St. Charles asks lawmakers to cut them slack on lead pipe replacement mandate
With the city’s utility rates poised to spike dramatically in the coming years, St. Charles is turning to state and federal lawmakers to try to ease the burden on residents.
The increased bills are to cover $417 million in sewer and water infrastructure upgrades, including $84 million to replace lead pipes over the next decade.
However, city officials are frustrated with the unfunded state mandate.
Taking aim at the unfunded lead pipe mandate, Mayor Clint Hull sought and received approval from the city council to send a formal letter to state and federal legislators.
The city must replace lead service line connections for around 3,033 water customers. Drinking water from lead pipes has been shown to cause child development issues, neurological damage, kidney damage and reproductive issues, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the letter, Hull asked lawmakers to consider extending the time frame to remove the lead pipes and to provide St. Charles additional grant funding or zero-interest loan options to “reduce the impact on local residents and utility ratepayers.”
During an April 27 committee of the whole meeting, Hull said it was unfair that a mandate to replace lead pipes had been reduced to just a decade. The city initially planned to spread costs over thirty years, but in 2024, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency changed the requirement to only 10 years.
“We have been faced with this unfunded mandate, ultimately throwing this in our laps,” Hull said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to try to make sure that we try to reduce the impact on our city, and part of that is advocating with our legislators both federally and on the state side.”
He said the city is by no means “mitigating the harm that lead pipes do,” but stressed the urgency in opening up alternative funding options.
“We’ve applied for low-interest loans; we’ve been shut out of that process,” said Hull, adding that state and federal legislators need to create more funding mechanisms so that towns like St. Charles can qualify.
The letter indicates the city will comply with all regulations. The $84 million cost is being divided into annual phases of work, each running $8.4 million. The work begins this year.
Approval for the bid containing the first year of construction was tabled until May 4 as city staff gathers information to provide to affected residents and businesses.
The city was originally getting ready to move forward with a $7.65 million contract with Swallow Construction, from West Chicago, to replace lead service lines in high-priority areas across town.
According to city staff, the proposed replacement costs for individual homes will be based on the site conditions at the residence. Generally, each individual service line replacement will cost $21,000 to $25,000.
Even without the lead pipe replacement program, the city is facing $333 million in costs to upgrade “aging water infrastructure.” Of the city’s 289 miles of water mains, more than 80 miles are 75 to 100 years old, officials say.
Electricity, sewer and water costs are combined into one monthly bill for St. Charles ratepayers.
If your current monthly utility bill is $200, by 2029 it will be $298.31, according to the city. That includes a 17.3% spike in monthly bills starting this June, a 14.7% jump in 2027, a 6.4% increase in 2028 and a 4.1% increase in June 2029.