Prospect Heights sewer bills may quadruple under proposal
Sewer rates for many Prospect Heights residents could double, triple or possibly quadruple under proposals presented at a town-hall meeting Wednesday night.
City officials and Municipal Financial Services, a Maryland-based consulting firmed hired to study the sewer system, presented three options intended to create unified rates and complete improvements on the city's aging sewage system. The potential cost increases come as the city takes over a defunct sanitary district while upgrading a deteriorating system built about 60 years ago.
In 2015, state lawmakers passed a law dissolving the Old Town Sanitary District, which served a majority of city residents and businesses. Rates charged under the sanitary district did not factor in expenses such as capital improvements and ongoing maintenance.
Most residents have been paying $6.50 per month. The proposals would increase monthly bills to either $15.75, $20 or $27.50 in the first year of the plan. Fees would continue increasing over 10 years until monthly rates reached $29.50, $26.50 or $32, respectively.
"We're trying to cushion this as much as we can," 3rd Ward Alderman Scott Williamson said. "Nobody wants to triple the rate, but over the past 10 or 15 years we've been paying under the rate."
Each proposal would pay for televising sewage pipes - to determine problem areas of the roughly 44-mile system - and varying amounts of capital project improvements.
Meanwhile, rates would generally decrease for residents in the Prospect Heights, Wolf Mandel, Country Gardens and Pinecrest special service areas.
The special service areas have charged sewer rates based on property values.
Residents in these areas have been paying roughly $300 a year, or about $25 monthly, city officials estimated.