Des Plaines sanctions cost-sharing for drainage program
The Des Plaines city council this week approved the first reading of an ordinance to establish a 75 percent/25 percent cost-sharing with residents for the rear-yard drainage program.
Residents would have to pay 25 percent of the project cost, which depending on the extent of pipe installation and pre-existing infrastructure conditions in a neighborhood, could run anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000. The cost range is due to certain areas not having adequate drainage infrastructure to begin with.
Barrington, Bartlett, Mount Prospect and Northbrook have similar programs to address backyard flooding that often damages detached garages, sheds, foundations and basements of homes.
In Des Plaines, each rear-yard drainage project would typically benefit four or more property owners, working out to an average cost of between $5,000 and $25,000 per site split among the residents.
The program has a backlog of 104 requests waiting for improvements since its inception in 2003 - 65 fall under the $20,000 category, 21 are in the $50,000 range, and 18 would cost $100,000 per project. To fulfill all 104 requests, it would cost the city more than $4.1 million, officials said.
"The people that appear on that list only make the cut if they meet criteria, if property and structures on that property are in the damage zone," 3rd Ward Alderman Matt Bogusz said. "The program is about peoples' garages, peoples' homes being affected by flooding and not a cosmetic issue of just retention in the backyard."
Affected residents may be able to pay the cost upfront or through the establishment of a special service area that will be an additional line item on their property tax bills. An SSA can last 10 to 15 years with a 4.5 percent annual interest rate - what it would cost the city to borrow money to complete the projects.
A single property owner liable for $5,000 of the cost of a rear-yard drainage pipe would pay roughly $631 yearly, and less if more property owners shared the cost.
Some aldermen had reservations about the program benefiting only those who can afford it.
"We have many senior citizens on fixed income in our community ... they are left out of the program totally, which I don't see it as being fair," 4th Ward Alderwoman Jean Higgason said. "I just don't think that this is a program that should be available to people who have money."
Higgason said she also doesn't like the idea of forcing a property owner who cannot afford the improvement to pay because neighbors want it.
"If you don't have the ability to pay, too bad, you're stuck," she said.
Tim Oakley, the city's director of public works and engineering, said the city could research available grant funding to help out homeowners in need.
Bogusz said even if one of four affected property owners can't pay, the city could negotiate with the others to split the cost three ways.
"I don't think we want to put neighbors in a contentious situation between themselves," Bogusz said. "The staff will work closely with neighborhoods to make sure that that's not a big worry."
Officials assured residents won't be surprised with a bill.
The city would have to go through a public hearing and give adequate notice to residents who may be included in an SSA before it can create one by ordinance. If more than 50 percent of residents in a proposed SSA object to its establishment, it cannot be created.
The city's rear-yard drainage program, started in 2003 as part of the stormwater master plan, was projected to end with the 2009 calendar year due to budget cuts. It was extended for three years after residents packed ward meetings last year complaining about neighborhood flooding.
Since 2003, Des Plaines has spent $2.1 million to alleviate backyard flooding covering 100 percent of the cost. The city has pledged $300,000 annually until the program sunsets in 2013.