Water Rate Hike OKed By Plainfield Board

PLAINFIELD, IL — With just one opposing vote, Plainfield trustees on Monday voted to approve a water rate hike that will cost the average Plainfield homeowner $4 extra on their monthly water bill starting in February. While the increase comes with a new 50-cent reduction in the capital improvement charge, even residents who low water usage, such as senior citizens and empty nesters, will see an increase of about $1.

Only trustee Brian Wojowski voted against the increase. "I have a hard time reconciling the 50 cent capital charge reduction with an increase a year later," he said, referring to another capital charge decrease a year ago. In December 2016, trustees voted to decrease the charge from $7.50 to $7 per month. Starting in February, it will be $6.50, according to village documents.

Director of Public Works Allen Persons said the village did a good job spreading the word about the water rate increase, citing a video staff created explaining the increase. The video got about 200 views, said Persons, who noted that the proposed increase and scheduled Jan. 8 vote were also reported by Patch and another local paper. As of Tuesday, the video had 250 views on YouTube.

The amended ordinance approved by trustees on Monday calls for a minimum charge of $6.79 for the first 100 cubic feet of water starting on Feb. 1, 2018. That will increase to $7.09 on Feb. 1, 2019, $7.39 on Feb. 1, 2020 and $7.69 on Feb. 1, 2021, according to the ordinance. The minimum charge remains the same for each 100 cubic feet in excess of the first 100 between 2018 and 2019.

"Nobody wants to raise rates on anything, but this is a quality of life issue," trustee Margie Bonuchi said.

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