Kankakee sewer rates increase by 2%

KANKAKEE – Sewer charges for residential, office and commercial accounts in Kankakee will rise 2%.

Those customers can breathe a sigh of relief as industrial accounts, beginning May 1, will see an increase of 7%.

The rate adjustments were approved by an 11-1 vote at Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting.

The only council member voting against the rate hike was 4th Ward Alderman Lance Marczak. Alderman Danita Grant Swanson, R-4, and Larry Osenga, R-3, were not in attendance.

Mayor Chris Curtis said the 2% increase will be over the course of the two-year contract.

The 2% hike will be for homeowners, retail outlets and commercial accounts.

The 7% hike is for city industrial accounts, which are typically heavy users of the Kankakee River Metropolitan Agency treatment plant.

This rate increase marked the first time the city had separated residential, retail and commercial accounts from industrial accounts.

The city had always simply had one rate, and the fee increase was passed to all customers.

Curtis said dividing the accounts put less of an increase on the smaller users of sewer operation and more on the industrial users, which use the plant at a much higher level.

“We are trying to help keep residents’ bills as low as we can,” he said.

Reggie Jones, a 7th Ward alderman, praised the move by the administration saying the city is trying to protect its citizens as “best we can.”

The new rate will most likely be noticed on either June or July bills, Curtis said.

He noted if a residential account typically had a $100 monthly bill, the rate increase would raise it to $102. An account with a $50 monthly bill, would see an increase an increase of $1.

The monthly sewer bill which comes through an Aqua Illinois billing consists of sewer fees, solid waste collection and the $10 public safety fee.

After the meeting, Marczak said he voted against the fee increase for one simple fact: sewer bills are too high.

“They just keep going up and everyone complains. They are already high enough,” he said. “This is something that needs to be looked at.”