Geneva seeks input on water, sewer bills

Geneva is seeking four residents to serve on a committee to study water and sewage costs.

The Water and Wastewater Rate Structure Task Force will recommend whether the existing billing rate structure should be changed.

Besides residents, three aldermen will sit on the committee.

To apply for the position, contact Mayor Kevin Burns at mayorburns@geneva.il.us or (630) 742-8916.

“The purpose of this task force is to provide an impartial review of the city’s water and wastewater operations, our ability to provide quality water and wastewater services to our homeowners and businesses and how best to meet the demands of regulations, supply and demand in the years to come,” Burns said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this year, the city council debated how to pay for water and sewer, including whether to raise customers’ rates when the water and sewer funds have money in reserve. Decreased consumption has cut revenue, but has not resulted in equivalent lower expenses, as some costs (such as labor and equipment) are the same no matter how much water is being pumped. Water and sewer is paid for by user fees rather than property taxes.

City council policy is to keep $1.5 million in reserve, enough to cover two months worth of expenses, including payments on the debt for the water treatment plant. Alderman Chuck Brown has suggested debt payments should not be included in the reserve, that the reserve should be lowered to $1 million, and that any rate changes should be based on the previous year’s cost and usage. Geneva is in the middle of a three-year rate-increase plan.

But Alderman Craig Maladra disagreed with that, noting the city is obligated to repay that debt even if a catastrophe were to happen and revenue dropped.