Carpentersville to hike water rates in January

A 7 percent water and sewer rate increase will hit Carpentersville water bills beginning in January after trustees approved a three-month delay in implementing the new rates.

The rate increases affect water and sewer used after Oct. 1.

The new rates will increase the cost of water consumption from $2.49 to $2.66 per 1,000 gallons used, while the sewer rate will go from $2.76 to $2.95 per 1,000 gallons used.

When trustees approved the rate hikes in September, some residents on the village's west side complained of unfair billing practices. At that time, rates affected water used from June 10 to Sept. 10, a peak water-usage period, residents said.

Since the board postponed the rate increase until the January billing cycle, residents and commercial users billed the higher rate in October will receive a credit on a future water bill.

The credits are expected to cost the village about $43,000, while the delay will amount to about $118,000 in unrealized revenue for the village, Finance Director Lisa Happ has said.

Board members said the village needs to implement the rate hike as soon as possible to adequately cover the operating costs of the village's water department.

"To avoid future operating losses, that's the reason why we are passing the rate increases," Trustee Paul Humpfer said. "We don't take enough in now to cover the operating costs of the water department."

Humpfer, who also serves as the village's audit and finance commission chairman, said the village's financial statements indicated a $500,000 operating loss as well as a loss of about $150,000 in nonoperating expenses.