Pennsylvania Stormwater Fees by Town: Rates, ERUs and Credits

Some Pennsylvania towns and water authorities bill a stormwater fee, a charge on your water or tax bill based on how much roof, driveway and patio your lot has. Many give credits for rain gardens, rain barrels or permeable pavers. Here is what each one we could verify charges, how it’s figured and what earns a credit, straight from the town’s or authority’s own documents, plus what we found in Clinton, Lycoming, Centre and Union counties.

How a stormwater fee is figured

A town that runs a stormwater utility measures the hard surfaces on every lot from aerial maps: roofs, driveways, parking and patios. Public sidewalks and roads don’t count. Penn State Extension explains that the base unit, the ERU (equivalent residential unit), is the median impervious area of a sample of single-family lots, and the rate is the yearly stormwater budget divided by the total number of ERUs in town. Most towns bill a house as one ERU (or put homes in a few tiers) and bill everything else by its measured area. Tax-exempt properties such as schools and churches have generally been billed too, which is the question the Supreme Court took up (below).

Stormwater fees by town

Town or authority	County	Residential charge	Credits
Mt. Lebanon	Allegheny	$11.39/ERU/mo	Not listed
Pittsburgh	Allegheny	$5.75–$22.99/mo	Yes; $40 rain barrel; permeable pavers cut your area
Meadville	Crawford	$90/ERU/yr (2013)	Up to 40%
Carlisle	Cumberland	Not posted	Yes (credit manual)
Mechanicsburg	Cumberland	$30/quarter	Yes (application)
Harrisburg (Capital Region Water)	Dauphin	$3.39–$6.77/mo (2024)	Not in schedule
Hummelstown	Dauphin	About $13/mo average (2023)	Yes (credit manual)
Lower Paxton Township	Dauphin	$32/quarter (2019 rate)	Up to 45%; $100 rain barrel
Lower Swatara Township	Dauphin	$10/mo	Non-residential only (per page)
Radnor Township	Delaware	$29/unit/yr	Not described
Erie	Erie	$12–$36/yr	Yes (credit manual)
Chambersburg	Franklin	Set by council	Education credit for homes
Lancaster	Lancaster	Tiered (council sets base)	Up to 50%
West Hempfield Township	Lancaster	$72/ERU/yr	Up to 50%
Allentown	Lehigh	$20 per 500 sq ft/yr	Up to 50%
Easton	Northampton	$6.75/mo	Non-residential only
Philadelphia	Philadelphia	$20.89/mo	None for homes; Rain Check cost-share

Clinton, Lycoming, Centre and Union counties

• Lock Haven (Clinton): the city code includes a stormwater user fee (Chapter 343, Ord. 2022-13, adopted Nov. 21, 2022): $25 a quarter for a single-family home, and $25 a quarter per ERU of 3,100 sq ft of impervious area for other properties. Council can change the rate by resolution, so check your city bill for the current charge.
• South Williamsport (Lycoming): the Lycoming County Water and Sewer Authority approved stormwater fees for South Williamsport and DuBoistown property owners in June 2020, as reported by the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. The borough’s own website was offline when we checked, so check your bill for the amount.
• Williamsport and Loyalsock Township (Lycoming): property owners there challenged a municipal authority’s stormwater fee as a tax, and a Lycoming County judge upheld the fee in August 2026, as reported by the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS). We couldn’t find the court’s opinion or the authority’s own rate page, so check your bill for the amount.
• Old Lycoming Township (Lycoming): the township’s stormwater page lists an “Ordinance 283 Storm Water Management Fee” download; we haven’t read the ordinance yet.
• Ferguson Township (Centre): adopted a stormwater fee in 2021; supervisors voted 3–2 to repeal it in October 2024, as reported by StateCollege.com, after the township manager said its 17 credits and exemptions made it too complex.
• Bellefonte and State College (Centre): Bellefonte’s 2024 fee schedule has no stormwater utility fee, only $15 for a copy of the stormwater ordinance. We found no published stormwater fee for State College Borough.
• Union County: not checked yet.

None of these local notes is a full list. If your township bills one and it isn’t here, it will be on your water, sewer or tax bill.

The 2026 Supreme Court ruling

On April 30, 2026, in Borough of West Chester v. Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (No. 9 MAP 2023), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that West Chester’s stormwater charge is a tax, not a fee for service, so the state university system was immune from paying it. Lawyers who track municipal law note the ruling raises questions for other programs, especially charges set by municipal authorities, which can’t levy taxes, and that towns may restructure their fees. The case was about a state university’s bill. Watch for notices from your own town or authority; this page will be updated as programs change. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do credits pay back a rain garden or permeable patio?

Usually not by themselves. Two worked examples with real program numbers:

• Lower Paxton Township rain garden. At the $32 a quarter in the township’s FAQ, a house pays $128 a year. A rain garden that earns the full 15% volume-control credit saves $19.20 a year (15% × $128). The $250 application fee alone takes 13 years to earn back ($250 ÷ $19.20), before the cost of building the garden. Even at the 45% cap, the most a house saves is $57.60 a year. The quick win there is the one-time $100 rain barrel rebate.
• Pittsburgh permeable patio. Pittsburgh Water subtracts permeable pavement built on a stormwater sub-base from your impervious area. Say a house has 2,900 sq ft of roof and paving (Tier 3, $22.99 a month) and replaces a 400 sq ft concrete patio with permeable pavers. It drops to 2,500 sq ft, under the 2,710 sq ft line, so it pays Tier 2, $11.50 a month: $11.49 less a month, or $137.88 a year. Get Pittsburgh Water’s approval before you count on it.

So build a rain garden, dry well or permeable patio to fix a wet yard or a runoff problem, and take the credit as a bonus. Size the garden for your roof first: see how big a rain garden should be. If the water heads toward a neighbor, check drainage law before you regrade or pipe it.

Is your town missing?

Penn State Extension counted at least 27 Pennsylvania municipalities with stormwater fees as of a 2019 national survey. This list grows as we verify each one against its own published rate. If your bill shows a stormwater charge from a town or authority not listed here, email info@muthlerlandscaping.com and we’ll add it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Pennsylvania towns charge a stormwater fee?

This page covers 17 we verified from their own sites or documents, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie, Lancaster, Allentown, Easton, Mt. Lebanon, Radnor, Lower Paxton, Lower Swatara, Harrisburg (Capital Region Water), Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, Chambersburg and Meadville. Penn State Extension counted at least 27 municipalities with fees as of a 2019 survey.

How much is a stormwater fee in Pennsylvania?

Penn State Extension puts typical residential fees at $5 to $11 a month. Examples from this page: Lower Swatara Township $10 a month, Pittsburgh $11.50 a month for a Tier 2 home, Lower Paxton Township $32 a quarter (its 2019 rate), Erie $12 to $36 a year, and Philadelphia $20.89 a month from Sept. 1, 2026.

What is an ERU on a stormwater bill?

An equivalent residential unit, the roof and paving on a typical single-family lot in that town. It varies: 1,650 sq ft in Pittsburgh, 2,350 sq ft in West Hempfield Township, 3,160 sq ft in Mechanicsburg and 3,750 sq ft in Lower Swatara Township. Houses usually pay one ERU; larger properties pay one ERU for each ERU of impervious area.

Can a rain garden or permeable pavers lower my stormwater fee?

In many towns, yes. Lancaster allows up to 50% for rain gardens, porous pavement with an infiltration bed and cisterns; Lower Paxton up to 15% for a rain garden plus a $100 rain barrel rebate; Pittsburgh subtracts permeable pavement on a stormwater sub-base from your impervious area. Philadelphia gives no residential credits. On a single-family bill the savings are usually small, so build them to solve a drainage problem first.

Do Lock Haven, Williamsport or State College charge a stormwater fee?

Lock Haven’s city code sets a stormwater user fee of $25 a quarter for a single-family home (Ord. 2022-13, adopted November 2022). In Lycoming County, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported that the county water and sewer authority approved stormwater fees for South Williamsport in 2020, and PSATS reported that a county judge upheld an authority fee charged in Williamsport and Loyalsock Township in August 2026. We found no published fee for State College Borough, and StateCollege.com reported that Ferguson Township repealed its fee in 2024.

Did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court strike down stormwater fees?

On April 30, 2026, the court held that West Chester Borough’s stormwater charge is a tax, not a fee, so the state university system didn’t have to pay it. It did not cancel every program, but it raises questions for others, especially authority fees, and some towns may change how they bill. Watch for notices from your town or authority.

Planning information, not legal or tax advice. Rates change every budget year, and your town or authority has the final word on your bill and any credit.

Sources: Penn State Extension: what is a municipal stormwater fee · Penn State Extension: what is a stormwater credit · Pa. Supreme Court, West Chester v. PASSHE (PDF) · K&L Gates on the ruling · Lock Haven code, Ch. 343 stormwater user fees · Sun-Gazette on South Williamsport’s fee (2020) · PSATS on the Lycoming ruling · Old Lycoming Township stormwater · StateCollege.com on Ferguson’s repeal · Bellefonte 2024 fee schedule (PDF) · town and authority sources are listed in each entry above.

Related: Rain garden and rain barrel rebates by state · Rain garden size guide · Drainage guide · Drainage laws by state · PA conservation districts · Pennsylvania guide

Last checked November 12, 2026 against each town’s or authority’s own site or document. Spot a rate that changed? Email info@muthlerlandscaping.com and we’ll fix it.