Public Workshops and Materials

Questions raised ahead of Workshop 3

Answers reflect the proposal as published on the Stormwater Fee and Wastewater Rate Restructuring pages. No ordinance has been adopted.

• Is this a new tax? No. It is a service fee authorized by Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 45-61, based on the measured impervious area on each parcel. Property tax follows assessed value, and tax exempt properties pay no property tax. The stormwater fee applies to private tax exempt properties and to City owned parcels.
• If some bills go up, does the City collect more? Not because of the fee. The proposal moves documented stormwater costs out of the sewer rate. The final stormwater requirement, sewer offset, and total revenue requirement will be set through the FY2028 budget. Under the proposed ordinance (Section 13.13.065), the annual budget must identify the transfer, and a cost recovered through the stormwater fee cannot also be recovered through the sewer rate. In the working examples the sewer usage rate drops from $25.97 to $19.00 per 1,000 gallons for every sewer customer, and the stormwater cost moves to a separate charge based on impervious area. Whether an individual bill rises or falls depends on the property’s impervious area relative to its water use. The total the City collects each year is set by the Council through the annual budget.
• Why impervious area instead of water use? Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 45-61 authorizes a reasonable and equitable fee system tied to each property’s runoff contribution. Roofs, driveways, patios and parking areas generate runoff; indoor water use does not. Under the current structure a paved parcel with no sewer account pays nothing toward stormwater, while a property with a small footprint and high water use pays more than its share.
• Are large properties being singled out? No. The same $15.00 per ERU rate applies to every parcel. The only exception is the residential tier structure, which favors homes: a home in the top residential tier pays $33.00 per month regardless of where it falls within the tier, while a nonresidential parcel with the same impervious area is billed on its full measured area. Larger impervious areas pay more because they generate more runoff.
• Why does my estimate letter show $33.00 per month? $33.00 is the top residential tier, for homes with more than 4,200 and up to 7,555 square feet of impervious area. A larger home with a larger driveway pays more on an impervious area basis than on a water use basis. The lower sewer usage rate offsets part of that change.
• Could a very large property pay hundreds of dollars a month? Yes. Residential parcels above 7,555 square feet of impervious area and all nonresidential parcels are billed in measured whole ERUs (nearest whole ERU, exact halves rounded up, minimum one ERU) at $15.00 per ERU. A charge of $300 per month corresponds to about one acre of roof and pavement. Owners can check their measured area in the Stormwater Parcel Viewer, request a review through ratestudy@NewportRI.gov, and the proposed ordinance provides a formal appeal and credits for on site stormwater management.
• Can the City raise the fee later? Any future Council can change the rate, the same way sewer rates and the tax rate are set today. What changes is visibility. Under the proposed ordinance the stormwater rate is set in the annual budget after public hearing, appears as its own line on the bill, is reported on annually, and is reviewed every five years. Today the same cost sits inside the sewer usage rate with no separate line and no separate report.
• Do sewer and stormwater rates go through the Public Utilities Commission? No. Newport Water rates are regulated by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission under state law. Sewer rates are set by the City Council after public hearing, and the proposed stormwater fee would be set the same way.
• Will this lower property values or raise the tax rate? There is no evidence of that. Impervious area based stormwater fees are the standard approach nationally and in nearby combined sewer cities, including Boston and Fall River. Fall River charges $200 per year per 2,800 square feet of impervious area; Newport’s proposal is $180 per year per 2,400 square feet.
• My street drains to an open ditch. Why should I pay? The fee funds the citywide stormwater system and the City’s regulatory obligations for combined sewer overflow control and stormwater management, not a service to each individual lot. Under the proposed ordinance (Sections 13.13.030 and 13.13.060), the fee applies to every developed parcel from which runoff enters or affects the City stormwater system, the combined sewer system, a public right of way, another drainage conveyance, or receiving waters, directly or indirectly; a physical connection to a City storm drain is not required. Specific drainage conditions can be reported to the Department at 401-845-5600; they become part of the record that informs future level of service decisions.
• How is stormwater measured? Is there a meter? There is no meter. Impervious area is measured from aerial imagery and City GIS data. Property owners can view their parcel’s measured area in the Stormwater Parcel Viewer, request corrections through ratestudy@NewportRI.gov, and use the formal appeal process in the proposed ordinance.
• Who proposed this, and when would it take effect? The proposal comes from the Department of Utilities through the utility rate study, with technical support from Raftelis and Jacobs. It was introduced at the November 2025 workshop, presented in detail at the April 1, 2026 workshop, and discussed at the April 16, 2026 budget workshop. The City Council decides whether to adopt it after the required public hearings. No effective date has been set. The earliest possible start is July 1, 2027, and only after the Council adopts a fee schedule in a budget.
• Is this a CSO fee? No. The CSO Annual Fixed Fee is an existing sewer charge; under the proposed wastewater restructuring it becomes a sewer base charge tied to meter size. The stormwater fee is a separate charge that replaces the stormwater cost now included in the sewer usage rate.