• COURTESY CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS
• Camp Creek erosion is one reason the city needs money for drainage projects.

It’s looking like a “go” for an April 4 city election ballot measure seeking voter approval to lift the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue cap for 2016 and 2017 to fund stormwater projects.

Mayor John Suthers asked City Council today to place the measure on the ballot, noting the 2016 figure could be $7 million or more. If refunded, which typically is achieved through utility bills, the refund would total about $36 per household, Suthers said.

As previously reported by the Independent, Suthers wants to use the excess revenue to beef up the city’s work on drainage control, given a Nov. 9 lawsuit against the city filed by the federal government, which noted longstanding violations of the Clean Water Act.

City Council will vote in late January on referring such a measure to voters, at which time Suthers promised to provide a more precise revenue figure. He received no push back at today’s meeting.

In other business, Councilor Bill Murray asked colleagues to place a measure on the ballot that would open the door for the city to partner with companies to provide broadband internet service. That measure is to be voted on later today.