Deltona staff told commissioners at the May 3 budget workshop that next fiscal year’s stormwater capital plan currently identifies about $1.2 million for two projects: citywide drainage pipe rehabilitation and Pond GC4 water-quality improvements.

Finance Director John McKinney said the $1.2 million figure matches the city’s current stormwater revenue forecast; if the city adopts the proposed fee increases and later debt issuance as needed, staff said more extensive projects could be done earlier. “This is roughly how much money we have available to us for capital and CIP projects for next fiscal year,” McKinney said.

The commission discussed a rate path developed with consultant GovRates that would increase the annual stormwater fee in steps — staff recommended $20-per-year increases so the fee reaches $250 by fiscal 2029. McKinney said the city can send a single legally required property-owner notice covering the multi-year plan to save mail costs; staff estimated one multi-year mailing would cost roughly $20,000–$25,000 versus nearly $120,000 to mail annually.

Commissioners asked about maintenance and how residents should report clogged ditches and right-of-way problems. Phyllis Wallace, Public Works, said the department operates a sector-based maintenance schedule and dispatches crews to known problem locations ahead of storms: “We do have a schedule. It goes by sectors for everything that we do, but we also know those areas that the rain just seems to wanna focus on,” she said.

Several commissioners and staff also discussed the legal and rate mechanics for impact fees and possible exceptions to any multi-year phase-in. Commissioner Howington told staff that Deltona has not increased its impact-related fees for 10 years and said the city may qualify for an exception that would allow faster implementation: “We have an exception we have not increased these fees in 10 years so with that we are not held to the constraint of the the slow rolling of increasing our fees because we have the exception,” he said.

Staff said a municipal impact-fee study for building permits and other fees is budgeted at $60,000 and is expected to take six to nine months; a separate water/wastewater rate study is already underway and will feed into the FY2026 budget timeline.

Next steps: staff will return with consultant findings, a recommended fee schedule, and statutory notification language before the commission adopts rates in the FY2026 budget process.