If you own a home on a septic system in Gwinnett County, the county will lower your stormwater utility fee just for taking care of your tank. Gwinnett offers a 10 percent stormwater utility fee credit for getting your septic tank pumped, and you can claim it every year for five years. Please send in a dated receipt from a licensed septic hauler along with a short application. There’s no charge to apply.

Most homeowners in Lilburn and the surrounding area have no idea this exists. They pay the stormwater fee on their property tax bill every year, pump their tank on schedule anyway, and never connect the two. The pumping is maintenance you already need. The credit is money the county is willing to take off your bill for doing it. Here’s exactly how to get it, what paperwork you need, and how to stack it with other credits you may also qualify for.

Key Takeaways

  • Gwinnett County gives a 10 percent stormwater utility fee credit for having your septic tank pumped, available annually for up to five years.
  • You must submit a dated receipt or paid invoice from a licensed septic hauler with your application, and applying is free.
  • Residents of unincorporated Gwinnett County and the city of Lilburn can add a 5 percent credit for attending a county septic workshop.
  • Credits stack, but the combined maximum for any property is 40 percent of the stormwater utility fee.
  • The EPA recommends pumping most household tanks every three to five years, which lines up closely with the credit cycle.

What the Stormwater Utility Fee Is and Why Septic Owners Pay It

The stormwater utility fee shows up on your Gwinnett County property tax bill. It funds the systems that manage rainwater runoff: pipes, ditches, detention ponds, stream repair, and water quality monitoring. Every developed property contributes, because every roof, driveway, and patio sends rain somewhere instead of letting it soak into the ground.

Septic owners sometimes assume the fee doesn’t apply to them because they aren’t connected to the sewer. It does. Stormwater and sewer are two different systems with two different bills. What matters for our purposes is that Gwinnett treats a well-maintained septic system as something that protects local water quality, so the county is willing to discount the fee when you prove you’re maintaining yours.

That’s the logic behind the credit. A tank that gets pumped on schedule is far less likely to push solids into the drain field, surface effluent in the yard, or send untreated waste toward a creek. The county would rather give up a slice of the fee than deal with the cleanup.

The 10 Percent Septic Pumping Credit, Explained

The core offer is simple. Have your septic tank pumped by a licensed hauler, keep the receipt, and submit it with the county’s stormwater credit application. Gwinnett applies a 10 percent credit to the stormwater utility fee on your property tax bill.

The details worth knowing:

  • Amount: 10 percent of your stormwater utility fee.
  • Duration: Available each year for up to five years.
  • Proof required: A receipt or paid invoice, dated and addressed, from a licensed septic hauler.
  • Application charge: None. Gwinnett’s Department of Water Resources processes credit applications free of charge.
  • Where it lands: Once processed, credits are applied to the stormwater utility fee on your property tax bill.

The five-year window matters more than it looks. It roughly matches how often a typical household tank needs service anyway, which means the credit tends to renew right about the time you’re due for your next pumping. If you’re unsure where you are in that cycle, pumping frequency depends heavily on household size and tank capacity, and getting that interval right is worth more to you than the credit itself.

The Extra 5 Percent Credit Lilburn Residents Should Know About

There’s a second credit that far fewer people claim. Gwinnett runs county-approved workshops on water quality and stormwater runoff, and attending one earns an additional 5 percent credit. The county specifically notes that residents of unincorporated Gwinnett County and the city of Lilburn may qualify for the 5 percent credit for attending a septic workshop.

If you live in Lilburn, that’s worth an hour of your time. Combined with the pumping credit, you’re at 15 percent off the stormwater fee for maintenance you were doing anyway plus one workshop.

Other Credits That Stack, Up to a Point

Gwinnett offers several stormwater credits, and they combine. The combined maximum credit available to any property is 40 percent of the stormwater utility fee, so there’s a ceiling, but most households never get close to it.

Commonly applied residential credits include:

  • Septic tank maintenance: 10 percent, five years.
  • County-approved workshops: 5 percent annually, for workshops focused on water quality or reducing stormwater runoff.
  • Public participation: 5 percent, for activities such as stenciling storm drains, joining a stream cleanup, or passing an Adopt-a-Stream training course.
  • Rain barrels: 3 percent per downspout, for barrels that collect rooftop runoff.
  • Automatic sprinkler sensors: 10 percent for a one-year term, for sensors that stop irrigation during rain.

A septic household that pumps the tank, attends a workshop, and installs a rain sensor is at 25 percent without much effort.

What You Need Before You Apply

Gather these first, because a missing item is the most common reason an application stalls:

  1. A dated receipt or paid invoice from a licensed septic hauler showing the pumping was performed.
  2. The service address on that receipt matching the property claiming the credit.
  3. The property owner’s information as it appears on the tax bill.
  4. The completed Stormwater Credits Application Form from the Department of Water Resources.

The receipt is the piece that trips people up. A handwritten note, a text message from whoever did the work, or a card payment record with no detail won’t establish that a licensed hauler pumped a septic tank at your address on a specific date. Ask for a proper invoice at the time of service and file it somewhere you’ll find it later.

Why the Receipt Has to Come From a Licensed Hauler

The licensing requirement isn’t bureaucratic filler. Septic waste is regulated, and haulers have to dispose of what they pump at approved facilities. Georgia’s onsite sewage program is administered through the Georgia Department of Public Health’s environmental health section, working through county health departments, and licensed haulers operate inside that framework.

When the county accepts your receipt as proof, it’s relying on the fact that a licensed hauler is accountable for where that waste went. An unlicensed operator with a truck offers no such assurance, which is why that paperwork won’t earn a credit no matter how thoroughly the tank was emptied.

There’s a practical reason to care beyond the credit. Anyone willing to skip licensing is also the person most likely to skip pumping the tank completely, leave the filter alone, or damage a lid getting to it. It’s also worth understanding that pumping and cleaning are not the same service, and knowing which one you actually received helps when you’re documenting the work.

How Often You Need to Pump to Stay in the Cycle

The credit rewards a habit you should already have in place. The EPA advises that the average household septic system should be inspected at least every three years, and household septic tanks are typically pumped every three to five years. Four factors drive the interval: household size, total wastewater generated, the volume of solids in that wastewater, and the size of your tank.

That range is a starting point, not a rule. A family of six on a tank sized for three bedrooms will fill it far faster than a retired couple on the same tank. If you’re seeing slow drains, gurgling, or soft ground over the tank, the calendar is not the authority. The tank is telling you where it stands.

The EPA is blunt about what shortens that interval: your septic system is not a trash can. Grease, wipes marketed as flushable, coffee grounds, paper towels, and cat litter all add solids that your tank cannot break down, which means more frequent pumping and a shorter drain field life.

Mistakes That Get Credit Applications Rejected

A few patterns come up repeatedly:

  • Undated receipts. The county needs to know when the work happened.
  • A receipt in the wrong name or address. It has to tie to the property claiming the credit.
  • Waiting too long. Apply in the same cycle as the service rather than surfacing a receipt from three years ago.
  • Assuming it renews itself. The credit is available annually for up to five years, so treat it as something you confirm rather than something that runs on autopilot.
  • Claiming an inspection as a pumping. An inspection report is valuable, but the credit is tied to having the tank pumped.

If you’re unsure whether your paperwork qualifies, the Department of Water Resources takes questions about stormwater credits at 678.376.7193.

What This Adds Up To

The stormwater credit will not make anyone rich. What it does is remove one of the excuses homeowners use to put off pumping for another year, and that delay is where the real damage happens. A tank that goes eight years without service starts sending solids into the drain field, and a failed drain field is a different category of problem entirely. Understanding what pumping actually removes from the tank makes it clear why the interval matters so much.

Gwinnett County has essentially decided to pay residents a small amount to avoid that outcome. Take the receipt, fill out the form, and let the county lower your fee for work your system needed regardless.

References

FAQs

Does the credit apply if I rent out the property?

The stormwater utility fee is billed to the property through the tax bill, so the credit follows the property owner rather than the tenant. If you own a rental on septic and you pay to have the tank pumped, keep the invoice in your name and apply as the owner.

Will pumping my tank early to get the credit hurt anything?

Pumping somewhat ahead of schedule won’t damage the system, though it wastes money if the tank isn’t near capacity. A better approach is to have the sludge depth measured during a routine visit and let that dictate timing. The credit is worth claiming when you’re due, not worth forcing a service you don’t need.

What happens to my stormwater fee after the five years run out?

The septic maintenance credit is described as available for a five-year duration. Other credits, such as county-approved workshops and public participation activities, operate on their own terms and can continue contributing toward the 40 percent maximum. Contact the Department of Water Resources to confirm where your property stands before assuming a credit has lapsed.

Do cities inside Gwinnett handle this differently?

Some municipalities inside the county administer their own stormwater programs, which is part of why the county calls out unincorporated Gwinnett and Lilburn specifically for the workshop credit. If you live inside another city’s limits, confirm with that city whether your stormwater fee is county-billed before applying.

Is a septic inspection worth doing at the same time as pumping?

Yes, and it’s the most efficient moment to do it. Once the tank is empty, baffles, the outlet filter, and the tank walls are actually visible. Problems found at that stage are usually small repairs. The same problems found two years later, after solids have been migrating into the drain field, tend not to be.