Coronado Business Plan for Storm Drain Systems Enterprise Fund

What do you do when the rains keep coming, but the funding for stormwater management threatens to run dry? If you’re the City of Coronado, California, you call Harris.

The City adopted a storm water fee in the early 1990’s to help fund the ongoing maintenance of the City storm drainage system and protect its beaches. With the passage of Proposition 218 in 1996 the City has not been able to increase its storm water fee, even though costs have continued to increase. As a result, the City has had to use General Fund dollars to help defray the costs of the City’s storm water enterprise fund. Since tourism contributes significantly to the fiscal health of the City, maintenance of its storm water system is important to eliminate the discharge of polluted storm water which could result in beach closures. The City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) also identified facilities upgrades required to the City’s storm drainage system.  

Delivering the details of the needed dollars—and how to source them—will be Harris’ primary responsibility. Harris applied its municipal planning and water management expertise to identify strategies to ensure these vital systems remain funded. That’s critical, considering that existing storm drain fees fall short of what’s needed to pay for the program.

Core Elements

Eight different storm drain systems fall within this project’s purview. For all of them, Harris developed a plan to help the City of Coronado:

• Identify future funding requirements and prepare a Business Plan for the Storm Drain Enterprise Fund, in accordance with CIP guidelines
• Identify strategies for ensuring that sufficient funding is available for ongoing maintenance and operations
• Explore options for possible funding, including, grants, increasing current user fees, development impact fees, and other revenue sources