Lakeland considers big hike in stormwater fees to fund $69M in projects

Sara-Megan Walsh, Lakeland Ledger

Fri, December 12, 2025 at 10:07 AM UTC

6 min read

Lakeland officials are staring at a lengthy list of more than $69 million in necessary stormwater drainage and water quality improvements without any funds to pay for it.

The proposed fix: A stormwater utility fee increase that would nearly double the fee for residents over the next five years, and more for businesses.

On Dec. 11, Lakeland commissioners could vote to raise the city's stormwater utility fee from $9.72 per month, or $116.64 a year, for the average homeowner, up to $17.47, or $209.64 a year.

It would be the city's first stormwater rate increase since 2021.

Laurie Smith, manager of Lakeland's Lakes and Stormwater Division, said the city's existing stormwater fee generates about $9.3 million a year in revenue. Of that, $8.6 million is used to cover daily operating expenses paying for city staff, equipment and materials, Smith said. That leaves about $700,000 a year to pay for all of the city's drainage and water quality improvements.

"You have a math problem," she said. "We don't generate enough revenues to solve for $69 million that we know of today. That's what it is."

The city currently has more than $69.4 million in unfunded stormwater drainage and water quality improvement projects. About $43 million of that is for stormwater conveyance and drainage system work, Smith said.

"We learned a lot during last year's hurricane season, including that we actually have more issues than we were previously aware of," she said.

Homes in a mobile home park near Lake Bonny in Lakeland were flooded after heavy rains from Hurricane Milton in 2024. The Lake Bonny watershed is one of Lakeland's major stormwater projects in need of funding.

Some of the unfunded stormwater improvement projects she presented to city commissioners that have received preliminary engineering and estimates include:

Stabilization of San Gully Road to prevent erosion and potential flooding of neighboring 55-plus senior mobile home communities.
Drainage improvements on Highland Hills, causing erosion between Westover Street and Cleveland Heights Boulevard.
Lake Bonny's watershed management plan after flooding during Milton.
Drainage improvements on the south side of Lake Hollingsworth Drive.
Rehabilitating a stormwater ditch along Wayman Street.

Smith said there are several other known problem areas, including Dixieland, the Mass Market Area, Lake Mirror, Lake Morton and the city's downtown core that need improved stormwater drainage. She named specifically Ingraham Avenue at Osceola Street, South Lincoln Avenue's ditch and Webster Avenue as also being high on a list of priorities to be addressed.

"As we continue redevelopment, we really need to assess improvements to stormwater drainage where we can," Smith said.

Lakeland is also facing the burden of about $25 million in unfunded surface water restoration projects, Smith said. The city has gone from four lakes on the Florida Department of Environment Protection's impaired list in 2016 up to nine.

The lakes included are Bonnie, Bonnet, Crystal Lake, Gibson, Hollingsworth, Hunter, Mirror, Morton and Lake Parker ― the largest, which covers more than 2,200 acres.

The San Gully Road ditch is among the major stormwater projects Lakeland has prioritized. Neighboring 55-plus communities are often flooded during heavy rain events.

"There has been an increase in state regulatory requirements in stormwater system monitoring and maintenance," she said. "We will be required to comply with state standards for stormwater treatment. It's a new mandate, also unfunded, with additional requirements for inspections."

If commissioners agree to implement the scheduled stormwater utility fee hike, Smith estimated it would provide the funds necessary to address these issues over the next 10 to 15 years.

"This is not a five-year solution," she cautioned the commission. "This cost increase is assuming we will get to these projects over the next 10 to 15 years."

Change in rate structure raises concern for businesses

Lakeland is considering changing how it calculates its stormwater utility fee rate, which when combined with the rate hike could leave businesses facing a 133% increase.

The city's stormwater fee is calculated based on how much impervious surface a structure it has, or how much cover area where rain and stormwater can't soak into the ground.

Currently, any homeowner or business that has less than 5,000 square feet of paved or built-on surface is charged a flat rate of $9.72 a month for one equivalent residential unit, commonly called an ERU. Commercial or industrial businesses whose buildings and paving cover more than 5,000 square feet get a pro-rated fee.

Lakeland's allowance of 5,000 square feet for one ERU is generous compared to other municipalities in the state, Financial Director Mike Brossart said. Other municipalities average closer to 2,400 square feet.

The city is considering reducing the size of its ERU from 5,000 square feet to 3,850 square feet, a size that would still cover the average residential home.

However, this could mean a large increase for businesses, which would be pro-rated based on every 3,850 square feet of impervious surface, rather than 5,000, resulting in an increase of about 133% over five years when combined with the rate hike.

Commissioner Stephanie Madden asked whether the calculation of the city's stormwater utility fee rate was fair, given that many commercial developments have to install stormwater drainage systems and ponds. Madden said many individual residents do not, but yet she expects they will receive the greatest benefit from the capital improvement projects of cleaner lake water and less likely to see flooding of their homes.

Commissioner Guy LaLonde said many newer residential developments are required to install stormwater drainage and retention ponds under building codes. LaLonde said a development of 300 to 500 residential homes pays 300 to 500 ERUs, which may be more than an industrial warehouse on a similar size property.

LEDC takes stance against proposed rate hike

Steve Scruggs, president of the Lakeland Economic Development Council, said the organization does not support he city's suggested stormwater utility fee hike and recalculations.

Scruggs said the city's stormwater rate fee study performed by Geosyntec Consultants Inc. and its subconsultant Anser Advisory was flawed. It compared Lakeland's stormwater fees to several cities that are nothing like Lakeland, with significantly different populations, different sizes or different geography, such as being located on the coast.

"The City of Lakeland and its consultant should consider Lakeland's competitors rather than cherry picking the highest jurisdictions," Scruggs said.

If Lakeland's proposed stormwater fee was compared to more similar cities, it would look very different, Scruggs said.

"Lakeland will have one of the highest stormwater utility rates in the State of Florida, the highest rate when compared to our peers," he said. "The highest monthly rate will be compounded by changing the unit side."

Scruggs offered the LEDC's help in working with city staff and officials to go back to Lakeland's consultant and adjust the study, offering several options for revisions to the unit size used to calculate the rate that he said would more evenly distribute the capital improvement costs between businesses and residents.

What's next?

Commissioners are scheduled to potentially vote on the stormwater utility fee increased at their next meeting 9 a.m. Dec. 15 at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave. The commission has an agenda study on Dec. 12 where the proposal can be modified or tabled for a future date.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: With too many critical stormwater projects, Lakeland looks to raise fees

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