Radnor Township's stormwater fee has stayed at the same rate since 2014, never appears on the property tax bill, and is now the housing cost most likely to change. It is small enough that most buyers never ask about it. The cost isn't the reason to pay attention now. What's changing is who sets the rate and what that rate will have to cover.
Where the fee sits during a purchase
Most buyers comparing Main Line townships build a monthly cost from three numbers: mortgage, insurance, and the real estate tax figure on the listing. Radnor's stormwater charge isn't part of that tax figure. The township bills it on the combined sewer rent and stormwater utility bill, which is mailed April 1 and due May 31 each year.
For a single-family home, the township doesn't measure your roof or driveway. It assigns your lot to one of four tiers by size, and charges $29 for each billing unit, as laid out on the township's stormwater fee page.
| Lot size, square feet | Billing units | Annual fee at $29 per unit |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 7,000 | 1 | $29 |
| 7,000 to 20,000 | 2 | $58 |
| 20,000 to 43,560 | 3 | $87 |
| Over 43,560 | 4 | $116 |
The township uses a half-acre lot of 21,780 square feet as its own example. That lot falls in Tier 3 and pays $87 a year.
Next to the school levy, that's a rounding error. For 2026–27 the Radnor Township School District rate is 16.3263 mills, up from 15.7965. According to MainLineMediaNews, the 3.36% increase put the school bill on an average-assessed home of $734,038 at $11,948. The township's own millage went from 2.4852 in 2025 to 2.7101 in 2026, per the 2026 adopted budget. Those tax rates are set through a public budget process, and buyers see them on every listing sheet. The stormwater fee runs through a different process, and that process is being rebuilt.
Why a one-acre lot and a large estate pay the same
The tier table stops at 43,560 square feet, which is one acre. Every single-family lot above that line, whether it's just over an acre or a full estate parcel in Villanova, pays four units. At the current rate, that's $116 a year.
Commercial, institutional and multifamily properties are billed differently. The township calls them Other Developed Properties, and their fee is based on measured impervious surface: one billing unit per 1,500 square feet. The township's example is a property with 15,000 square feet of impervious area, which comes to 10 units, or $290 a year.
The township is direct about who pays. "All developed properties in Radnor Township, including tax-exempt properties are subject to the fee," its FAQ states. It also explains the difference from a tax: fees can only be spent on the program they fund, and "property taxes do not apply to tax-exempt properties." In a township with university campuses, churches and large nonprofits, this is the one local charge that reaches all of them. How much of the total those parcels pay isn't published anywhere we could find.
The two billing methods also respond differently to changes on the ground. The FAQ says owners of Other Developed Properties can lower their fee by removing impervious surface, because that surface has been measured. A single-family bill is tied to lot size, so taking out a patio or narrowing a driveway doesn't change your tier.
Thirteen years at $29, and the borrowing behind it
The township's 2026 budget notes that 2026 is the thirteenth year at the same $29 rate. The same budget anticipates $8 million in stormwater bonds and says paying for them would require "nominal incremental fee increases."
That plan goes back more than a year. On August 18, 2025, the Board of Commissioners voted 7–0 to authorize bid documents "pending the issuance of an $8,000,000 General Obligation Bond associated with the funding of those projects and an anticipated increase in the Stormwater Fee." According to the meeting minutes, Township Manager Bill White described the borrowing as a way "to give an incremental approach to smooth the Stormwater rate."
The bonds are on tonight's agenda. Ordinance 2026-23 is up for introduction at the October 12, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting. It authorizes general obligation bonds of up to $10 million for stormwater capital projects. The agenda packet lays out the schedule: adoption on October 26, bond pricing in early November, and settlement expected by December 7, 2026. The projected project list totals $9,075,000:
- Earle's Lane Culvert Replacement, $2,000,000
- Walnut Ave Culvert Replacement near Oak Lane, $2,000,000
- Skunkhollow Park Bridge Replacement, $1,075,000
- Highview Road Storm Sewer Installation, $1,000,000
- Ithan Valley Park Upstream Culvert Rehabilitation, $1,000,000
- Spring Mill Rd Culvert Replacement, $800,000
- Fenimore Woods Park Storm Sewer and Bridge Rehabilitation, $500,000
- Morris Rd and Clover Lane Storm Sewer Installation, $500,000
- S. Valley Forge Rd, #607, Storm Sewer System Installation, $200,000
The repayment cost makes a $29 fee hard to sustain. The packet estimates debt service on the Series 2026 bonds at about $756,000 a year, paid by transfers from the Stormwater Fund. The stormwater cash-flow model in the same packet shows annual fee revenue of $1,160,000 for 2025 and for 2026. That means one bond issue would take roughly 65 cents of every stormwater dollar the township collects. The packet also shows this isn't the first stormwater borrowing: a $10 million bond for stormwater improvements was issued in 2022.
The same model, dated April 25, 2022, includes a "what-if" line that raises the fee step by step from $29 to $39. That scenario was never adopted, and the rate stayed at $29 through 2026. It does show the township has been modeling a higher fee for years.
An authority would change who sets the number
The bonds raise the question of how much the fee should be. Ordinance 2026-18 addresses who decides. On June 15, 2026, commissioners voted 6–0 to introduce it. The ordinance repeals Chapter 56 of the township code and replaces it with a new Chapter 56 creating a Radnor Township Stormwater Authority under Pennsylvania's Municipality Authorities Act. The June minutes record the solicitor describing a five-member appointed board. The authority would take over stormwater planning and management, help the township meet its state stormwater permit requirements, repair infrastructure, and fund projects to reduce flooding, erosion and property damage.
The Radnor Gazette pointed out two structural effects when the ordinance was introduced. A stormwater fee isn't capped by Act 511 or the Act 1 millage index that limits property tax, and authority boards are usually appointed rather than elected. The fee itself isn't new; Radnor adopted it by ordinance in October 2013. The new part is a proposed separate body with its own power to set fees, arriving just as debt service on the stormwater fund is about to rise. The bond packet already labels that fund "Stormwater Fund (Authority)."
As of October 12, 2026, the ordinance text is posted on the township's ordinances page. We haven't seen a final adoption vote, appointed board members or a 2027 rate in the township materials we reviewed. The fee page still lists $29 per unit.
What to ask about a specific Radnor address
For a buyer comparing a Wayne twin with a Villanova acre, the gap in the stormwater line today is less than $100 a year. That gap matters less than what may happen to the rate. Any future rate is likely to apply to the same tiers, so the four-unit lots carry the biggest dollar exposure to a change, even with the one-acre cap in place. A short checklist:
- Lot size against the tier lines. A lot just over 7,000 or 20,000 square feet bills one unit higher than a lot just under it.
- The seller's last utility bill. It shows the units the township actually assigned to the parcel, which is a better number than an estimate.
- Appeal timing. Under the township's stormwater ordinance, a written appeal goes to the Public Works Director within 30 days after billing. A further appeal goes to the Township Manager within 30 days of an adverse decision.
- Credits. The same ordinance provides for credits for on-site detention, retention, infiltration and aquifer recharge, and doesn't allow credits based on an owner's tax status. The township's FAQ on credits still describes a program planned for mid-2014, so current terms are worth confirming directly with the township.
A few quick answers
Is the stormwater fee included in Radnor's real estate tax? No. It comes on the sewer and stormwater utility bill, which is mailed April 1 and due May 31.
Has the fee gone up yet? Not as of the township's current fee page, which still lists $29 per billing unit. The 2026 budget and the August 2025 bond resolution both anticipate an increase. No new rate has been published.
Where does the money go? The fee is dedicated to stormwater work. The current plan covers nine named projects, from Earle's Lane to Skunkhollow Park. The plan is to fund them with the bonds in Ordinance 2026-23, which is up for introduction October 12, 2026.
This post is general information about how Radnor's fee works, not legal, tax or financial advice, so please confirm the details for a specific property with the township or the right professional.
When I look at a Radnor home with a buyer, I go over the utility bill, the lot tier and the township's upcoming votes along with the price and the tax sheet. If you'd like help working out the full cost of owning a particular Radnor property, Larisa Bevan can help. Schedule a consultation.
