‘A necessary evil’ – Yorkville city council approves 20% annual water rate hikes over next half-decade

In the end, the price to pay became a “necessary evil” for the community’s growth outpacing its water resources.

Yorkville is saying goodbye to the underground aquifer that served the community for generations. The goodbye is a costly one, though, as the Yorkville City Council approved a plan that would raise customers’ waters bills an average of around 20 percent annually at its June 24 meeting.

The rate hikes enable a new chapter for Yorkville with the $100 million Lake Michigan water project on the horizon. Water nearly 50 miles away from Yorkville will define the town’s direction for decades to come.

“It’s an absolute necessary evil that we have to do in order to provide the services to the city that we are elected up here to do,” Alderman Chris Funkhouser said during the meeting. “It’s very difficult to sit here and look at five years of 20 plus percent increases, but it’s necessary in order to maintain and provide water for our residents, our businesses, and for the future of our community.”

The water rate increases take effect July 1. Yorkville residents receive bi-monthly billing fees.

The average Yorkville home will first see a 21% increase from a $106 bi-monthly rate to $128. In five years, they will pay a $210 bi-monthly rate. Over a five-year period, the average home will pay an average annual bill of $926, for a total of $4,630 over that five years.

With the approval, the base rate is increased from $49.50 to $58.27. Any water usage past 350 cubic feet in a billing cycle is billed an extra volumetric rate per 100 cubic feet. That rate also jumps from $5.80 to $7.28.

Over the five-year period, restaurants will have an average annual bill of $6,987, for a total of $34,936. Large commercial users will have an average annual bill of $47,394, with a total of $236,968.

Following several residents’ concerns, Funkhouser stressed during the meeting that the water rate hikes are not associated with the more than 3,000 acres of data centers potentially being constructed in town along the Eldamain Corridor.

Funkhouser said the water hikes have been discussed for more than a decade, far prior to any plans of data centers.

Alderman Craig Soling asked if future revenues from the data centers can be allocated towards the costs of the water project to help offset the burden on residents.

Mayor John Purcell said it is a possibility, but cannot even be considered before the first revenues are actualized from data centers four to five years down the road.

“There will be a point where we could realize extra revenues in bringing these rates down,” Funkhouser said in response.

All rate hikes combined, the city is projecting a 25% increase in collected water revenues from $5,6000,000 to $7,000,000 over the next year. The following year would also see a 25% increase in revenue, followed by three consecutive years of $20% increases, for a total of $15,200,000 in fiscal year 2030.

Receiving large increases in revenues is crucial for the city because the city’s larger bonds are coming due in a few years totaling $8 million annually. Current bond requirements require having 1.25 times the revenue needed for bond payments.

The city must also raise larger revenues to pay for the future financing of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan (WIFIA) due in 2033, that the city is using to help pay for the Lake Michigan water sourcing project.

After all pipes are constructed and connected, the first Lake Michigan water should reach Yorkville residents by 2028.

The water connection project is a joint venture by Yorkville, Oswego, and Montgomery, to construct pipelines and connect to the current water infrastructure currently in DuPage county.