La Crosse board votes to significantly raise stormwater utility fees

A fee charged to La Crosse residents for stormwater control could be going up soon.

On Monday, the Board of Public Works approved a plan for increasing the fees that support the Stormwater Utility, which was formed 14 years ago.

City council president Tamra Dickinson explained the current fee system doesn’t bring in enough cash to keep a money reserve at a steady level.

“We have depleted our reserves to a point where it’s important to help increase those again,” Dickinson said, after the public works meeting. “We need to have $500,000 in those reserves, for those kind of special needs” for stormwater control which she calls “unpredictable.”

The board approved monthly fee increases, which could take effect this summer.

The proposed hike would be about $5.40 a month this year, followed by a proposed $2.17 monthly increase next year. After that, increases could depend upon the rate of inflation.

Dickinson added that the increase will be noticed by people.

“It’ll feel like a big jump at first,” she said, “but hopefully, we’ve picked the right numbers” to increase revenue.

The city tries to keep enough money in the stormwater utility fund to cover 250 days of operating expenses.

There is now only enough cash to cover costs for about 50 days. The council Finance and Personnel Committee will look at the proposed rate hike at its monthly meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Thursday (agenda).