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How Cambridge handles its stormwater billing has surfaced during the 2026 municipal race as a notable issue for not only for residents, but for many members of the business community and commercial property owners who contend separating the fee from the property tax levy since July of 2025 has resulted in confusion and created a burden for small businesses.

City of Cambridge officials say the fee, which is tied to hard surfaces – like roofs and parking lots - that generate runoff, provides fair and proportional funding to improve and maintain the stormwater network for the whole community.

According to the City’s 2026 annual rates listed on its website, residential property owners now pay a flat fee ranging from $49.75 to $497.50 per acre, while non-residential property owners pay a flat fee of $244.79. However, larger non-residential properties now pay a rate of $755.15 per acre.

For Valet Car Wash owner Mike Black, the fee structure has left him perplexed and exasperated at how the decision came about, especially since his Cambridge location is not connected to the city’s stormwater system but is still required to pay the charge. 

This translates into approximately $175 a month but comes in addition to the roughly $10,000 he pays annually to pump out the dry well (which collects excess surface water) he was required to install at a cost of $100,000 at Valet’s Eagle Street North location in 1990 because the city did not have enough sewer capacity to hook up the business to the storm drain system. 

“Is $175 bucks going to kill us? Probably not,” he says. “But it’s the principle of the thing.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by stormwater advocate Denis Lanno, who has lived on River Road in Hespeler for the past 26 years, and founded a grassroots organization called Citizens-United to draw attention to the issue after he and an elderly neighbour received large bills under the new system in July 2025 despite receiving few city services in their area.

More transparency needed

“A portion of my property is on a floodplain and my property slopes away from River Road, so there’s no way runoff ends up anywhere,” he explains. “It runs down my property and gets absorbed into the soil or into Irish Creek which runs through the back of my property.”

While Denis acknowledges that property taxes collected from residential and commercial property owners to support infrastructure and services – regardless if these property owners directly benefit – is the principle behind how municipal government works, he says simply moving the charge from one bill to another muddies the water.

“If the total amount being collected from taxpayers has increased, then this is not merely a change in billing methodology,” he wrote in a recent letter to a City official. “It represents an increased financial burden. That distinction is fundamental.”

Denis has created a website and online petition, as well as distributed flyers, not only calling for more transparency from the City regarding stormwater billing but urging that the fee be rolled back into the property tax envelope.

“I think that’s the most equitable and fairest way to deal with it,” he says. “If the property tax rates go up, then it’s very visible.”

In terms of greater transparency, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Greg Durocher says he supports having a separate fee – similar to what is in place in surrounding municipalities (KW and Guelph) - to ensure businesses and taxpayers know exactly how much is being budgeted towards stormwater management.

“There is more transparency behind it if they are separate,” says Greg, adding it would also help when comparing property tax rates with other municipalities. “If we were comparing, which we have often done in the past with Kitchener and Waterloo, our taxes would appear to be much higher if we didn’t separate them, so I think to do this only makes sense.”

City acknowledges concerns

However, he does have concerns surrounding the financial impact when the fees were separated last year after the City’s first ‘strong-mayor budget’ was approved.

“When it made the transition from within the property tax envelope to external from the property tax envelope, there was no void left in the property tax file from taking that out,” says Greg. “That is not transparency.”

The City has acknowledged these concerns in the media since the implementation of the new billing system and has promised a review will take place in spring 2027.

In the Chamber’s recent series of candidate videos for the 2026 municipal election (click here), Mayor Jan Liggett said City staff will review the system looking for potential errors and submit a report. 

“They’re (staff) not coming back with recommendations,” she said, noting the necessity of good stormwater management due to the increasing intensity of storms. “We will take that report and look at that review and decide what needs to change.”

Until then, a rebate process remains in place allowing commercial property owners to apply for a credit up to 50%, providing they meet specific criteria regarding peak flow and volume reductions, and water quality treatment. 

Despite this many commercial property owners, including Mike, have said they find the process confusing and cumbersome, often requiring documentation that’s not easily available, such as the engineering documents pertaining to the installation of Valet’s dry well in 1990.

“That was done over 35 years ago. The City made us do it and they would have the drawings,” he said, adding as a result he wasn’t able to complete the rebate application which would only cover a fraction of his costs. “I don’t have any impact so I should be getting a 100% rebate not 50%.”

Mike says he’s concerned where this could lead and fears fees for other services, like snow removal, may also be separated.

“Are they going to start billing separately for all these things?” he says.