Winnetka residents | Facebook
Winnetka residents | Facebook
The Village of Winnetka board heard an ordinance regarding increases in some different utility rates at its Nov. 15 meeting.
Due to increased needs of the Refuse, Electric, and Water utilities, the rates on residents’ bills will increase in the 2023 fiscal year. Sanitary, sewer, or stormwater rates will all remain the same.
Director of finance Tim Sloth went over some of the increases and the reasons behind them. The electric bill will see an 8% cost increase because there was a need for additional funding to keep up the aging infrastructure of the facilities. The water bill will see an 11% rate increase dedicated to capital replacement in water mains and the lead service lines. The refuse fund will increase by 2.5% for residential users to cover the increased fuels costs and 15% for commercial users for the recycling contract.
The board of trustees asked if these rate increases would ever be reversed once capital improvements are finished and fuel costs are lower. The answer was yes, however there was no specific timeline or plan for the reductions, rather to check in with budgets in a few years to see if any cuts could be made to residents’ rates.
“And then at that time, we would analyze the rates and see where we’re at and propose rates going forward from there,” Sloth said.
The board also discusses using Illinois’ Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) for the village’s share of the Professional Engineering Design Services. The agenda noted the village will use up to $125,000 in its 2023 budget. It noted the village has approximately $3.6 million in MFT.
The village council will meet again at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Village Hall on 510 Green Bay Rd. on the second floor.
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