Mayor Wasowicz defends water rate increase

Dear Fellow Village of Justice Resident,

Last week at the Village Board Committee meeting I questioned Mayor Wasowicz about why our water bills had been raised so drastically. Since he is 1 of 3 Commissioners on the Board (he appointed himself to the Commission last Februaury) I thought he could give us an explaination. He told me that he didn't understand why the bills had gone up so much and hinted that it was the fault of Millenium (who is contracted to do the billing for the Water Commission). He said "I will go to the Water Commision tomorrow and find out what's going on".  I attended the Village Board meeting tonight to follow up and find out if the Mayor had found out what was going on.  I told him that the letter the Water Commission sent out to Village residents only a week and a half before the new water rates were billed was vague and inaccurate. I told him that residents bills had risen far above what anyone expected and told him that I had done some calculations and found out the following:

The old wholesale rate the City of Chicago charged the Water Commission was $1.75 per 1,000 gallons. The new rate the City of Chicago will be charging the Water Commission (assuming a 25% increase) is $2.19 per 1,000 gallons.

The old rate the Water Commission billed residents was $38.40 for the first 8,000 gallons ($4.80 per 1,000 gallons) and $6.08 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

The new rate the Water Commission is billing residents is $49.92 for the first 6,000 gallons ($8.32 per 1,000 gallons) and $7.90 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

When the Water Commission charged the old rates they were "making" $3.05 per 1,000 gallons above the cost of the water they purchased from the City of Chicago.

When the Water Commission charges the new rate they are "making" $6.13 per 1,000 gallons above the cost of the water they purchased from the City of Chicago.

The Mayor's explaination was that the Water Commission now has fewer employees, fewer vehicles than before. He said that since he and the Mayor of Willow Springs appointed themselves over a year ago to the Water Commission "things are getting done". He said that many water mains in the Villages are 50 years old and that they have had to deal with several water main breaks.  He said that if people don't like the rate increase they should voice their concerns at the Water Commission meeting.  He never really answered my question he just tried to justify the increase.

The Water Commission meets the 4th Thursday of the month at 9:30am. The next meeting of the Justice Willow Springs Water Commission will be on April 26, 2012 at 9:30 am. The meeting will be held in the Justice Village Hall at 7800 S. Archer Rd. (I will let you know if they change the date and time of the meeting.) If you are able to attend the meeting, please take a moment out of your day and voice your concerns about the water increase.  The role of the Water Commission is to provide us with clean water at a fair price. The current rate that is being charged is far from fair. 

Please share this information with your friends and neighbors. 

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

John Koslowski

Concerned Village of Justice Resident