Stormwater customers may be eligible to receive stormwater credits under specific provisions. There are two separate processes to apply for a stormwater credit depending on your account class.

Commercial and Industrial Customers

Eligibility

Eligibility requirements for commercial and industrial customers include:

• Your stormwater account is not a single-family residential account.
• A properly maintained and operated stormwater treatment or flow control facility exists on the property and it has been designed and constructed according to approved City standards.

Types of stormwater facilities:

• Stormwater flow control facilities are designed to reduce the volume and/or rate of runoff leaving the property.
• Stormwater treatment facilities remove pollutants from stormwater through mechanical, biological, or other means. Some facilities provide both stormwater flow control and treatment.

How Much of a Credit Ratepayers Can Receive

Stormwater credits are based on the following:

• Type of facility
• Amount of stormwater that flows through the facility
• How the facility supports stormwater quality or stormwater quantity programs

Credit amounts vary from approximately 3 to 50 percent, applied to the Impervious Surface Fee. All accounts are responsible for the Stormwater Base Fee, even if they receive a credit to the Impervious Surface Fee.

Application Process

If you are interested in requesting a reduction in your stormwater rate, you need to complete an application form and sign an access agreement.

Completed application packages should be mailed to Development Services in the Public Works Department.

City staff will generally contact you within two weeks of receiving the request for stormwater rate reduction to confirm eligibility or to request any additional information.

Single Family Residential Customers

Eligibility

In December 2020, City Council approved an amendment to the 2014 administrative rule that established the Stormwater Rate Credit Program. The program has now been expanded to include certain single-family residential properties. To be eligible, residential properties must meet the following criteria:

1. The property is zoned Residential Agriculture (RA) per Salem Revised Code Chapter 510;
2. The total area of the property is at least one acre (43,560 square feet);
3. The total amount of impervious surface area on the property is less than ten percent (10%) of the total area of the property;
4. The tree canopy on the property is at least ten percent (10%) of the total area of the property; and
5. The ratepayer has submitted a signed certification stating all the criteria are met and agreeing to inform the City within 30 days if one or more criterion no longer applies.

How Much of a Credit Ratepayers Can Receive

Eligible single family residential customers can receive a credit to the Impervious Surface Fee, up to a full discount. All accounts are responsible for the Stormwater Base Fee, even if they receive a credit to the Impervious Surface Fee.

Certification Process

If you are interested in requesting a reduction in your stormwater rate, and you believe that you meet all the criteria, you need to complete a certification form.

Completed certifications should be mailed to Development Services in the Public Works Department.

Stormwater utility credits will be applied beginning with the billing period following approval of eligibility and will remain in effect until the end of the calendar year as long as the criteria for eligibility continue to be met.

Certification with Hydrologic Analysis

Customers that do not meet all of the zoning, acreage, tree cover, and/or impervious cover requirements may prove their eligibility with a study submitted by a professional engineer. They must submit an engineering study showing that no runoff leaves the property as a result of a 25-year, 24-hour rainfall event using procedures prescribed in Appendix D of Administrative Rule Chapter 109-004 (Hydrologic Analysis).

Annual Recertification

To continue to receive the credit, you must submit a signed certification each year stating all the criteria are still met and agreeing to inform the City within 30 days if one or more criterion no longer applies. We will send you a notice each year reminding you to submit your annual recertification letter. This recertification must be received no earlier than August 15 and no later than October 15 for the credit to be applied for the following calendar year. If a ratepayer does not submit a recertification by the deadline, the credit will be removed at the end of the calendar year.

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Public Works Development Services at 503-588-6211 or developmentservices@cityofsalem.net.