How to Pay for Distributed Infrastructure

Rates and fees are primarily used to pay for annual operating expenses. So, relying 100% on these annual revenues for investments in distributed systems can limit their scale. But rate revenue can, and is regularly, used to support consumer incentives that implement distributed infrastructure across the One Water spectrum.  

 Special fees and charges can provide additional revenues supplementing regular rates.  

• Conservation fees create a dedicated source of funding for water use efficiency programs by charging a small amount based on annual water usage.  

• Watershed protection fees can be added to monthly bills to create a dedicated source of revenue to protect source water lands.  

• Parcel taxes assessed on property owners are increasingly being used to generate funds for stormwater management, including distributed green stormwater infrastructure. These can be, but are not always, “usage-based,” meaning that property owners are charged based on the amount their impervious area that contributes to urban runoff.  

• Stormwater fees can generate funds to pay for green stormwater infrastructure. These are user fees charged to property owners within the municipality’s service area based on their use of the stormwater system, often measured by a property’s impervious area.