DuPage candidates strongly differ on stormwater fee

A state law that gave DuPage County the ability to impose a stormwater utility fee continues to divide county board candidates.

District 4 county board incumbent Grant Eckhoff says he would support adopting the fee as a way to pay for flood relief projects throughout DuPage. But Jeremy Custer, Eckhoff's challenger in the Nov. 4 election, is opposed to the fee.

"We should not have this, period," Custer said last week during a candidate forum in Wheaton.

The Glendale Heights Democrat added that state lawmakers never should have given DuPage the power to charge the stormwater utility fee.

"The way that this was passed was completely wrong down in Springfield," said Custer, adding the county board used "six-figure lobbyists" to push for the state law and "shove it down DuPage County's throat."

County officials have said infrastructure improvements are needed. Right now, money for those projects comes from property taxes.

If DuPage adopts the stormwater fee sometime in the future, it would charge property owners based on use. Those who have more stormwater leaving their land would pay a higher fee. Anyone with land producing less runoff would pay a lower fee.

Enacting a fee would make it possible to have charges for stormwater projects removed from the property tax bill.

However, opponents say the fee would have an impact on churches and other tax-exempt entities that would be required to pay it.

During the candidate forum, Eckhoff said he doesn't believe churches should be excluded from paying the stormwater utility fee.

"It's a user fee," the Wheaton Republican said. "Churches pay an electric bill. Churches pay a gas bill. And I think the people who use the system the most should pay the most for it."

Property owners who have more stormwater leaving their land should pay a higher fee than others, Eckhoff added.

"If you're at Yorktown or Oak Brook (malls) where there's a lot if impervious ground, those people will pay more of a tax than if you've got a horse farm out in Winfield," he said.

Still, Custer argues DuPage should find other ways to pay for projects that mitigate flooding.

"We should push for grants from federal and state government, allow local municipalities to create their own funding mechanisms, and have the county bond out for specific projects," Custer said. "The county should have to show where the projects are needed and fund them on a case-by-case basis and not fund them with a blank check that would be the stormwater fee."

If DuPage needs a large amount of money for infrastructure projects, Custer said it should seek a ballot question asking voters for a property tax increase.

"The residents should have a say," he said.

Eckhoff said he doesn't want to increase property taxes to pay for stormwater projects. He also said county board members shouldn't need to "take a poll" to determine what their constituents want.

"You run for office because you know people in your district," he said. "You're supposed to know what people in your district think."

Whoever wins the race between Eckhoff and Custer will serve a term representing county board District 4, which includes all or parts of Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Lisle, Lombard, Wheaton and Winfield.