CHAMPAIGN — As the city of Champaign continues to work on its budget for the next fiscal year, officials are proposing an increase to the fee property owners pay to manage water runoff and limit flooding from storms.
On Tuesday, the Champaign City Council reviewed the city’s draft capital improvements plan, a document that describes various road and infrastructure projects being planned over the next 10 years while assessing how they will be funded.
A major point of discussion was the city’s funding for stormwater infrastructure, which is funded through a mix of property taxes, sales taxes, budget allocations and a stormwater utility fee. City homeowners pay the monthly fee based on their property size, with people who live in a home under 6,000 square feet paying about six dollars per month.
City staff are proposing 4% increases to those fees in 2027 and 2028 to address rising maintenance costs.
The city council appeared to be in favor of the fee hike.
We don’t often think about it until we start flooding. And I think it’s important … for a variety of reasons,” said District 5 Councilmember Vanna Pianfetti. “Public safety, public health, so much that goes into it. While it’s not great to have to increase a fee, I do support that.”
The ten-year plan allocates funding for future drainage initiatives, including a long-term goal to reduce flooding along South Neil Street that’s expected to cost over $20 million.
“These projects represent some of the city’s most significant future investments in flood prevention and stormwater system capacity,” said Public Works Director Terry Lusby Jr.
Reduced funding for roads
City staff also said they are seeing a drop in funding for road maintenance, due in part to increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
The city charges a local gas tax to help pay for street improvements, but officials said revenue from the tax has declined due to high gas prices, fuel-efficient vehicles and as more residents own EVs.
Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen said the adoption of EVs poses a challenge that the city cannot solve alone.
“We could do something locally and maybe we should do something locally. But I really think that our path is [legislative],” she said. “We need a federal and/or state solution so that we don’t just have Champaign doing a Champaign thing, Urbana doing theirs and whatever.”
The state of Illinois charges EV drivers a higher fee for license plate registrations to accommodate for the lack of motor fuel tax revenue. Champaign staff noted that additional revenue is not shared with municipalities.
Officials said the drop in revenue could force the city to increase the local gas tax in the future to pay for road maintenance.
Proposed infrastructure projects
The capital improvements plan forecasts multiple other projects that are in progress or planned over the next decade. The document references the following projects:
- The Downtown Plaza is expected to be completed in 2027, with construction on the second phase of the project starting this year.
- Reconstruction of Park Avenue along the Virginia Theatre to incorporate upgrades for pedestrians
- Investments in drainage improvements and sidewalk infrastructure in the Garden Hills neighborhood