Waukegan residents will see their water and sewer bills climb each of the next five years as the city switches to monthly billing and begins planning for expensive improvements to its water plant, city officials said.
The Waukegan City Council unanimously approved an overhaul to the city’s water and sewer code at its meeting Tuesday evening.
The changes include a series of increases, kicked off in May with a 6 percent increase and followed each year by smaller increase — 5 percent in 2019, 4 percent in 2020, 3 percent in 2021 and 2 percent in 2022, according to council records.
That would mean the average resident would see their annual water payments increase from $303 to $321.18 next year, according to council documents. The city based its “average customer” on total fiscal year 2016-17 residential sales into the total number of residential customers, Smigielski said.
Tuesday’s City Council meeting was marked by no discussion, but the vote was the culmination of several committee meetings on the topic.
The goal is to stabilize revenue to ensure healthy cash flow and fund needed improvements, Finance Director Tina Smigielski.
Preliminary forecasts predict that the increases would fund an estimated $50 million in capital improvements between fiscal years 2018-19 and 2022-23, while keeping cash reserves around 33 percent of operating costs, Smigielski said in an email.
A report compiled by HR Green as the result of an anonymous letter that laid out a series of allegations and concerns about the sustainability and safety of the water plant found that while the city’s water is safe to drink, the 90-year-old water treatment plant needs improvement.
The city expects to receive this week the final results of three assessments, one of which also addresses some of the city’s water and sewer infrastructure said, Tom Maillard, a special projects analyst in the mayor’s office.
A special Committee of the Whole meeting for the council on the assessments is currently in the works for 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, he said.
From there, city staff will begin working with various departments to build long-term plans to address the city’s various needs, including the water plant, Mayor Sam Cunningham said.
He said his ultimate goal is maximize the water plant’s capacity and make other improvements that will ultimately allow it to sell water to more communities.
The city will begin looking at financing options once city staff identifies next steps and puts together their plans, Cunningham said.
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