Sewer shocker for Libertyville

A decades-long sewer agreement between Libertyville and Lake County is being reworked with increased charges that could trickle down to residents.

"It will probably necessitate some kind of increase. How much and when that would go into effect is to be determined," said Village Administrator Kevin Bowens.

The final details are being settled for an agreement that originally was executed in 1977 and expired in 2007. The amount both governments pay each other will dramatically increase but Libertyville will bear the brunt, paying about $270,000 more than it receives from the county, according to the proposed agreement.

"We had a significant adjustment to our sewer rates about two years ago," said Peter Kolb, the county's public works director. "This adjustment is pretty much in line with what everybody else had two years ago. It's just taken us longer to get to this point."

Libertyville runs the regional sewer treatment plant and charges Lake County for the service. Lake County owns the pipe that delivers the material to be treated and charges its own fee.

"We're the transporter," Kolb said. "They have the plant, but we have the large pipe that runs adjacent to the Des Plaines River."

The county charge to Libertyville is now less than 2 cents per 1,000 gallons and will rise to $1.08. Libertyville would pay about $597,000 per year for transport, up from $48,000, based on the amount of wastewater being sent through the pipe.

As proposed, the county would pay the village about $327,000 a year for treatment, up from $150,000 annually.

The village currently receives about $102,000 more from the county than it pays. The pending change recently was discussed by the village board's water and sewer committee.

"This is something that's been around for a long, long time and now the bill is coming due for capital improvement," village Trustee Rich Moras said. "Like county roads go through town, this is the county sewer that serves our village."

A portion of the increased charges will be used to improve county facilities, including eventually relining the interceptor pipe, Kolb said.