Another Elmhurst Water Fee Hike Planned, Will Pay Off Debt

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst is budgeting another fee hike for its water customers, adding to increases in the last few years.

Last year, the city enacted a new fee totaling $60 a year. It was designed to pay off debt for phosphorus removal work at its wastewater treatment plant.

Under next year's budget, the city plans to increase the fee to $120 a year.

The budget calls for water and sewer volume rates to remain flat next year. But by the end of this year, the City Council's finance committee will look into whether rate hikes are needed, officials said.

In 2024, the council upped water rates by nearly 30 percent.

Phosphorus removal is a federal mandate. Elmhurst's treated wastewater is deposited into Salt Creek, ultimately ending up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Elmhurst has been spending tens of millions of dollars on improvements at its plant.

"Construction projects that we've had there have spanned almost a decade at this point," the city's public works director, Stan Balicki, told the council at this week's budget meeting. "It really, really affects the operation of our plant. I can tell you that we have a lot of folks who would like to see a period of time with no construction."