer per year, but that charge should be raised to $235.70, as recommended by William Redman, a consultant who has advised Deltona’s leaders for several years.
The higher number is justified, Redman said, because of increases in the prices of diesel fuel for trucks and the increases in charges to dump waste in Volusia County’s Tomoka Landfill. Redman noted “the normal weight” of solid waste produced by a household is 38-42 pounds per week.
Both the stormwater and solid-waste assessments appear on the property-tax bills mailed in late October or early November. The assessments, along with ad valorem taxes must be paid in full. No partial payments of taxes are accepted.
