Without its $10 stormwater fee, maintenance on the city's stormwater simply wouldn't get done, said Munster's town manager.

"That's the whole point of the fee," said Town Manager Tom DeGiulio. "Property taxes don't pay for stormwater."

It's that mentality that has the city of Crown Point considering a stormwater fee of $6 per month per household to help pay for the stormwater improvements the city needs.

Besides Munster, other communities with fees include Dyer, Cedar Lake, Highland, and Valparaiso.

Mayor David Uran isn't alone in asking his residents for financial help for stormwater improvements, Merrillville is also considering implementing the new fee.

Uran has said the proposed fee is necessary because short- and long-term solutions to fix flooding cost millions of dollars the city doesn't have. The proposed fee would generate about $1 million a year in revenue the city could dedicate to fixing the problems, and Uran has said the fee could show up on utility bills as early as November.

For about the past two months Merrillville has been seriously considering implementing a fee of $5 a month for residential properties of less than 10 acres, Community Development Director Howard Fink has said. If the Merrillville Town Council approves the fee, it would show up on residents' 2009 property tax bills.

Both Merrillville and Crown Point are using formulas to calculate the fee for commercial properties, and like Crown Point, Merrillville would use the fee for unfunded regulations, correcting flooding and water quality issues.

DeGiulio said Munster's fee is used for cleaning sewers, making repairs and supporting stormwater projects. He said some form of the fee has been around since the 1980s.

"Without it, maintenance wouldn't get done," he said.