Hickory Hills residents will see higher water and sewer bills starting September 1 after the City Council approved increases on August 14.
The changes, outlined in Ordinance 25-12 (water) and Ordinance 25-13 (sewer), are the first rate hikes in years for the city, officials said.
Water rates will go from $8.41 to $9.16 per thousand gallons. “The new rates will start September 1,” Public Works Director Sue Lehr said. “Any billing after September 1 will be at the new rates.”
Another increase will follow in September 2026, which will bring the rate to $9.91 per thousand gallons.
Sewer charges will also rise, from $1.50 to $1.85 per thousand gallons in September, and to $2.20 in September 2026. Sewer rates haven’t increased since 2018.
Both water and sewer bills also include a fixed “line charge,” which is going up, too. The water line fee will move from $5.50 to $6, and the sewer line fee will rise from $4.20 to $4.70. These are flat fees charged regardless of usage.
Seniors 65 and older can still avoid the minimum quarterly charge of 12,000 gallons if they’re registered with the city. “A senior only gets billed for what they use,” Lehr said. “A regular resident, whether they use water or not, is billed for 12,000 gallons.”
Lehr said the last water rate hike was in 2021, but the city had been absorbing rising costs from its supplier, the Justice-Willow Springs Water Commission, which in turn buys from the City of Chicago.
“We were able to absorb five years of increases,” she said. “We are now in a deficit with our operations and maintenance budget and our capital projects.”