City sewer rate hike kicks in July 1

The second in a series of 10 annual sewer rate increases in Springfield takes effect July 1.

The Springfield Public Works Department earlier this month posted to the city website the proposed 2014 and 2015 sewer facilities plan, an in-depth document that outlines plans for the 13 specific areas of the city’s aging sewer system the work will target over those two years.

The sewer lining work that makes up much of the first phase of the proposed work will target areas where water is infiltrating the city’s sewer system and ramping up its capacity, leading to backups in some areas, Public Works Director Mark Mahoney said recently.

Residents in some areas of the city have had basement flooding created by stormwater that infiltrates the sewer lines. The city is under an Environmental Protection Agency order to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows that sometimes happen during heavy rains.

Aldermen last year approved the 5 percent annual sewer rate increases, and at that time city officials estimated the average customer would be paying about 50 cents more per month for each of the annual increases, totaling $5.92 per month at the end of 10 years.

Customers with 1-inch meters had a base monthly sewer rate of $7.75 going into the decade of rate increases, according to the two-year plan posted on the city website. That rose to $8.14 per month last year and will increase to $8.54 per month July 1. For the 10th and final year of the hikes, those customers would have a $12.62 monthly charge.

Sewer customers with meters that are either 6, 8 or 10 inches had a base monthly rate of $155 per month, which increased to $162.75 last year and will grow to $170.89 next month. On July 1, 2022, those customers will see monthly rates of $252.

The first hike took effect last year, and users of the city’s sewer system will see increases every July 1 through 2022.

City officials have applied for low-interest loans through the Illinois EPA, and the ordinance the city council approved last April calls for the extra sewer revenue the rate hikes generate to go toward paying back those loans.

The work slated to take place this year, which includes sewer rehabilitations along Lightfoot Lane, Franklin Park and Reynolds, Jefferson, Monroe and Carpenter streets, is expected to total $4.5 million.

The 2015 projects are expected to cost nearly $6.2 million and include manhole rehabilitation, and sewer rehabilitation and replacement projects for another six sections of the city.

These two years of work are part of a larger, roughly $55 million sewer project in the city.

While the city of Springfield maintains the collection system, it doesn’t operate any sewage treatment facilities. The Springfield Metro Sanitary District, which is undertaking two major upgrade projects of its own, receives all of the flow from the city’s collection system.

The district is a separate entity that levies its own sewer fees independent of the city’s sewer rates. The district has also been hiking its sewer fees in recent years to fund a multimillion dollar expansion of the treatment facilities.

The Illinois EPA directed the district in 2005 to upgrade its two treatment facilities, Spring Creek and Sugar Creek, because they were receiving more sewage and processing more organic material than they were designed to handle.

The last lingering details on the Spring Creek sewer plant project are being completed now; work on the project began in 2009. The plant, near Veterans Parkway and Eighth Street Road, serves roughly 100,000 people.

With that project wrapped up, Springfield Metro Sanitary District executive director Gregg Humphrey said he’s looking to go out for bid for an overhaul of the Sugar Creek treatment plant and expects construction on that to begin next spring.

That project is expected to cost $50 million and will likely take three or four years to complete, Humphrey said.

Contact Jamie Munks: [email protected], 788-1528, twitter.com/JamieMunksSJR.

Meter charges

The city of Springfield is raising sewer rates 5 percent each year to pay for system upgrades. The rate increases, which began last year, take effect July 1 each year through 2022.

Meter size Base rate July 2013 July 2014 July 2022

5/8 inch $3.10 $3.26 $3.42 $5.05

3/4 inch $4.65 $4.88 $5.13 $7.57

1 inch $7.75 $8.14 $8.54 $12.62

1 1/4 inches $12.40 $13.02 $13.67 $20.20

1 1/2 inches $15.50 $16.28 $17.09 $25.25

2 inches $24.80 $26.04 $27.34 $40.40

3 inches $46.50 $48.83 $51.27 $75.74

4 inches $77.50 $81.38 $85.44 $126.24

6, 8 or 10” $155 $162.75 $170.89 $252.48

Source: City of Springfield