Frequently Asked Questions

The current rate is $3.50 per month, as established in January 2017. The Municipal Drainage Utility System Fee is assessed based on every active water meter. Drainage infrastructure and services will be exclusively funded through the Municipal Drainage Utility System fee rates. Chapter 552 of the Texas Local Government Code requires that all funds raised by the drainage fee, by law, may only be used for drainage related activities, with no exceptions.

Drainage Infrastructure & Services

Through its annual budgeting process, the Marshall City Commission determines the appropriate expenditures for drainage infrastructure and services for each fiscal year and will set the Drainage Fee based on current and future needs based on annually updating our Twenty Year Drainage Improvement Program. New business or residential developments will be required to address their increased runoff through on-site detention, off-site mitigation, or participation in a community stormwater project. Under Chapter 552 of the Texas Local Government Code, the City Commission has the obligation to set Municipal Drainage Utility System rates based on the cost of service.

The City of Marshall is authorized to levy and bill the drainage charge through the City of Marshall Water Utility Billing System, which will be separately identified from the other utility billings.

The Municipal Drainage Utility System Fee is a rate intended to cover capital and maintenance expenses associated with local drainage projects, and fund operational services. The fee is assessed on residential and commercial benefited properties and collected on a monthly basis through your water bill; it will appear as a "Drainage Utility Fee."

As the primary revenue source for the City’s Storm Water Operating Fund, the Municipal Drainage Utility System Fee can only be used to fund those services that directly support MS4 Permit requirements and stormwater operations. Examples of services funded by the Municipal Drainage Utility System Fee include, but are not limited to the following:

• City Bridges and Large Culverts
• Detention Ponds to Reduce Flooding
• Drainage Maintenance of Ditches, Culverts, Gutters - Roadways
• Drainage Infrastructure Maintenance
• Mowing and Restoration of Drainage Creeks and Channels
• Natural Creekway Debris Removal
• Right-Of-Way Maintenance
• Street Sweeping

A credit is a reduction or forgiveness of the Municipal Drainage Utility System Fee that can be pursued by a property owner or occupant who operates and maintains a permanent Best Management Practice (BMP) or Low Impact Development (LID) feature that reduces stormwater runoff through features such as a downstream or on-site stormwater detention facility. The location must provide documentation that their stormwater control feature captures sufficient stormwater to qualify for their entire site. Partial stormwater retention will be credited on a prorated basis.

The Municipal Drainage Utility System fee will continue to be assessed to the owner or occupant of the "benefited property", which includes any lot, parcel, or real property that has been improved and which contributes runoff into the City’s stormwater system. By ordinance, there are certain exclusions from the benefited property, including:

• City of Marshall
• Marshall Independent School District
• Property held and maintained in its natural state, until such time that the property is developed and all of the public infrastructure constructed has been accepted by the City in which the property is located for maintenance
• Property owned by public or private institutions of higher education
• Property owned by a religious organization that is exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 11.20, Texas Tax Code, as amended
• Property with proper construction and maintenance of a wholly sufficient and privately owned drainage system
• State or Harrison County property
• A subdivided lot, until a structure has been built on the lot and a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by the City