Oak Park trustees on Monday voted a 13 percent water/sewer rate increase and a higher monthly customer charge to help maintain the infrastructure and to offset increasing costs to purchase water from Chicago.
Residents and commercial customers will pay $10.76 per 1,000 gallons of water, according to documents. In addition, the charge for most residential properties will increase from $2 to $5 per month. Businesses that have larger water meters, such as Rush Oak Park Hospital and the West Suburban Medical Center, could pay up to $15 per month.
Peter Barber was the lone trustee to vote against the increase.
“We are still seeing what I see as a significant (fee) increase to the homeowner,” he said.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said staff decided to modify the rates after listening to comments from trustees during the first reading of the ordinance earlier this month. The earlier proposal called for increasing water usage rates by 9.2 percent to $10.40 per 1,000 gallons. The customer charge would vary between $5 to $460 per month. The largest water customers, the two hospitals, would have been required to pay the $460 fee.
Pavlicek said the village still will recoup larger amounts from the hospitals and some businesses because the per-gallon fee is now higher. “This is intended to be more consumption driven,” Pavlicek said. “It will give the consumer greater control to conserve water and to be more efficient.”
The proposed increases would generate an additional $2.4 million in fiscal year 2015, according to a staff memo.
According to a study presented to the board’s Finance Committee last month, the proposed rate increases would help maintain a positive cash balance in the water and sewer fund and eventually meet the goal of having a 20 percent fund balance.
Trustees also approved a 2.5 percent increase for parking permits. Documents indicate that it will amount to a $5 increase for monthly garage rates and annual residential daytime permit zones, as well as quarterly permits fees for parking structures, off-street lots and on-street overnight parking zones.
The increase will boost revenues available for various parking projects in the village.