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Residents urge board to halt water-rate action, allege $7.1 million accounting gap
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Summary
Two residents told the Lisle Village Board they oppose any immediate water-rate increases, alleging a $7.1 million transfer from the village's water enterprise fund was not properly tracked or repaid and asking for audited fund balances and an updated rate study before any vote.
Chris Pisak, a former Lisle mayor and private citizen, urged the Village Board on April 20 not to take final action on raising water or sewer rates and demanded a full accounting of a $7,100,000 loan he said was taken from the water enterprise fund in 2007.
"The village borrowed the $7,100,000 from the water customers," Pisak said. He told trustees he could not find evidence in FOIA responses or the village's financial reporting that the transfer was repaid, and he asked the board for monthly water-enterprise-fund balances dating back to April 2020, audited fund-balance numbers, and a revised water-rate study that incorporates any historic transfers.
Susan Surrell followed during public comment and echoed concerns about ownership and inspection records for water mains. She said she has filed complaints with the Illinois Commerce Commission and other agencies, that she could not find deeds or easements proving ownership of some pipes, and that residents might be charged for infrastructure the village cannot prove it owns. "No ownership, no rate base. No inspection, no acceptance," she said.
The public comments came while the board considered consent agenda items that included, among routine approvals, a resolution accepting a water and sewer rate study prepared by 1898 and Company (Item J on the consent agenda). Village Manager Cook presented the consent agenda, which also included an invoice list of $854,139.53 and the village's proposed fiscal year 2026–27 budget.
Cook later told the board the Illinois Commerce Commission has scheduled a public forum on the Illinois American Water proposed rate increase for July 14, 2026, in Bolingbrook; the village staff said it will post information about that forum on the village website. Neither the public comments nor staff reports included a board vote to raise rates that night.
The residents asked the board to postpone any rate action until staff: 1) provides separate, audited water-enterprise-fund balances (not combined water and sewer), 2) documents accounting for the 2007 transfers, 3) updates the water-rate study using audited numbers, and 4) ensures any agenda item proposing a rate increase is properly noticed and posted.
The board did not take immediate action to raise rates during the meeting; the consent agenda (which included acceptance of the rate study) was approved as presented.
