For Fiscal Year 2011, the Board of Supervisors approved an increase in the Stormwater Service District tax from one penny per $100 of assessed real estate value to one and one half penny per $100 of assessed real estate value.

Much of the county developed from the 1950s through the 1970s prior to requirements for stormwater controls. The county’s stormwater management program had been funded by the general fund, but budget constraints resulted in less funding for capital project support. Since the 1970s and with the passage of the Clean Water Act, regulations have been evolving that address the quality and quantity of stormwater from developments and industries.

These changing regulatory requirements and the need to reinvest in the county's aging infrastructure required a predictably-funded program. There are more than 1,500 miles of county-owned stormwater pipe with a monetary value of approximately one billion dollars. As the system ages – approximately 250 miles of these pipes that are more than 40 years old – the county must reinvest in the stormwater infrastructure to ensure against hazards, flooding and environmental damage. Routine maintenance is significantly more cost effective than allowing the system to fail before fixing it.

In Fiscal Year 2010, the Board of Supervisors established a Stormwater Service District to provide a dedicated funding source for stormwater management. A service district levy of $0.010 (one cent) per $100 of assessed real estate value generates approximately $20 million per year and is dedicated to funding the entire stormwater management program.

The Board of Supervisors approved an increase in the service district tax to $0.015  for FY 2011.

The stormwater runoff that comes from parking lots, streets, roofs and yards flows directly into streams and ultimately to the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. The stormwater system is maintained and kept separate from the sanitary sewer system. Wastewater is collected and transmitted through a separate pipe system and is delivered to one of the regional sewage treatment plants for treatment.

Average Annual Cost

Based on the average assessment of $432,439, a detached, single family property owner will pay just under $65 per year, or $5.40 per month.

Example using an average assessment for a detached, single family property of $432,439:

$432,439 divided by 100 = $4,324
One and one half penny: $0.015 X $4,324 = $64.86

Half the annual cost will show on the top right side of the semi-annual real estate tax bill due in July and December. If a property tax bill is sent directly to a mortgage company, it will be paid as part of the real estate tax payment.

For comparison, the average annual fee per household in Virginia jurisdictions is $63 per year, or $5.25 per month. In many of these communities a stormwater utility fee is a supplement to general fund programs. 

How Funding is Used

• To build, operate and maintain the county's stormwater system. Routine maintenance includes removing debris from the system to prevent flooding and repairing failed and failing stormwater systems.

• To meet state and federal regulatory requirements. The county owns and is required to maintain more than 1,500 miles of pipe and paved channels; 42,000 stormwater structures; 1,300 stormwater management facilities; and 18 state regulated dams. The county is responsible for inspecting about 3,000 private stormwater management facilities.
• To upgrade county-owned dams to meet state regulations, perform required inspections and maintenance service to ensure the safety of the dams.

• To implement water quality improvements to meet federal requirements and standards.  

Importance of Stormwater Management

The process of stormwater management affects water quality.

• As the county becomes developed, the natural hydrology (the distribution and movement of water) can change drastically. Trees and vegetation absorb rainwater and infiltrate it into the groundwater. When the natural landscape is replaced by hard surfaces such as buildings, pavement and concrete, rainwater does not soak into the ground.
• The amount of stormwater running from a site after development can be substantially greater than it would be from a natural landscape. The volume and speed of excessive runoff impacts streams and causes erosion and habitat degradation. In addition, when the natural vegetation is replaced by pavement, many pollutants (trash, automobile fluids and fertilizers) are washed into receiving waters and can have very negative impacts upon the aquatic ecosystems. These impacts may continue for miles downstream and to the Chesapeake Bay.
• Stormwater management seeks to mitigate these impacts by controlling excessive stormwater runoff and pollution from developed sites through a variety of structural techniques and practices. Engineered ponds, wetlands and infiltration structures are some of the techniques that are used. Nonstructural practices such as picking up and properly disposing of pet waste and maintaining healthy stream vegetative buffers are helpful in controlling pollution.
• Slowing and detaining stormwater on site and allowing natural vegetation to absorb pollutants can reduce the impacts of stormwater on the downstream receiving waters.
• The county has more than 900 miles of streams, and based on physical and biological assessments, 70 to 80 percent are in fair, poor or very poor condition. Put another way, only 20 to 30 percent of the county’s streams are rated in good to excellent condition.

Water Quality

Water quality is important for many reasons:

• Municipal drinking water for county residents comes from the Potomac River and the Occoquan Reservoir. Increased pollutants in our water source results in increased cost for treatment in order to make the water potable. Human and animal life cannot continue without water. Polluted surface waters may impact well water from shallow groundwater aquifers.
• Aquatic ecosystems can be impacted by poor water quality. The wildlife affected includes edible fishes and shellfishes which may be unhealthy to eat due to elevated contaminants in their tissues.
• The water quality has a direct effect on the quality of life for residents. Aesthetic, commercial and recreational uses are negatively impacted in degraded systems and watersheds.
• Poor water quality, which can negatively impact wildlife and their habitats, contributes to excessive erosion, excess sedimentation/siltation, and pollutants (nutrients) in the form of nitrogen and phosphorus. Uncontrolled stormwater runoff scours aquatic areas and destroys available habitat for fish and other organisms. Excessive sedimentation buries stream bottom habitats, smothers eggs and the gills of these organisms. Excessive nutrients “over fertilize” waterways resulting in algae blooms that set off a cascading chain of events in ecosystems. The result is oxygen-starved waters, or dead zones, which may kill beneficial plants and negatively impact or deplete aquatic organisms and fish.
• Under the Clean Water Act, water bodies must meet basic water quality standards for such recreational uses as swimming, fishing and fish consumption. Excessive pollutants including bacteria in a water body can lead to it being classified as impaired for one or more of these types of uses. Restoring these systems can be a very costly and lengthy process.

Regulations Impacting Stormwater Management

• Municipal separate storm sewer systems (known as "MS4s") must comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements based on the Clean Water Act of 1987. The MS4 permit establishes best management practices that the county must employ in operating, inspecting and maintaining its stormwater system. More information about the county’s MS4 permit and annual reports can be seen at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/stormwater/ms4permit.htm.
• New and more stringent Virginia dam safety and stormwater management regulations in 2002 and 2008 have increased significantly the requirements for more frequent inspections and development of emergency action plans for state regulated dams.

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires localities to take significant additional steps to reduce the impacts of urban stormwater runoff. These requirements include more numerous facility inspections, improved maintenance, expanded public education, enhanced monitoring, retrofitting facilities and construction of new facilities to reduce the impacts of urban stormwater runoff

As a result of learning more about how urban stormwater contributes to the pollution of the Chesapeake Bay and local streams, there are new federal and state regulations that continue to evolve.

Service District At a Glance

• Countywide service district
• Dedicated funding for stormwater management operations and projects

• Levy of $0.015 (one and one half cent) per $100 of assessed real estate value

• Improve water quality of more than 900 miles of streams
• Help maintain 1,500 miles of pipe and paved channels; 42,000 stormwater structures; 1,300 stormwater management facilities; and 18 state regulated dams

More information:
Stormwater Planning Division
703-324-5500, TTY 711
e-mail