Elk Grove Village might raise water rates
Elk Grove Village residents may soon be paying more for water service if the village board decides to increase rates to cover Chicago’s 25 percent water rate hike implemented this year, officials said.
Chicago also calls plans a 15 percent increase in each of the following three years.
“No one can absorb it all,” Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson said. “It’s cost prohibitive. We’re like every other town. We can’t absorb it. We’re going to be looking at some water rate increases, no question about it. We want to soften the blow as much as possible.”
Neighboring suburbs, such as Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, and Schaumburg already have increased their rates, passing on Chicago’s rate hike to residents, while many other towns are considering rate increases.
Elk Grove Village’s current water rate is $5.50 per 1,000 gallons. The village’s combined water and sewer rate is $7.25 per 1,000 gallons.
The average consumer uses between 4,000 gallons and 5,000 gallons of water a month, Village Manager Raymond Rummel said.
“The last time the village board voted for a water rate increase was four years ago and that was associated with the water rate increase implemented by the city of Chicago,” Rummel said.
Chicago raised its water rate by 14 percent in 2010, and 15 percent in each of the previous two years.
Like many other suburbs, Elk Grove is locked into a 10-year water agreement with Chicago, which expires in 2023, Johnson said.
The discussion about raising rates will happen at a future board meeting.
Elk Grove also may choose to investigate getting water from sources other than Chicago. The North Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, which purchases water from Chicago for the area, is studying its options.
Des Plaines, which raised its own water/sewer rates by roughly 21 percent retroactive to Jan. 1, also is independently exploring the possibility of purchasing Lake Michigan water either through the villages of Wilmette and Glenview, or the city of Evanston for its 57,000 residents.
Schaumburg’s combined water and sewer rates will increase roughly 16 percent to $6.36 per 1,000 gallons starting May 1, while Mount Prospect’s water and sewer rates will go up by 9.5 percent then.