CHAMPAIGN – The city council on Tuesday will discuss a new fee that could begin to fund the city's $80 million backlog of storm water drainage projects.

The council will discuss the storm water utility fee during its meeting at 7 p.m. in the Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St.

In recent weeks, the city council has approved borrowing about $25 million in funds to complete drainage improvements in several different areas. Those discussions revealed more than just a weakness in the city's drainage system.

"It brought to the front something we've known all along: We have a real backlog of drainage projects," Finance Director Richard Schnuer said.

That backlog is a $80 million reservoir of projects, according to a city document, and a new fee could help pare that list.

The per-residence amount of that fee would be determined by how much revenue the city would want to produce and how it wants to do it, Schnuer said.

According to a report, if the city wanted to generate $1 million per year to fund storm water projects, for example, an average single-family residence could be charged about $25.

Right now, the city has about $5.1 million per year coming in for storm water projects.

That is a combination of a quarter-cent sales tax and property taxes.

A storm water utility fee would be based on how much demand a particular property actually puts on the drainage system, Schnuer said.

The charge to a single property would be determined by its surface area that is impervious to rain water – that includes parking lots, driveways, roofs and other hard surfaces.

That means a big commercial property – like Walmart, with its parking lot and expansive roof – would pay far more than a typical residence that might only have a small roof and private driveway.

The council on Tuesday will decide whether it would be willing to proceed with the next steps in implementing the fee, which would include gathering public opinion and other information.

Schnuer said recent discussions about funding large drainage projects – like the Second Street reach of the Boneyard Creek and the John and Washington streets watersheds – acted as a catalyst for the storm water utility fee dialogue.

Neighborhood steering committees, which lobbied for the drainage improvements, have all endorsed a storm water utility fee.

The Washington Street West drainage neighborhood was largely left out of recently approved funds for construction of new city storm sewers. Jim Creighton, the spokesman for the neighborhood steering committee there, is hopeful that a storm water utility fee can produce the revenue necessary to move forward with improvements.

"The only money we really have to spend on storm water management is a small amount for maintenance and repairs and stuff like that," Creighton said. "There is zero money for new projects."

Creighton said he believes the fee is the most equitable way to charge property owners for their use of the drainage system.

"It just seems to be fair," Creighton said.