West Chicago staff outline $15M five‑year water and sewer capital gap; council asks for rate‑split scenarios

Mehul Patel, the city’s public risk director and the staff presenter for the evening, laid out a five‑year plan showing aging water and sewer infrastructure and a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall that will require capital investment and possible rate increases. Patel said the water enterprise projects roughly $41 million in service revenue and the sewer fund about $36.35 million over five years, while capital needs including an elevated storage tower and a lead service line replacement program produce an estimated $15 million net deficit over that period.

Patel told the council the city has about 147 miles of distribution pipe, a 9‑million‑gallon lime‑softening treatment plant and roughly 7,300 metered services; about 800 of those are lead service lines. “About 35% of our water distribution pipe network is over 50 years old,” Patel said, adding that the city currently has only about 1.75 million gallons of storage versus a 12‑month average demand of approximately 2.25 million gallons. He listed two major capital projects: replacing lead service lines (estimated $14.9 million) and constructing an elevated water tower (about $6.9 million). Patel described a nearly completed $5 million upgrade at the wastewater treatment plant to address phosphorus limits ahead of a 2026 permit cycle.

Patel explained funding options include Illinois EPA state revolving fund loans: a 0% loan program for lead service‑line replacement and low‑interest loans (about 2.1% at current levels) for other water and sewer infrastructure. He cautioned the council that the competition for those funds is statewide and capacity is limited. “We were number 16 on the backup list in the last round,” he said, urging realistic expectations about timing.

Council members spent the bulk of the meeting asking for targeted analyses rather than an immediate policy decision. Several aldermen asked whether the council could freeze residential increases in 2026 and offset revenue by raising commercial/industrial sewer rates. Finance‑and‑utility staff modeled several scenarios during the discussion: holding residential sewer at $10.50 per 1,000 gallons would require raising commercial/industrial rates to roughly $12.08 to make up the shortfall; a compromise residential increase to $10.75 would yield a commercial/industrial rate near $11.72 in staff calculations.

Mayor Daniel Boving and council members repeatedly emphasized the limits of comparison with neighboring communities, noting many nearby jurisdictions either buy Lake Michigan water or rely on sanitary districts that shift costs to property taxes. Patel recommended a third‑party water‑sewer rate study in 2026 to create an apples‑to‑apples comparison and to evaluate equity across residential, commercial and industrial customers. "My recommendation would be to move forward with 2026 as it's planned," Patel told the council, "and then complete the water/sewer rate study and revisit the conversation next year."

Council direction to staff: the council asked staff to return with a set of split scenarios and a concise snapshot showing what portion of consumption and revenue is attributable to commercial/industrial accounts (staff indicated roughly 13% of meters represent about 54% of consumption in recent usage analysis). Staff also was asked to estimate costs for interim consumer protections (testing and filters) if a state loan is not available: Patel provided a planning figure of about $1.9 million in filter/testing costs over a 10‑year phased replacement scenario assuming local funding of 57 lines per year.

The discussion ended with no ordinance or final rate vote. Council members generally supported moving forward with the preplanned schedule for 2026 while obtaining the rate study and the additional scenario data requested, with final direction expected at the Nov. 3 meeting so notice can be included on utility bills in advance of any change.