Politics
Fort Wayne Stormwater Fee: What You Need to Know
Fort Wayne City Council approved a new stormwater management fee starting January 2027. Here's how the utility bill change will affect your monthly costs and what it funds.
How we reported this
Fort Wayne City Council passed the stormwater management fee ordinance on July 9 by a 6-3 margin, directing the city utilities department to begin collecting the new charges on January 1, 2027. The measure applies to all properties connected to the municipal system and replaces the prior flat assessment with a calculation based on impervious surface area measured at each address.
Why the change takes effect now
The ordinance responds to requirements in the city's 2025-2029 capital improvement plan, which identified $48 million in unfunded drainage projects along the St. Marys and Maumee rivers. Council members cited repeated flooding incidents recorded by the public works department in 2024 and 2025 as the immediate trigger for the new revenue source. The fee schedule appears in the ordinance document posted on the city clerk's website.
Residents in ZIP codes 46802, 46803, 46805 and 46806 will see the first adjustments on combined water-sewer-stormwater statements issued after the January start date. A single-family home with a typical 1,800-square-foot roof and driveway will pay an additional $6.25 monthly under the initial tier. Larger commercial parcels along Lima Road and Illinois Road face charges scaled to lot coverage, with the first invoices arriving in February 2027.
Local advocates note that the fee calculation uses data from the Allen County assessor's 2024 property records, updated through aerial mapping completed in March 2026. The legislation states that properties with approved green infrastructure such as rain gardens receive a 25 percent credit applied after the first full year of billing.
Timeline for visible effects
City staff will mail explanatory inserts with October 2026 utility bills to give households six weeks to review their measured impervious area and request adjustments. Appeals must be filed by December 15, 2026, with decisions issued before the first collection cycle. The utilities department projects that 12,400 accounts will fall into the lowest residential tier based on the 2026 parcel database.
Construction tied to the new revenue begins with bids scheduled for release in February 2027 for Phase 1 work along Spy Run Creek. Residents near the project corridors can expect temporary lane closures and detours starting in spring 2027, according to the public works schedule attached to the ordinance.