Politics & Government

Update: Residents Will See 2012 Water Rate Increase

Monthly bills for sewer and water usage will likely increase by 9.5 percent each year until 2015, according to recent projections.

Starting Jan. 1, residents will see a 9.5 percent hike in their monthly usage rate for water and sewer. Village of Glen Ellyn Trustees finalized the increase at Monday's village board meeting. 

Previous report:

At a Dec. 6 special village board meeting, trustees agreed to the increase and will vote to finalize the 2012 increase for water and sewer at the next meeting. Although the vote is just for an increase in 2012, a continually increasing rate is needed for the next four years, according to Village staff projections.  

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The rate increase comes after the City of Chicago's increase, which caused the DuPage Water Commission to raise rates drastically for its own users, which includes Glen Ellyn. 

Trustees agreed to a plan because they believe it would maintain water fund cash reserves at a comfortable level in case of an emergency, while increasing the yearly rate to a level that would likely satisfy increasing water bills in the future. 

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This means an average household, which typically uses 6,000 gallons of water per month, can expect a monthly bill of $77.06 starting Jan. 1, 2012. For 2012, that's an increase of about $7 per month. By 2015, that same household will pay about $101.18 per month, or approximately $1,214.16 per year on water and sewer. 

All Village Trustees agreed to the increase but Trustee Diane McGinley fears it will put more strain on the average resident. "Everything adds up and it's not just the village," said McGinley. "I think we need to be very careful in this budget year that we're not just passing along things," said McGinley. 

Trustees will vote on the 9.5 percent rate increase for 2012 at the next village board meeting. 


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