DuPage residents fight against Lake Michigan water

Hundreds of DuPage County residents could be forced to pay thousands of dollars for a service they neither want nor asked for.

Only a few hours remain for residents living in an unincorporated area of the county near Lombard to object to a plan to bring them Lake Michigan water. The objection period ends Saturday.

Because of a quirky state law, property owners favoring the proposal have to do nothing while opponents are responsible for organizing efforts to stop the proposal. The opposition not only has to come from at least 51 percent of the more than 400 property owners to stop the project, but also a majority of the 600-plus registered voters who may or may not still live in the area. Opponents must fill out a special form available only at the county clerk's office.

"It's absurd that we're the ones who have to jump through these hoops," said homeowner David Jackson. "The county says they aren't forcing this on anyone, but they're forcing us to fight it."

Those residents say DuPage Election Commission records indicate a woman named Mildred M. Woods born in 1900 is still a registered voter in the area. If opposing residents are unable to locate the supposed 110-year-old, Woods' lack of an opposing vote would count as one favoring the proposal, according to the state law.

County board members who represent voters living in the impacted area said they are waiting for the objection period to end this week before making any judgments about the project's future.

"I think you have to look at the totality of this thing," said board member Jeff Redick. "You have to look past just what the raw numbers are and analyze what they mean and when I do that I will share my findings with my fellow board members and I'd like to think that carries some weight."

Properties in three unincorporated neighborhoods generally bounded by Roosevelt Road to the north, 22nd Street to the south, 3rd Street to the east and Fairfield Avenue to the west are subject to becoming part of this special taxing area. Property owners could see an increase in their tax bills totaling several hundred dollars more than they are currently paying to cover the cost of the $13.5 million project. Their tax bills would remain at the increased level for 20 years. The rate increase determined by the county would result in about $1,220 additionally each year for the owner of a $300,000 house.

"There are elderly residents on fixed incomes who can't afford this kind of increase," complained homeowner Linda Leonard. "They'd lose their homes if their taxes are increased this much."

Taxpaying property owners would also be covering the infrastructure costs for several tax-exempt parcels in the area, which includes two churches, several park district properties, a fire station, York Township properties and some county land as well. County officials said there are 16 tax-exempt properties in the proposed district.

"That's the way the law is written," said Nick Kottmeyer, the county's superintendent of public works. "Every single special service area we've done has included tax-exempt properties."

County board member Pat O'Shea said the large number of tax-exempt properties that would benefit from the financial support of the residential properties within the proposed district does give him pause about the fairness of the whole deal.

"It really does because if you had just one or two properties it might not be such a significant point," O'Shea said. "But this is an extraordinary number of tax-exempt properties, and maybe those property owners should be willing to pay something."

Kottmeyer said no taxable properties were added to the proposed district in an effort to get water service to tax-exempt properties.

The issue has been controversial for months, when a survey was sent out to the area gauging interest in Lake Michigan water service. The initial results of the survey indicated less than half of the residents were interested and the opposing residents complain that the original survey never mentioned anything about cost. Residents opposed to the plan were further aggravated when more than 200 properties were removed from the initial survey results and new figures were issued that showed a majority in favor of Lake Michigan water. They accused the county of rigging the survey data to get the results they wanted to continue the project. That's a charge the county denies.

Kottmeyer said the project's cost was increased by removing the 200-plus properties from the proposed district. However, opponents complain that just means the cost to the remaining property owners actually increased.

"This is going to increase my tax bill by 25 percent," said resident Bill Poole. "That's not crazy, that's insane. Especially since it's not going to increase the value of my property."

Kottmeyer contends there are a number of cost savings available to residents if the conversion to Lake Michigan water from underground wells is made. He said residents will see savings in their electricity bills and insurance costs. Kottmeyer also suggested property owners talk with accountants about tax deductions they may be eligible for because of the infrastructure work.

If results from the objection period don't show a majority of owners and voters opposed to the plan, the county board will vote on whether to proceed. A date for such a potential vote has not been set.