Water and Sewer Rate Study Report

The Village’s Utility Fund is an enterprise fund that funds both operational and capital improvements to the Village’s water, sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) . The Utility Fund is funded through user fees. Essentially, it operates like a business: the fund collects fees for services provided and uses that money to cover costs like maintenance, repairs,   operations and capital improvements. 

 In 2018, the Village retained the firm NewGen Strategies & Solutions to perform a Water and Sewer Rate Study. Based on the study, the recommendation at that time was an annual rate increase of 3% for water and 5% for sanitary sewer through Fiscal Year 2028-2029. Due to the impact of more strict unfunded mandated regulatory burdens on the Village, including the impact of funding a lead service line replacement program, the Village Board on May 28, 2024 approved a contract with NewGen to perform a revised Water and Sewer Rate Study. 

At present, the Water and Sewer rate structure does not produce sufficient resources to fund the necessary infrastructure capital improvement projects or pay projected debt service, and will be challenged to cover the operating costs of the Utility Fund moving into the future. 

NewGen used the Village’s Fiscal Year 2024-25 operating budget, five-year capital improvement plan (CIP), and the five-year Water Distribution System, Sanitary Collection System and WWTP Master Plans  as the basis for its projections with appropriate cost escalation for future years. The Master Plans cumulatively, recommended over $132 million in capital improvements to the Village’s water and sewer infrastructure that includes the unfunded IEPA mandates (Lead Water Service Replacements and Additional Phosphorus Reduction for the Effluent at the WWTP). Detailed project costs and timing for each Master Plan and the CIP are provided in the report. 

At the April 8, 2025 Village Board meeting, the Village Board approved a new rate increase based on the study that evaluated the Village's infrastructure needs and the operation and maintenance costs over the next five-year period. 

Please reference the following for more information

Utility Billing Rates as of 7/1/2025

Water and Sewer Rate Study Report