Dear Resident,
The City of Palos Hills and 11 other communities receive 100% of their drinking water through the Oak Lawn Regional Water System. Due to a lack of redundancy, capacity, growth, and several infrastructure deficiencies Oak Lawn developed a master plan for system wide improvements. That plan has developed into a large regional project to improve water supply for over 350,000 residents of the southwest suburbs.
The current cost for the project stands at $216 million dollars with the City of Palos Hills being responsible for 5.629% of the project, which equates to $12.15 million dollars. The City of Palos Hills primary funding source for this project is the $9.57 capital improvement fee on your monthly water bill.
The capital improvement fee was developed in 2008 to pay for extensive sanitary sewer improvements mandated by the EPA and MWRD that will be completely paid off in December of 2018. Unfortunately the capital improvement fee as currently constituted will be inadequate to cover the City of Palos Hills future financial obligations in regards to the $216 million dollar Oak Lawn regional water system project.
To maintain the value of our community and continue to deliver clean Lake Michigan water the City Council has authorized an increase of $3.35 to the current $9.57 monthly capital improvement fee ($12.92 per billing unit) on the city water bill beginning September 1, 2017. The fee will continue to be used to finance various capital improvement projects to repair deficiencies in our aging infrastructure and pay our share of the Oak Lawn regional water system project.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Mayor Gerald R. Bennett and City Council