The stormwater fee on your Sebastian tax bill: what it pays for, and the swale that is yours

When your property tax bill arrives in November, look past the big tax lines. Near the bottom, Sebastian homeowners will find a stormwater charge from the city. It is not a tax based on your home's value. It is a flat fee that pays for the system that carries rainwater away from your street.

That system matters in Sebastian. Sebastian's drainage system was designed decades ago by General Development, and it depends on a long chain of swales, culverts, ditches and canals. If one link clogs, water backs up into yards and streets.

How the stormwater fee works

Sebastian created its stormwater utility in 2001. Under city code the fee is a special assessment, not a property tax, so it does not go up or down with your home's taxable value. It is collected with your property taxes and runs on the city's October-to-September fiscal year.

The fee is built on a unit called an ERU, or equivalent residential unit. City code sets one ERU at 3,285 square feet of hard surface, such as roof, driveway and patio. That is the average for one developed home in Sebastian. Each house is billed a flat one ERU, no matter its size. Vacant residential lots are billed at 0.67 of an ERU.

The fee has gone up over time. It was $5 a month in 2001 and rose to $10 in 2018. In 2024, the City Council raised it to $14 a month, according to Sebastian Daily. That is the most recent change we could confirm, so check the stormwater line on your 2026 bill for this year's amount.

What the money pays for

The city's stormwater utility maintains the public drainage system: swales and ditches, culverts, catch basins, baffle boxes, and the 8.15-mile Elkcam Canal and Collier Creek canal system. City staff clean the baffle boxes, which catch trash and sediment in the storm pipes, every three months.

When the council approved the 2024 increase, the city manager said it was mainly for operations, maintenance and a few more staff. The mayor at the time said it would add five stormwater employees. The city's consultant, Arcadis, had told the council that fully fixing the aging system would cost about $193 million, roughly four times the city's budget. The fee pays for upkeep and steady repairs, not a full rebuild.

There is a fee credit program for properties that build and maintain their own stormwater facilities. The city's page describes it mainly for non-residential customers. Applications are due by June 1 to count for that year, and credits must be renewed every three years.

Your part: the swale and the driveway culvert

This is the piece many new Sebastian owners do not expect. The city says plainly that each homeowner is responsible for maintaining the front yard swale and the driveway culvert. A few homes also have a side yard swale, and those owners maintain it as well.

A swale is the shallow, grassy dip between your yard and the road. It holds rainwater and lets it soak in or flow to the next culvert. The culvert is the pipe under your driveway that connects your swale to your neighbor's. If your culvert fills with sand, grass clippings or leaves, water stops moving down the street.

City ordinance allows fines for owners who do not maintain their swales and culverts. When a neighbor's swale is the problem, stormwater staff will inspect and ask for a fix, and Code Enforcement can step in if it is not handled in a reasonable time.

What to do this month

1. Walk your swale after the next rain. Standing water days later can point to a blocked culvert or a swale that has filled in.
2. Look inside both ends of your driveway culvert. Clear out sand, leaves and clippings so you can see daylight through it.
3. Keep grass clippings, leaves and yard debris out of the swale. Mow it like the rest of your yard.
4. Do not dump anything into a swale, ditch or storm drain. Report illegal dumping to Code Enforcement at 772-388-4436.
5. Report a drainage problem or a neighbor's blocked swale through the Citizens' Request Line on the city's stormwater website, or email citizensrequest@cityofsebastian.org.
6. When your tax bill arrives in November, find the stormwater line so you know what you pay and what it covers.

City Hall is at 1225 Main Street and is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m.