Getting things done

Just remember where you heard it first. 😉

At least one member of the Board has accused this site of “telling lies and hiding behind an alias” all the while providing no further information about what those “lies” are, or what the perceived “truth” is.

In light of that, let me take a moment to just highlight one example of what this blog is about, and directed toward:

On Monday, October 22nd, I posted “Water rate do-over” that spoke of the upcoming vote to modify the implementation of the water rate increase. In that article, I wrote:

It all can be quite confusing. New newspaper reports and notices provided to residents may add to the confusion by some who may think the Village is raising rates again.

I’d like to thank Larissa Chinwah at the Daily Herald for trying to address that concern in her article posted to DailyHerald.com on Saturday, October 27th.

Prior to my Oct 22nd article, I contacted the Village Board, in attempts to get clarification on the implementation of the increase. After the Board failed to respond, I decided to post an article speculating on the Village’s plan in hopes of alerting residents and others of the confusion and seeing if any would obtain a reply.

It seemed that there was — and maybe still is — some confusion about the way the increase will finally be put in place, as there have been some differing answers heard around Village Hall. Even the latest information in the Village newsletter is not very clear.

At least we finally have this, though:

“We are proposing making the rate changes effective for water consumed after Jan. 1,” Finance Director Lisa Happ said. “The new rates won’t hit bills until April.”

I’m happy to see that response, and that this blog has effected such communication.

Water rate do-over

If past history is any indication, the increased water and sewer rates are now in effect for most all Village residents.

The Village posted a notice on the website [English version][Spanish version] stating that a vote will be taken by the Board at a November meeting to re-approve the water and sewer rate increases that were approved at a September meeting. When residents, mostly from the west side, received their bills in early October for usage from June 10th through September 10th, the rate increase approved September 18th was reflected on their bills. In effect, folks were retroactively charged for usage before the increase was approved.

Credits are expected to be approved for those who were already billed — totaling about $43,000 — while the Village amends the implementation of the increase.

The latest notice on the Village website reads, in part:

If approved, beginning in January 2008 water rates will be $2.66 and sewer rates will be $2.95 for 1,000 gallons of water used.

It seems obvious that the rate will be re-approved. However, it begs the question … will the January bills reflect the new rate for September – December usage? Or, will the new rate not be seen until around April, for December – March 2008 usage?

What the Village will do is anyone’s guess at this point. The track record indicates January’s bill will again reflect an increase for water and sewer used before the November approval of the amended rate.

It all can be quite confusing. New newspaper reports and notices provided to residents may add to the confusion by some who may think the Village is raising rates again.

Had this been done properly, the Board would have voted for the increase to take effect beginning with the October usage cycle. The October bills would have contained a notice of the water and sewer rate increase that would be seen on the January bill.

That said, what about the proposal to move the temporary environmental surcharge onto the property tax bill? I believe it needs to be voted down, unless it is determined that the reasons for the surcharge will always exist. In such a case, the surcharge should be removed and property tax rates should be appropriately increased for the 2008 tax year. One of the potential problems with that would be that businesses would then be charged for a residential surcharge, barring some exemption for businesses.

The whole thing really calls for a more extensive study of the way the Village handles its billing for water, sewer and waste management. Additionally, it might make sense to switch to a monthly billing cycle.

New Water Rate Retroactive?

[NOTE: I originally posted this early yesterday evening, but I felt it deserved more attention so I’ve moved it up.]

The amended water rate that was recently approved would go into effect with the October 2007 billing. This means that the water rate would be retroactive to cover the last 3 months of usage, even before the Board approved the 7% increase.

I received an email from Paul Lanspa stating that he would be at tonite’s meeting to address the Board about this matter. He has had email correspondence with Village Manager Anderson and President Sarto, in addition to having spoken to Finance Director Happ.

What the Board should do is to suspend the enacting of the ordinance, and amend the wording to state that the increase would be the rate effective for usage beginning in October 2007, rather than billing. By doing it this way, the notice of increase could have been put on the October bills, that the next billing period forward would apply the new rate.

In my opinion, the action to take since bills have gone out would be to recut the bills at the old rate and get the amended billing to residents. Residents who pay the bills before receiving their new statement would receive a credit on their next billing for the difference between what they paid in October and the amended, reduced amount.