Chicago Heights Agrees to Water Rate Hike

If you're unhappy about the increased rates in your water bill, enjoy paying $2.20 per $1,000 while it lasts.

For the next 20 years, Chicago Heights residents will see rate increases every two years. The new prices will recalculte biannually to 88 percent of whatever Chicago's water rates are, according to Heights Corporation Counsel T.J. Somer. That means that, by 2015 when the rate recalculates, Heights water rates will rise to $3.36—88 percent of Chicago's expected rate of $3.82. 

This announcement comes with news of a deadline date to drop the federal lawsuit filed by the City of Chicago Heights against the City of Hammond and the Hammond Water Works. The lawsuit was initially filed in protest of the upcoming water price hike, but the city had no leverage as it’s a municipality outside the state of Indiana and therefore, not subject to Indiana water rate policy.

The two parties were supposed to drop the suit by the end of January, but a need for additional time has pushed back the deadline to Feb. 14, according to the Northwest Indiana Times.

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