Laramie City Council Votes To Continue Surface Water Fee Pause

The Laramie City Council voted 8-0 with one absent on Tuesday night to continue a suspension of a surface water fee through June 30, 2026, which is the last day of the current fiscal year.

The fee was originally approved in December and went into effect in July. The fee was intended to pay for a new program aimed at  "addressing storm water runoff, minimizing flood risks, and enhancing the resilience of Laramie’s drainage infrastructure" in the words of a news release.

The fee as originally structured was assessed based on  "the amount of impervious surfaces such as rooftops, driveways, and paved areas—that contributes to runoff. The fee structure ensures that funding is distributed equitably based on a property’s contribution to stormwater runoff."

But the fees proved to be deeply unpopular, and in August the council voted to pause the program for 120 days to allow for more study and proposals for changing how the program works. That pause was set to expire on December 3, so the council action last night will give the council more time to work on the issues of the fee structure and billing to fund the program.

Proposed Changes Should Go To Council In January

Public Works Director Brooks Webb told the council a proposal for possible changes should be ready for the consideration on first reading in January.

Referring to a series of recent council workshops on the issue, Webb told the council that ''At the November 12th meeting I think we got some pretty good direction from you all, and we'll be working on edits to the ordinance." Webb said that while his department could probably come up with proposed changes in December ''but when we did the first suspension we heard from the public that December wasn't a good time because people are busy and not paying attention."

The vote in favor of the pause was 8-0, with councilor Melanie Vigil absent.

You can see a vided of the November 18 council meeting below: