Stormwater Fee in Port St. Lucie Florida

The Port St. Lucie Stormwater page lists the annual assessment as $189 against the $183 it calls this year's, with a proposed $6 annual increase that it equates to an extra 50 cents a month (Port St. Lucie Stormwater page).

An earlier dated document, the Port St. Lucie FY 2023-24 adopted budget, says the stormwater fee was adopted to increase by $10.00 for a total of $178 for residential and $133.50 for vacant property (FY 2023-24 adopted budget). The same book says the Public Works Department, working with Stantec Consulting Services Inc., completed a review of the city's stormwater fees and charges in August 2021, and that the $10.00 increase did not keep up with the increased demand for stormwater services (FY 2023-24 adopted budget).

The Stormwater page explains why one Port St. Lucie bill can differ from the next. The charge for ongoing services may vary each year with operating and maintenance costs, and a residential lot that was undeveloped but is now built on moves to a higher rate (Stormwater page). The property tax and millage guide places this charge among the other lines of the county tax bill.

Port St. Lucie bills the stormwater assessment once a year as a non-ad valorem line on the St. Lucie County property tax bill, for a billing period that runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 (Special Assessment and Property Tax page).

The city's Special Assessment and Property Tax division prepares the annual non-ad valorem rolls for stormwater, streetlights, solid waste, city water and sewer and developer special assessment districts, and sends them to the St. Lucie Tax Collector (Special Assessment and Property Tax page). Questions about the assessment go to financeassessment@cityofpsl.com, a copy of the tax bill comes from the Tax Collector at 772-462-1650, and a home's value comes from the Property Appraiser at 772-462-1000 (same page).

Non-ad valorem means the charge is a fee for a specific service, such as stormwater or solid waste, and the amount is not based on the property's value, though it is billed on the property tax bill (Stormwater page). The Port St. Lucie FAQ adds that this is an existing annual assessment, not a new one (Stormwater page).

The City of Port St. Lucie says the stormwater assessment notice is required by state law, is not a bill, and needs no reply or appearance at the public hearing (Stormwater page FAQs).

Owners see a paper notice only in certain years. The Port St. Lucie FAQ says a notice is not mailed until the proposed assessment exceeds the not-to-exceed amount of $219, and that any further increase must be approved by the City Council at a public hearing (Stormwater page).

Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes, sets the notice rules for non-ad valorem assessment rolls statewide. When a local government levies a non-ad valorem assessment for the first time, raises it beyond the maximum rate authorized at its initial imposition, changes its boundaries or changes the purpose of the assessment, it must adopt the roll at a public hearing held between January 1 and September 15 (section 197.3632). At least 20 days before that hearing it must give notice by first-class mail to each owner and by newspaper, stating the purpose, the amount levied against each parcel and the unit of measurement used (section 197.3632). For Port St. Lucie owners the city's FAQ confirms the assessment will be billed on the property tax bill, not sent as a separate invoice (Stormwater page).

The assessment funds the whole Port St. Lucie drainage system of pipes, ponds, pump stations and canals, which the city says prevents flooding and protects water quality (Stormwater page).

The figures above come from the Port St. Lucie Stormwater page (Stormwater page). Beyond the five projects, a portion pays for overseeing the city's swale liner and driveway culvert programs (Stormwater page). The swale liner page adds that a percentage of the fee supports installing and cleaning swale liner, and that everyone contributes, including commercial businesses (Swale Liner and Driveway Culverts page).

Some of the work stays with the owner. Swale maintenance and driveway culvert maintenance are the landowner's responsibility, and the Port St. Lucie Stormwater page assigns owners the strip of street right-of-way between the pavement edge and their property line, citing City Code section 41.08 (Stormwater page). The driveway culverts and swales guide explains the liner program and the culvert assistance options.

The City of Port St. Lucie ties the $6 increase to five drainage efforts: the Oak Hammock Watershed Improvements Project, the Hogpen Slough stormwater treatment area, the Elkcam Basin Improvements Project, the E-8 Canal Project and faster swale and culvert replacement (Stormwater page).

• Oak Hammock Watershed Improvements: flooding fixes for a large area bounded by I-95 on the west side, the Florida Turnpike on the east side, and the South Florida Water Management C-23 Canal and Port St. Lucie Boulevard on the south side.
• Hogpen Slough stormwater treatment area: a site on the north side of Walton Road and the west side of Lennard Road that is to treat and move runoff from places such as Savanna Preserve State Park, Savannah Club and Spanish Lakes Golf Village.
• Elkcam Basin Improvements: better flow through the Elkcam Waterway south of Crosstown Parkway, east of Bayshore, north of Port St. Lucie Boulevard and west of the St. Lucie River.
• E-8 Canal Project: reworking the canal and reinforcing its banks south of Import Drive and north of Gatlin Boulevard, west of I-95.
• Accelerated swale and culvert replacements.

The list above follows the Port St. Lucie Stormwater page, which spells the second project Hopen Slough (Stormwater page); the city's own project page names it the Hogpen Slough Project (Hogpen Slough Project page). The city says the five projects aim to reduce flooding in areas hit in recent years, improve water quality, make the city safer in storms and may help lower homeowners insurance costs (Stormwater page).

The Hogpen Slough project page describes stormwater treatment areas as constructed wetlands that filter nutrients through plant growth and peat soil, with the main job of removing phosphorus before runoff reaches the North Fork of the St. Lucie River (Hogpen Slough Project page). The page lists Phase I, preliminary design, with a start date of late February 2024 and a completion date of Fall 2024, notes that no construction was proposed for Phase I, and says St. Lucie County is matching funds for the design (same page).

Section 403.0893, Florida Statutes, lets a county or city such as Port St. Lucie create stormwater utilities and adopt stormwater utility fees sufficient to plan, build, operate and maintain its stormwater management systems (section 403.0893).

The same section allows a local government instead to set aside other dedicated funds, or to create stormwater management benefit areas in which owners pay a per-acre fee, with different subarea rates where land uses receive substantially different levels of benefit (section 403.0893). Port St. Lucie bills its charge as a non-ad valorem assessment on the tax roll (Special Assessment and Property Tax page).

An earlier Port St. Lucie stormwater effort appears on the city's Water Quality Initiatives page: the Eastern Watershed Improvement Project, which combines a stormwater management facility, several water quality solutions and an area for recreation in eastern Port St. Lucie, with stormwater treatment areas that serve two or three uses (Water Quality Initiatives page).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, on the Port St. Lucie drainage assessment: the Stormwater page and its FAQs, the special assessment billing page, the swale liner, Hogpen Slough and Water Quality Initiatives pages, the FY 2023-24 adopted budget, and Florida Statutes 197.3632 and 403.0893.