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Politics & Government

Cash Drain: Upgrades to Elmhurst's Wastewater System Means Sewer Rate Increase

Alderman calls the proposed 9 percent hike "a healthy rate increase."

The Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee on Monday recommended a 9 percent increase in sewer rates beginning in May.

“It's a healthy rate increase,” said 4th Ward Alderman Kevin York. “We need to make sure everyone understands it's because we have an aging system.”

The proposed increase will mean that a four-person household in Elmhurst will pay $66 more per year to flush the toilet.

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The rates are the result of the need to replace various parts of a 20-year-old system, staff reported. Assistant City Manager Mike Kopp told the committee that following flooding in 1987, the wastewater treatment plant was completely rebuilt all at once.

Aldermen studied the spreadsheets, noting that for the 2012-13 fiscal year, the city expects to be about $266,000 short to pay for operating expenses and upgrades. Although fees are expected to generate about $7 million in revenues, operating costs alone are projected at $7.1 million. Then, the city must add in the larger capital upgrades to equipment.

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The city refinanced some debt last year to draw about $3 million for anticipated projects, including a plan to pump water from the Saylor and Jackson streets lift station to the wastewater treatment plant on Route 83 for storage, aimed at curbing flooding issues in the southwest part of the city. Also on the to-do list are upgrades to aerators and blowers.

The proposed projects are draining money from the sewer fund's cash balances, leaving it vulnerable in case of emergencies. User rates are the sewer fund's only source of revenue.

Finance Director Marilyn Gaston said the increase, if approved by the whole council, will take effect before May 1. Since the city is moving to a calendar-year budget and is dealing with an eight-month budget for the remainder of 2013, Gaston said the committee will have to return to this issue in the fall to set rates again for 2014.

In the interim, Gaston said that the city will be studying the sewer rate system in place. This type of study has not been done for a decade, she said.

Staff told aldermen that looking to other suburbs for guidance in setting rates is not especially helpful. Every town seems to not only have unique circumstances, including the age of each system, but also may figure rates differently or add surcharges.

Gary Smith, manager of the wastewater plant, told the committee that Elmhurst bases its rates on population, which means that the system is for the most part built out and will not need more capacity in the coming years.

However, Smith noted that the machinery that cleans the water is relying more and more on electronics, which become obsolete quicker than the materials that surround them. In fact, he has had to look on eBay for parts that are no longer supplied by manufacturers.

But, he added, the coming upgrades will allow the city to save money on energy usage. For example, a new digester, to be installed this spring, will produce more methane that can be used for electricity, ideally freeing the plant somewhat from dependence on the electricity grid.

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