Why Is Tax Hike For Western Springs Water Projects Needed?

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs residents pay water and sewer bills that are supposed to cover the costs of those systems.

But a proposed property tax increase on the April 1 ballot would pay for local infrastructure, including water and sewer improvements, local officials say.

A reader asked Patch why a separate tax increase is needed to pay for water and sewer projects, rather than income from water and sewer bills.

Patch asked the village's spokeswoman, Selmin Cicek, about this.

In an email, she said Western Springs is taking a multipronged approach to paying for infrastructure. The village, she said, consists of 95 percent residential properties and lacks sales-tax generating businesses such as car dealerships and big-box stores.

A large-scale project that includes road, curb, sidewalk, water and sewer improvements costs $2.5 million to $4.5 million, Cicek said.

"Revenues from the water/sewer rates could only fund a project of this size and scope approximately every 6 years," Cicek said. "The Village regularly reviews fees in the context of the overall funding strategy. Current water/sewer rates cover the cost of sanitary system improvements and water production/distribution/small capital maintenance projects. The existing rates are not sufficient to fund large-scale capital projects."

She noted the 2-year-old stormwater fee that only pays for drainage projects. The village's top priorities for that money are improvements in the Springdale and Ridgewood neighborhoods.

In the election, Western Springs voters are set to decide whether to raise property taxes and let the village go $45 million into debt for infrastructure.

If the referendum passes, the owner of a $750,000 house would see a $345 hike to the annual property tax bill over a decade, which works out to $29 a month, according to the village. That's in addition to a total bill of roughly $16,000.

Western Springs has made information available about the referendum on its website.