The Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) has passed an ordinance directing the Cook County Clerk to reduce the tax levy for 2012 by $19.7 million. 

The MWRD is a government agency responsible for treating wastewater and providing stormwater management. The agency was created in 1889 to protect the source of the county's drinking water, Lake Michigan. 

"Cook County residents deserve to have their hard earned dollars protected and managed properly," said MWRD Chairman of Finance Mariyana T. Spyropoulos. "The MWRD Board and staff work tirelessly to find efficiencies that will result in cost savings for taxpayers." 

The MWRD is funded primarily through property taxes, which are restricted under a tax cap imposed by the Illinois General Assembly. The MWRD also recovers costs of treating wastewater through a user charge imposed on certain non-residential users of the MWRD's system. Since 1985, the MWRD has returned nearly $394.7 million to taxpayers and has maintained its AAA bond ratings from Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's since 2006. 

Additional information about the MWRD can be found at www.mwrd.org. 

Our water environment...Take it personally! 

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