Fees

​​Fees & Billing FAQs

Call 3-1-1 (or 704-336-7600) if you have questions about your Storm Water Services fee or bill.

CharMeck 311, open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., serves as the customer contact center for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services.

Most customers receive a monthly City of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County water services bill that includes the Storm Water Services fee as well as Charlotte Water drinking water and wastewater fees. While different departments and organizations provide these services, the fees and charges are included on one bill to simplify the billing and payment process for customers.

You may pay your water bill online, by phone, or in person at authorized payment locations. Visit the Water Bill Payment Options page for more information.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services works year-round to manage the runoff from rainfall, reduce flooding, restore floodplains and protect the water quality of surface waters countywide. We accomplish this by: 

  • Increasing drainage capacity to meet growth and development demands
  • Repairing and replacing aging storm drainage infrastructure
  • Restoring severely eroded streams and floodplains to hold excess rain
  • Mapping floodplains to protect drainage capacity and manage floodplain development
  • Responding to residents who call 3-1-1 to report drainage and flooding problems
  • Monitoring surface waters for evidence of pollutants
  • Enforcing ordinances to protect surface waters
  • Educating residents about flood safety, pollution prevention and volunteer opportunities

​The Storm Water Services fee is based on a parcel’s impervious surface area such as rooftops, driveways and private walkways. The more impervious surfaces, the more stormwater runoff flows from the property into the storm drainage system. Homes with the least amount of impervious surface area pay the lowest Storm Water Services fee.

Impervious surfaces are hard surfaces that do not allow rain to absorb into the ground.

Common examples of impervious surface include:

  • Rooftops (on a home, garage or shed)
  • Driveways made of concrete, brick or asphalt
  • Private walkways and patios made of concrete or brick
  • Private swimming pool aprons
Areas covered with grass, trees, gardens, and gravel are not included when measuring impervious surface area for purposes of determining the Storm Water Services fee. However, gravel is considered impervious surface for many stormwater regulations.

Impervious surfaces are identified and measured using aerial photography for each parcel in Mecklenburg County.

Your parcel’s impervious surface area is listed on the front of your City of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County water services bill. You can also view your property’s impervious area by visiting the GeoPortal website, then click on Impervious Surface in the drop down menu.

Call 3-1-1 (or 704-336-7600) if you have questions about your parcel’s impervious area or would like to request an inspector to validate the square footage.

Detached Single-Family Residential properties (one individual, detached, single-family home on a parcel) are in one of four billing tiers based on the property’s total amount of impervious surface. Each property in the tier is billed the same amount.

Tier I:   Up to 1,999 square feet of impervious surface
Tier II:  2,000 to 2,999 square feet of impervious surface
Tier III: 3,000 to 4,999 square feet of impervious surface
Tier IV: 5,000 or more square feet of impervious surface

All Other properties (commercial buildings; attached single-family homes such as duplexes, triplexes and apartments; multiple single-family structures on one parcel) are billed for the actual amount of impervious area on the property.

Property owners may qualify for a Storm Water Services fee credit if:

all or nearly all of their stormwater runoff drains either directly into the Catawba River or directly into an adjoining county

-OR-

the property owner has significantly reduced the amount of runoff through a stormwater control measure or pond that captures and holds it.

Visit the Fee Credits page for more information.

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