Why Springfield, Illinois may see its first water rate hike in 13 years - The State Journal-Register

Why Springfield, Illinois may see its first water rate hike in 13 years

'It's a dire situation': Mandate, crumbling infrastructure behind potential water rate hike
Steven Spearie

Vanessa Knox said residents of the Pioneer Park Neighborhood Association are "nervous and concerned" about a City Water, Light and Power-proposed 32% water rate increase spanning over the next two years and beginning March 1.

Knox counts herself among them.

"People cannot afford it," said Knox, the neighborhood association's president. "It's devastating when you hear that."

The last water rate increase was 13 years ago, pointed out CWLP's chief engineer Doug Brown, and the utility's water fund is depleted.

About half of the additional $15 million raised by the proposed hikes would go towards addressing frequent water main breaks and a state-mandated replacement of lead water service lines. Funds would also go towards dredging Lake Springfield, though that project could be bonded.

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"I think we've laid that groundwork, trying to explain those things," Brown said. "We don't have a choice. We have to do it. Without that influx of money, those items won't get done. The main breaks will continue to get worse. I would say it's a dire situation."

At the Jan. 23 CWLP budget hearing, Ward 6 Ald. Jennifer Notariano acknowledged while rate hikes should have been addressed in the past, "we cannot do a rate increase that is going to put people in financial jeopardy."

Amendments offered up at Tuesday's committee of the whole meeting by Notariano and Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase that would have stretched out rate increases beyond the two years both fell one vote short. That means the full city council will take up CWLP's original ordinance Tuesday, when it is also scheduled to vote on the FY25 budget.

'No more magic cuts'

As ominous a picture as Brown paints, "there are no more magic cuts," he said in the hearing, things could get doubly harried, literally, for the city of Springfield given one particular scenario.

While Illinois is one of only three states that has mandated lead service line replacement language on its books as a response to the Flint, Michigan, water crisis of 2014, a proposed federal rule, the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, or LCRI, would require municipalities to be about as twice as aggressive in addressing the situation.

Todd LaFountain, CWLP's water division manager, said of the city's 52,000 metered connections, roughly 11,000 have lead service lines dating back to 1930. The utility got a jumpstart by doing 100 or so replacements in 2019 and has tried to ramp up that number every year since. By 2027, the state mandate might require it to install 500 per year.

When all is said and done, the cost to the city will be about $150 million for switching out lead lines with copper lines.

"If we got a new crew (in the budget), that would help with our internal capacity issues, but it's difficult to find contractors wanting to pursue this work," he admitted.

And, no, LaFountain said, the lead lines in Springfield aren't causing the high levels concentrated at the sample taps, like in Flint.

"We always meet the regulatory standard," LaFountain said of the city's drinking water. "There is no health concern."

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Effects on homeowners

What might be a concern is how consumers with lead lines going into their homes might be affected.

The city owns the pipe from the water main to the resident's property line, pointed out Mike Johnson, the general superintendent of water distribution and engineering for CWLP, overseeing recent work on Patton Avenue. The curb stop is "the line of demarcation," he said, between what the city takes care of and what the homeowner is responsible for.

Once the utility has a line to replace in the street, it will contact the homeowner, Johnson said.

Through access to Illinois Environmental Protection Agency grants, the city has been covering the costs of replacing residents' lines, the work of which is handled by private contractors.

"Moving forward, we're not sure if the funding will be there," Johnson said.

Given the propensity of the lines to be in older and disadvantaged areas, the burden of a rate hike and replacing lines is worrisome, acknowledged Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory.

"A lot of our community is rental homes. What do we do in that situation?" Gregory said.

While municipalities are responsible for lead line replacement, homeowners aren't mandated and can sign a waiver with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Christine Nannicelli, the senior campaign representative for Sierra Club Illinois, said municipal utilities, like CWLP, need to have better strategies with how to protect low-income ratepayers.

"They really need to think about ways to make sure low-income residents aren't shouldering that burden as we are upgrading and repairing that water infrastructure," said Nannicelli, who has been watching the budget proceedings closely. "We're seeing really poor management practices, business strategies here, with not a lot of answers on pretty basic things and how to navigate some of these environmental compliance issues."

Gregory said he would focus on getting another work force in the field to address the service line replacements.

"I'm not necessarily against or for (the rate hike)," he said. "I can't say that I'm totally happy with how much it is."

To learn more about lead service lines in Springfield and to access maps and surveys, visit www.cwlp.com.

Contact Steven Spearie: (217) 622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.