Prospect Heights to vote on plan tripling sewer bills
Sewer bills for Prospect Heights residents could triple this month after the city council votes on a rate hike.
Aldermen are set to vote Monday to increase monthly sewer rates for many residents as part of a plan intended to shore up the aging sanitary system.
In 2015, state lawmakers passed a bill dissolving the Old Town Sanitary District, and the city absorbed the sewer system, which served a majority of residents and businesses.
The sanitary district had been charging an artificially low rate, city officials say, because it had not completed infrastructure improvements or built up reserve funds. While residents have continued paying the same rates, the city has been maintaining the system at a loss.
Under the proposal, rates for homeowners would increase to $20 per month from $6.50. Businesses would pay $24.50 per month. If passed Monday and on a second vote July 24, residents' upcoming quarterly sewer bill for the months of April, May and June would reflect the new rates, officials said.
Revenue from sewer bills can be used only to operate and maintain the system, officials said.
Rates would likely decrease for residents of the Prospect Heights, Wolf Mandel, Country Gardens and Pinecrest special service areas, because those homes would be consolidated into the system. Those residents pay about $25 monthly.
To determine the proposed rates, the city hired Maryland-based firm Municipal Financial Services to study the sewer system. Consultants provided options to either double, triple or quadruple rates, with varying schedules of improvements to the system.
City officials have warned the aging 44-mile sewer system, built about 60 years ago, needs to be studied using underground cameras to spot trouble areas in danger of collapsing. Several lines have collapsed recently, and repairing broken pipes is more expensive than rehabilitating them proactively, officials said.
A month ago, Mayor Nick Helmer made a last-ditch effort to sell the sewer system to Illinois American Water Co. for $7 million. The company would have operated the system and set rates. But he failed to gain broad support from aldermen, who argued the company would charge higher rates than the city.
The meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday at Prospect Heights city hall, 8 N. Elmhurst Road.