Glen Ellyn likely to keep 2016 water, sewer rates flat, but increases could be ahead

Water and sewer rates will remain unchanged next year in Glen Ellyn, but could rise in the not-too-distant future to help pay for a nearly $40 million, decadelong infrastructure plan.

Towns in the DuPage Water Commission, the agency that buys Lake Michigan water from Chicago, will take stock of their rates annually after the city locked in double-digit hikes for the past three years. Starting in June 2016, Chicago pledges to increase rates by the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is less.

In Glen Ellyn, residents will still pay a total of $16.86 per 1,000 gallons on their 2016 water and sewer bills under a measure the village board is expected to approve Monday.

"We just wanted to be very mindful to the costs that the residents have been paying," Finance Director Christina Coyle said. "They have seen large increases over the past three years due to the increases that we have seen from the city of Chicago and the DuPage Water Commission."

But the village's financial officials have recommended 1.5 percent annual increases the next four years through 2020, an outlook that depends on how much the village spends on infrastructure projects.

"That would certainly be what we need to maintain the financial stability of the fund," Coyle said.

The board a few years ago adopted a policy to keep about $2 million in reserves in the water and sewer fund and let that pot grow every year by inflation. With no rate increases next year, forecasts show the fund would have $5.68 million in reserves at the end of 2016, or $3.49 million above the board policy.

Even if the board passed 1.5 percent annual water and sewer rate increases the next four years, reserves could fall to roughly $1.35 million by the end of 2020, or $1.1 million below the board's policy. The village, however, would adjust its capital spending rather than dip below the threshold, Coyle said. That model, for instance, has the village undertaking a major project to replace water meters in 2020.

The water and sewer fund covers the cost to buy water, treat wastewater and maintain water and sewer infrastructure.

Earlier this year, the village's engineers identified $39.9 million in infrastructure projects that would be completed over the next decade. The lengthy list would include roadwork and fixes to water mains and sewer lines, Coyle said.

Through the board will only be voting on 2016 rates Monday, the finance commission wants to avoid volatile spikes in the years ahead, Trustee Timothy O'Shea said.

Trustees reviewed several other scenarios. Two called for a 1 percent and 2 percent rate decrease next year, respectively, but then gradual increases. By 2020, residents would pay more than $18 per 1,000 gallons, representing a 3 percent increase from the year before.

"We felt that keeping the rates as is and then looking at this next year to see where we are as the capital projects are worked on to determine what the increases will be over the next one to four years would be the right way to go," O'Shea said.