Woodstock residents will see another water, sewer rate increase this year

Woodstock is raising water and sewer rates this year.

Water and sewer usage rates are scheduled to rise 5%, effective May 1, according to city documents. May 1 also is the start of the city’s fiscal year.

Woodstock also is raising base rates for water and sewer service by 5%. The water base rate will be $19.40, and the sewer base rate will be $23.28, according to the ordinance the City Council passed Tuesday evening.

A household with a bill of 2,200 cubic feet of usage will pay about $10 more per quarter, or about $40 more per year, according to city documents. The residents’ bill would go up from about $202.40 per quarter to $212.52.

The rate increase passed as part of a consent agenda, and the council didn’t discuss the water and sewer rates.

Woodstock is required by ordinance to review water and sewer rates each year. Last year, Woodstock opted to raise water and sewer rates by 12.5%.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s mandates on the water and sewer system and increases in costs relating to chemicals needed to operate the system were cited in city documents as reasons to raise the rate. Those reasons also were cited last year.

Some of the mandates the city has to comply with include replacing lead service lines, all of which must be replaced by 2042, according to the city’s website. That requirement is from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Department of Public Health, according to city.

Woodstock also could be on the hook for millions of dollars of infrastructure improvements if authorities require lower levels of phosphorus discharge in the water.

Mayor Mike Turner mentioned some of the mandates, such as the lead pipes, phosphorus and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in an April 1 interview. Turner said at the time that “these are substantial requirements” that don’t come with any funding.

In a City Council candidates forum last month moderated by Shaw Media, council member Bob Seegers said the city used to take sludge from the sewer plants and give it to farmers. The city can’t do that anymore because of a change in federal regulation, so instead, the city has to drive it to the landfill and pay to dump it.

“There’s nothing the city can do but comply,” Seegers said, adding that those in the audience should tell their representatives that the mandates are “coming on the backs of the city.” Seegers also noted the lack of funding that comes with the mandates.

Gregory Hanson, who won a seat on the City Council in this month’s election, said he worries about the water and said that people have “some really great concerns about the water.”

He said he wished the city would publish the water testing quarterly. The city publishes an annual water quality report that is available online.