Politics & Government
Water Bills to Increase 25 Percent Next Year
As the cost of water in the City of Chicago rises, so will Evergreen Park's.
Evergreen Park residents may want to curb their water usage.
Starting Jan. 1 it will cost 25 percent more to fill up that glass when the city of Chicago increases its rates. Because Evergreen Park receives its water from the city, the rates are rising here as well.
“(Chicago) is claiming that they need to do infrastructure improvements. That’s the reason for these huge increases in the water,” said Mayor James Sexton. “Water is starting to become like gold or like oil.”
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Residents currently pay $5.60 per 1000 gallons of water used. After the first of the year, the rate will jump to $7.00 per 1000 gallons of water.
Sewer usage rose to $1.70 per 1000 gallons of water.
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“Those type of increases over the past years has made water a commodity,” Sexton said.
A few years ago, water bills went up 50 percent. “They are now proposing to take it up another 70 percent in the next four years,” he said.
Trustees unanimously voted to pass Ordinance 19-2011 increasing the water rates and Ordinance 20-2011 increasing the sewer rates at . Sexton emphasized that it was a Chicago mandate.
“We wouldn’t raise the rates if the city wasn’t raising them,” said William Lorenz, head of the village’s .
