Committee Recommends Cutting the Original 9 Percent Sewer Rate Hike Proposal in Half

By turning over "a few more stones,” members of Elmhurst's Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee on Monday discovered a way to potentially avoid a hefty 9 percent sewer rate increase for residents.

Aldermen want to cut that increase in half, proposing a 4.5 percent sewer rate increase for the remainder of the year.

At the  city finance staff and Gary Smith, manager of the wastewater treatment plant, extended the sewer fund spreadsheet over the next decade to see if projected improvements to the sanitary system could be paid for by both present and future users.

In March, the committee suggested a 9 percent increase in sewer rates to finance a range of upcoming 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. The project aims to curb flooding issues in the southwest part of the city. Also on the to-do list are upgrades to aerators and blowers, and anything sewer related, York said last month.

But after hearing complaints from some residents who said 9 percent is too great of an increase, York said he asked staff for ideas on how to ease the burden on current users and spread costs of these projects to residents who will benefit later.

When various parts of the upgrades were scrutinized, staff found that some of the money could come from other revenue sources. A possible land purchase for the wastewater plant, for example, could actually be financed from general fund money.

“We've been as thorough as we could with the knowledge we have,” Smith said.

Also, the original plan was for the system to have relatively little debt, which meant current users were shouldering the full cost of upgrades. The increase to users today could be lowered to 4.5 percent by taking on $7.5 million in debt over the next 10 years. York told the committee he wanted to look at a policy for financing projects that involve making large-scale improvements to the sewer system.

Because the city is moving to a calendar-year fiscal year at the end of 2013, the committee will revisit sewer rates at the end of the year. Finance Director Marilyn Gaston said by then the city will also have completed a comprehensive sewer rate study.

The proposed 4.5 percent increase proposal now goes before the full City Council.