Lawsuit Challenging Winnetka's Stormwater Fee Dropped

A Cook County Circuit Court judge has dismissed a Winnetka man’s lawsuit challenging the village’s stormwater fee.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy on Thursday dismissed the complaint filed by resident Mark Green in February. Green had argued that residents should not be forced to pay the fee to support a $42 million stormwater management plan that includes a Willow Road stormwater tunnel and other infrastructure improvements.

Kennedy found that the Village’s stormwater utility ordinance and fee complied with Illinois law, according to a village news release.

• Like us on Facebook: Evanston • Highland Park • Winnetka-Glencoe • Lake Forest •Deerfield • Northbrook • Glenview • Skokie •Wilmette-Kenilworth

“We are pleased that the court affirmed our position that the stormwater utility fee can stand and is a reasonable method to fund Winnetka’s top infrastructure priority,” said Village President Gene Greable. “We have said all along that in order to address Winnetka’s pervasive structural flooding problem that the Village needed a stable revenue source for the construction, maintenance, operation and improvement of an effective stormwater management system.”

While Green was the only named plaintiff in the case, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of all Winnetka residents paying the stormwater utility fee and sought class action status, according to a Daily North Shore report in February.

According to the village, the fee was implemented to fund “much needed projects that will better manage stormwater and alleviate structural flooding throughout the community.”

The stormwater utility fee was enacted by a unanimous vote by the Winnetka Village Council in March 2014.