It’s inevitable that the price of water is going to go up again next year throughout the area.
And the next year. And the next…
Palos Park officials are concerned and want to be armed and prepared for what could be coming in the future with rising costs from suppliers in Chicago and Oak Lawn and aging infrastructure.
Baxter and Woodman representative Mark Siefert was on hand at the Oct. 27 village council meeting to talk about a study for water and sewer rates that the village commissioned.
“This is a look at the future,” he said. “And it’s to give the board and the staff to take a look at what projects are coming with the infrastructure and what the potential water and sewer rate could look like.
“We want to give you the best picture based on current conditions and show you what we want to happen and most likely will happen. But at the end of the day, there are outside factors that could change all of this.”
He pointed out that in 2019, no one knew that the pandemic was going to happen and that drove costs higher. Siefert also urged the board to look closely at the situation on a year-by-year basis.
Through all the facts, figures, educated guesswork and crunched numbers, Siefert came up with a pair of suggestions for a gameplan moving forward.
His first scenario is an increase to the existing rate structure based on foreseeable needs. Thus, fiscal year 2026 would go up 2% across the board, 2027 would see 4.2%, 2028 would see 10%, 2029 and 2030 would see 7% each and 2031 down to 5%.
A residential user who averaged 8,000 gallons bi-monthly would pay $156 bi-monthly in 2026, $182.20 in 2027, $206.98 in 2028, $223.40 in 2029, $242.18 in 2030 and $260.64 in 2031.
Users who average 24,000 gallons would pay $416 in 2026 and increase each year and rise to $697.91 in 2031.
The second scenario involves being billed on an inclining block, with three tiers. The first tier is those who use 0-10,000 gallons, the second tier comprises those who use 10,000-30,000 gallons and the third tier is for those who use more than 30,000 gallons.
“We truly believe we found two structures here that could work, based on the board’s preference,” Siefert said. “We want to balance those impacts because you have some large water users that are commercial and you have some residential users who may be only here seven months a year.”
He also compared Palos Park’s rates with those of 11 neighboring communities and the village is more expensive than Alsip, Hickory Hills, Orland Park and Worth but lower than Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Palos Heights, the South Palos Sanitary District and Olympia Fields.
“You about mid-pack,” Siefert said. “With the proposed rate increases, you will jump up a couple of spots. But you will be dollars within the three communities below you and we don’t have their rate increases. More than likely, Palos Park will stay where you are at in terms of water rates.”
Commissioner G. Darryl Reed said that the presentation and numbers in the presentation will be taken under consideration.
“This is an initial overview,” Reed said. “This is the first time the presentation has been made. We need to take time to digest a lot of what’s been said. We will take the time to do so.”