Arlington Heights raising water rates 5% a year for 5 years

Arlington Heights water and sewer rates will increase by 5 percent each year for the next five years, the village board decided Monday at a committee of the whole meeting. This would mean an increase of $32 for the average homeowner the first year and a total of $173 more per year by the fifth year.

Without the increase, which takes effect beginning May 2010, the Water and Sewer Fund's working cash balance will decrease to a negative position by 2014, according to a report by Thomas F. Kuehne, village finance director.

Increases are expected in costs of water, operating costs and capital improvements and maintenance, according to a staff report.

In 2007, staff recommended a 4.25 percent annual increase for five years, and the board decided to implement it for two years then review it.

Before that, rates had not increased for 10 years. This was after a four-year period when rates went up 7 percent annually even though a consultant had recommended an increase of 10 percent.

One problem has been that revenue is down considerably because less water is sold in wet years such as 2008 and 2009.

The four members of the Northwest Water Commission - Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Palatine and Wheeling - are talking about extending their pipeline so they can obtain water directly from Lake Michigan water instead of getting it from Evanston, said Thomas Glasgow, a new village trustee who had served as a member of the commission. The fear is that Evanston will raise rates considerably at some point in the future, he said.