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Aqua Illinois has filed a request with the Illinois Commerce Commission for a 24.5% water rate increase. If they are granted the 24.5% water rate increase, it will bring the total water rate increase over the last five years to 80%.
Update:
Illinois Commerce Commission members voted 5-0 on Dec. 20 to allow Aqua Illinois to raise their water rate by 19.8%, which was about 5 percent less than Aqua Illinois Inc. had been seeking. The rate hike went into effect on Dec. 27.
Last March, Aqua Illinois filed for a 24.5 percent increase. OUTRAGE came out against the increase and demanded a public hearing by the ICC which was held at Kankakee City hall. There was a good turn out by the public in opposition which played a roll in getting the ICC to reduce the orginal request by 5%. 19.8% increase is still far too much. The sad thing is Aqua Illinois has said they will be back every two or three years asking for double digit increases. How many times can they tell the public they need the money for improvements? They are building new storage towers to handle the new residential development and businesses. This is another example of forcing the costs of growth back on to existing homeowners and businesses.
The ICC decision is not final. It can be appealed to the Appellate Court in Ottawa. This should be done but don't look for any government bodies to do this since Aqua Illinois is a heavy campaign contributor to the Kankakee County Republican party, Sheriff Bukowski and state Rep. Lisa Dugan.