Tinley Park Board Votes To Increase Water And Sewer Rates

By Jon DePaolis, the Richard Free Press:

TINLEY PARK, Ill. – The Village of Tinley Park is increasing its water and sewer rates by 50 cents.

The Village Board of Trustees voted 6-0 Tuesday, May 4, to approve the increase, citing the need to begin paying back the costs associated with updating the Village’s water meters in 2016.

“It has been more than seven years since the utility rates have been adjusted for any increases in the Village’s operational costs – electric, labor, materials,” Trustee Diane Galante said. “Over this period, operating cost increases have eroded the funds available to support the systematic infrastructure replacements and rehabilitations required within the utility system.”

Galante said the Village Board previously initiated the systemwide replacement of all its water meters with new electronic meters and the addition of an advanced metering infrastructure system that “has enhanced and significantly automated the Village’s ability to obtain meter readings.”

“The improvements were approved to be funded from the general capital reserves of the Village,” Galante said. “It was stipulated that the funds advanced to the utility fund were to be repaid in the future through utility billing revenues.”

The Village Board members also voted 6-0 to approve the fiscal year 2022 budget, with total expenditures equaling $147.3 million.

A public hearing was held on the budget on April 13, and it has been available for public inspection since April 6.

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