New York City relies on an outdated billing scheme to fund its water and wastewater systems. Every property owner pays a fee based on water consumption. A portion of that fee helps cover the city’s stormwater and sewage management expenses. Under this scheme, properties that burden the sewer system with the most stormwater runoff — such as parking lots and big box stores with large impervious surfaces — could pay less than a single family apartment owner. (Confusing? Sure is. See SWIM Coalition’s Fact Sheet for more details.) Many cities across the country have abandoned this the water consumption-based fee for a rate structure that is far more equitable and accounts for stormwater runoff expenses.