Elmhurst Utility Rate Increases in the Pipeline

Water and sewer rates will increase 8 percent as of July 1, now that Elmhurst City Council has unanimously approved a committee report calling for the hikes.

“This boils down to keeping water and sewer as subsidized city funds or user funds,” 4th Ward Alderman Stephen Hipskind said Monday. Hipskind is chairman of the Finance, Council Affairs and Administrative Services Committee, which recommended the rate hikes.

Water rates will go from $4.95 to $5.35 per thousand gallons for residents, and sewer rates will go from $4.55 to $4.91 per thousand gallons. The committee's report projects that the combined rate increase on a four-person home that uses 12,000 gallons of water per month would be $9.12 per month.

According to 4th Ward Alderman KevinYork, city staff project a 45 percent increase over five years in the cost of buying water from the DuPage Water Commission. This is following a 66 percent increase from the commission since 2008.

“Unfortunately, there is no alternative,” York said.

The DuPage Commission sets its rates based on what the City of Chicago charges to extract the water from Lake Michigan. 

“We're third in line in setting the rate,” 5th Ward Alderman Scott Levin said.  

The Water Commission also has been the focus of intense scrutiny after it was discovered the body misspent $69 million in reserves. Since he was elected, DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin has vowed to clean up the commission and restore the public's confidence in it.

"There was financial mismanagement on the part of the Water Commission," Hipskind said.

Third Ward Alderman Michael Bram said he believed the increases were necessary. He asked if any of the increased revenues could be used to fund work that is likely to be proposed by the .

“I would love to tell you, yes it (can)," but the answer is no, Hipskind said.

First Ward Alderman Diane Gutenkauf asked if rate increases could be postponed to correspond to future hikes from the DuPage Water Commission, which is projecting 10 percent increases in each of the next five years for municipalities.

But, Hipskind said he would rather impose slight increases on residents each year.

Seventh Ward Alderman Mark Mulliner noted that the city has already been paying 10 percent more for water since the beginning of June.

Continuing with projections, Mulliner cited a staff report that predicted 8 percent increases in water rates for residents for each of the next five years, but he added that these numbers could change. Last year, residents saw a 15 percent increase in water rates.

Finance Committee members also noted that the DuPage Water Commission will lose access to a .25-percent sales tax beginning in 2016, which will further cut into its revenues. The sales tax sunset was part of legislation sponsored by Cronin when he was a state senator. City Manager Tom Borchert confirmed that the city received at least $1 million each year from this sales tax.

While the rate increases are unwelcome, Levin pointed out they may act as an incentive for residents to conserve water.