Naperville to raise water rates

Water rates in Naperville are on the rise.

The average homeowner will see an increase on their water bill of $3.20 a month over last year - $1.20 more than originally planned.

Naperville city councilmen approved the additional increase Tuesday in response to the DuPage Water Commission raising rates more than anticipated.

"It's not under our control to decide what the water commission is going to charge us and in turn what the city of Chicago is going to charge the DuPage Water Commission," Councilman Bob Fieseler said.

Councilmen approved the increase with an 8-0 vote. Councilman Grant Wehrli was absent from that portion of the meeting.

Naperville residents will now pay $3.17 per 1,000 gallons compared to $2.77 last year.

The city had originally planned to increase the rate to $3.02 to keep up with the commission's planned rate hikes.

Of the 25 communities in the DuPage Water Commission, Naperville has the lowest rates. City staff said in a memo to councilmen other communities are likely to raise rates in the near future too in order to absorb the increases from the commission and from Chicago.

Councilman Richard Furstenau, who now represents Naperville on the commission, said he believes cash-strapped DuPage group will have to raise rates even higher in the near future.

"We're going to have to raise our water rates right along with them because we don't have the money to subsidize this stuff," he said.