Welcome to the Official Site of Zionsville, IN!

Stormwater Utility Creation
The Town of Zionsville is in the process of establishing a Stormwater Utility to fund the programs and management of all stormwater falling upon, entering into and leaving the consolidated area of Zionsville. Due to federal and state regulations, the Town is required to conduct certain activities to ensure that the stormwater runoff leaving our community is as clean as possible. To ensure this, the State of Indiana requires the Town to hold a permit as required under 327 IAC 15-13 (“Rule 13”) to responsibly discharge all the rainwater and runoff into rivers and streams. This is not unique to our Town, but is a requirement imposed upon many communities across Indiana.

Click on the links below for more information about the Zionsville Stormwater Utility:

Stormwater Utility Rate Study Report

Stormwater Utility Rate Study Demonstrable Budget

Stormwater Utility Facts and Information Brochure

Resolution Establishing a Schedule of Rates and Charges for a Stormwater Utility

Draft Ordinance Establishing a Schedule of Rates and Charges for a Stormwater Utility

Ordinance Establishing a Department of Stormwater Management

Fact Sheet on Boone County Legal Drain Fees

Required Activities
The activities required of the Town are encompassed in six basic categories called Minimum Control Measures (MCM’s):

1. Public Education & Outreach
Develop and initiate public education programs addressing the impacts of stormwater leaving our community.

2. Public Participation & Involvement
Getting the residents and property owners involved in activities that promote clean-water practices.

3. Illicit Discharge Detection & Elimination
Seeking out and eliminating sources of water pollution.

4. Construction Site Runoff Control
Ensuring that all construction sites are operated and maintained in such a way as to reduce or eliminate pollution leaving their sites.

5. Post-Construction Runoff Control
Developing requirements of new development that promote clean water even after the construction is over.

6. Good Housekeeping & Pollution Prevention
Seeing that the Town itself conducts operations and maintains its facilities in a manner that does not introduce pollution into our own waterways.

Beyond all the Federal and State requirements, keeping our precious water resources as clean as they can be is simply the right thing to do! No matter what is happening on the land, whether it is agriculture, industry, or just plain lawn care activities, the water that flows across it picks up pollutants. These pollutants are often things that we don’t consider “pollution” and include items such as grass clippings, sediment, detergents from washing vehicles, and even fertilizers and pet waste. All these things eventually find there way into our water either through surface flow or absorption into the groundwater. Urbanization has led to higher concentrations of many things entering our waterways, causing them to become contaminated to the point where they can no longer support the natural aquatic life-cycle necessary for consistently clean water. The more junk that goes into our water, the more expensive it becomes to clean it back up before it comes back to our faucets!

Why a utility?
As with any infrastructure-based facility, there is a cost to maintain the system as well as expand it in the future. The utility and accompanying rate will fund the required components listed above as well as provide money for items and activities such as:

• Full-time inspection of construction projects
• Planning for future development
• Repairing old pipes
• Installing methods to clean up stormwater
• Acquisition of land for detention and pollution treatment
• Specialized equipment
• Upsizing pipes to reduce flooding
• Maintaining an accurate inventory of the entire drainage system

By forming a utility, a dedicated funding source is established to fund only the elements of the stormwater program. Without a dedicated funding source, the needs of the stormwater program will compete financially with all other essential Town services, including fixing streets and sidewalks and hiring police officers and fire-fighters.

How is the rate established?
All of the 11,077 property parcels within the Town were inventoried through aerial-based photography programs. Of these, 6,047 are single-family residential properties under 2 acres. A representative sample of 303 parcels was chosen, and each of those parcels was measured to determine the amount of impervious surface (houses, barns, sheds, driveways, etc). On average, the typical parcel includes about 4400 square feet of impervious surface. This average square footage forms the base rate, or what is called an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU). All other property classes and residential properties over 2 acres will then be individually measured and a multiple of the base ERU calculated, resulting in a specific rate for such parcels.

How much will I pay?
For the average property owner with one parcel less than or equal to two acres, the base ERU is $3.28 per month.  All other property sizes and types will be individually calculated as multiples of the base rate as described above.

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