Mount Prospect considering water, sewer, garbage hikes

Mount Prospect residents would see increases next year in their bills for water and sewer services, as well as garbage pickup, under a plan village trustees could approve later this month.

The village is proposing a 5 percent increase in water and sewer rates beginning in January.

If approved at the board's Dec. 20 meeting, it means the current combined rate of $6.69 per 1,000 gallons of use would jump to $7.02. Village Finance Director David Erb said a household using 15,000 gallons in a billing period would see a bimonthly charge of $115.30, about an average increase of $4.95.

Erb explained that since 1990 the village has followed the practice of approving moderate annual increases, as opposed to sporadic large increases, to avoid spikes in the rate and to allow residents to anticipate changes.

However, village officials voiced concerns this week about the potential for even bigger hikes for residents who receive Lake Michigan water from the city of Chicago.

The city plans to hike rates on suburban communities participating in the Joint Action Water Agency (JAWA) by 25 percent next year and 15 percent in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Erb noted that Mount Prospect pays about $3.5 million to JAWA, some of it debt service.

“If you take $3 million and double that by the end of the four years, you're talking a $6 million figure, which will be then about half of the total cost of the water and sewer fund budget,” he said.

Village Manager Michael Janonis said the village is exploring whatever options the village has to resist Chicago's action.

“This is an extraordinary rate increase,” Janonis said. “We have been pretty stable up until the last three years. We're hoping either to get clarification that there is justification for that high of an increase or get some assurances that going forward there will be some sanity in what we can anticipate in terms of future increases.”

In addition to water and sewer, Mount Prospect residents will see a $25 annual increase in the direct bill they receive for garbage pickup. The village contracts with a third party for waste collection, paying for it through both direct billing to residents and property taxes.

Erb said budgets in the refuse fund have been drawing down on reserves. The increase will balance the budget and prevent further drawdowns, he said.