Illinois House Proposes Allowing Municipal “Rain Tax”

The Illinois House Rules Committee may report out HB 825, permitting all municipal governments in the state operating storm sewer systems to impose a tax on property owners proportional to the area of impermeable surfaces – including roofs, driveways and parking lots – for handling stormwater runoff from their property. The bill would allow municipal governments to issue bonds for construction, maintenance and operation of storm sewer systems, and impose a property tax levy sufficient to fund interest payments on the bonds and retire them at the end of their duration. The tax on any particular property would depend on the area of impermeable surface on the parcel in comparison to the average impermeable area per parcel within the municipal boundaries.