The Springfield City Council is poised to adopt a $196 million corporate fund budget for the next fiscal year – $4.7 million lower than the current year’s budget – that includes increased spending for police salaries and more than $12 million in federally funded infrastructure improvements.
“Our revenues have been strong,” Ramona Metzger, director of the city’s Department of Budget and Management, told Illinois Times.
She noted that the $12 million scheduled to be spent in fiscal 2025, which begins March 1, 2024, will be the last of the $33.8 million Springfield received through the federal American Rescue Plan Act. ARPA was the second major federal relief program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Springfield City Council is scheduled to vote on the budget Feb. 20.
Springfield’s corporate fund, which pays for most traditional functions of city government, such the police, fire and public works departments and Lincoln Library, is part of the total proposed $686 million budget for the city. The larger number includes the operations of City Water, Light & Power, Springfield’s municipally owned water and electric utility.
The total budget includes funds from a proposed 32% water rate increase in fiscal 2025. CWLP has proposed another 32% increase for fiscal 2026, which begins March 1, 2025, followed by future annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. Water rates haven’t risen since 2011.
The increases would increase the average residential customer’s monthly water bill by $4 or $5 in the first year and between $5 and $7 in the second year, CWLP officials said.
City Council members voted 5-4 on Feb. 13 at their committee of the whole meeting to defeat a proposal by Ward 5 Ald. Lakeisha Purchase that would spread the increase over three years instead of two. Under Purchase’s plan, a 32% increase would take effect in fiscal 2025, followed by a 19% increase in fiscal 2026 and a 13% increase in fiscal 2027.
The council then voted by the same margin to defeat a proposal by Ward 6 Ald. Jennifer Notariano to cap any water rate increases in fiscal 2027 and beyond at 4% and require any money generated by the increases to fund specific water system infrastructure work.
Council members who voted against the proposed amendments said the city had delayed the increases long enough, and the total additional money to be generated – $18.4 million over a two-year period – was needed to begin essential state-requirement replacement of lead service lines, reduce the frequency of water main breaks, dredge Lake Springfield and improve the water division’s finances. They also didn’t want to hamstring CWLP in its use of any new funds.
“This should have been done 10 years ago,” Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath said.
In addition to Redpath, council members voting against Purchase and Notariano’s amendments included Ward 4 Ald. Larry Rockford, Ward 7 Ald. Brad Carlson, Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley and Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan. Those voting for the amendments were Purchase, Notariano, Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams.
Increases similar to the proposed rate hikes also are proposed for sewer rates. Sewer rates appear on CWLP bills, generate funds for sewer line maintenance and installation within the city and are separate from rates charged for the treatment of sewage by the Sangamon County Water Reclamation District.
The last time sewer rates rose was in July 2022. Rates had risen 5% annually between 2013 and 2022, according to Nate Bottom, chief city engineer.
Rate increases of 32% are needed in each of the next two fiscal years to raise about $6 million for sewer system improvements that have been mandated by federal environmental officials and for other needed improvements, Bottom said.
For the average residential customer, the proposed sewer rate increase would add about $3 to monthly bills in the first year and about $4 in the second year, he said.
The property tax rate for Springfield city government is one of the lowest in downstate Illinois for comparable communities and is not expected to rise with the new budget, city officials said.
Metzger said several changes to the proposed budget for fiscal 2025 are expected before the City Council finalizes the new spending plan to ensure a healthy balance in the corporate fund.
Those changes include borrowing $10 million for the ongoing construction of three new fire stations. The borrowing would reduce part of the $23 million in corporate fund spending and $7 million in ARPA spending that had been budgeted for the current fiscal year, Metzger said.
The borrowing will free up corporate fund money to pay for increases in the fiscal 2025 budget, she said.
The city enjoyed record corporate fund balances and reserves during the pandemic, both because of federal relief funds and increasing sales taxes as consumer spending rose when COVID-19 cases and fears about mingling in public waned.
Several tweaks in the proposed budget planned by Mayor Misty Buscher would cut some money from proposed vehicle purchases and reduce the originally proposed pension payments by $5 million but still maintain payments at 100% of the state-mandated minimum levels, Metzger said.
The changes would make the city’s fund balance by the end of fiscal 2025 equal to 22.5% of expenses for the year, not including ARPA funds.
“This will make it a sustainable budget,” Metzger said.
The budget would allow the city’s headcount to rise from an authorized 1,414 in the current fiscal year to 1,469 in the new fiscal year.
Most of the additional 55 hires would come in the police and fire departments and through the creation of new zone manager positions in the public works department, Metzger said.
Pay raises approved for the police department in December would cost an estimated $3.4 million in the next fiscal year and $3.9 million in fiscal 2026, Metzger said.
The pay raises, totaling 21% over the term of a four-year collective-bargaining agreement retroactive to the beginning of the current fiscal year, are designed to help the city recruit and retain officers and put their salaries more in line with comparable cities.
Rockford said he plans to propose an amendment to the proposed budget to remove $280,000 that had been set aside for the purchase of a vehicle to start a municipally operated ambulance service.
Whether the city should start its own ambulance service to supplement the three privately operated ambulance services in Springfield needs more study before the city commits such resources, Rockford said.
A supplemental ambulance service was one option in an analysis of Springfield Fire Department operations completed in January 2023 by the nonprofit Center for Public Safety Management in Washington, D.C.
“There just needs to be a more open discussion,” Rockford said. “I’m not saying I’m against it, but right now I’m not for it.”
This article appears in The Wedding Issue 2024.
This is totally ridiculousjust another handout for special interest election payback.
Comparing our water rates to those of other cities in Illinois has to be the most stupid of them all.
Every city has its own economy; some rich, some poor, and some low-income households determine that.
CWLP needs a professional business General Manager as any other utility does. not the clown show we saw last night !
Water line replacement in the oldest parts of the city can and should be done with TIF money. and long-term bonding because it’s a long-term repair. same when property changes hands, both water and sewer hookups should be upgraded.
This out-of-nowhere hidden expense of dredging the lake should be a stand-alone project with a separate funding source.
Another huge hidden increase for commercial customers will lead to raised prices for the consumer, driving more to move or close in Springfield. Businesses can not afford to pay the cost it have to pass on to customers
This is another big, special-interest handout. from the so-called Republicans pushing this!
Alders Ralph Hanauer Chuck Redpath jJm Donelan, and Brad Carlson should be ashamed of themselves for lying to the public;
There isn’t a tax they won’t vote for if it helps there special interest friends; they are nothing but a tool of special interest, bought and paid for, and blowing our tax money!
Look no further than who donates to their election campaigns! And then we get to pay for it while it’s killing our city!
Yes! Some of us caught the comment on camera by the legal council instructing Alder Brad Carlson not to share a public document!! So much for transparency! ANOTHER campaign promise broken by Carlson !
Carlson had the stupidity to claim that this would help Springfield grow while forgetting to mention that this is a big hidden tax on businesses and a backdoor tax increase to finance a lake dredging project that they have zero idea what it will cost!
The proposed water rate increases would increase the average residential customer’s monthly water bill by $4 or $5 in the first year and between $5 and $7 in the second year according to CWLP officials.
And, according to the City’s Chief Engineer, increases similar to the proposed rate hikes also are proposed for sewer rates. For the average residential customer, the proposed sewer rate increase would add about $3 to monthly bills in the first year and about $4 in the second year.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but the way I see it is the customer currently pays for the water they receive twice. Once for the water that comes into their house and then again for those same units going out even though all of that water may not be going through the City’s sewer system and some could actually be used for filling pools, car washes, gutter cleaning or lawn and garden maintenance, etc. And, unless the customer pays to have a sewer meter installed, they are charged for the service of receiving the water and again for the service of disposing and treating all of which they have received – regardless of what that water is being used for.
And the proposed rate increase(s) would apply to all of that water – coming and going.
So, I guess the bottom line for the customer is that in addition to the proposed 32% water rate increases over the next two years a 32% sewer rate increase is being proposed, as well.
And since we pay for both services on the same bill – one responsible for delivering clean water and the other responsible for disposing and treating the used water, also known as sewage, the proposed 32% sewer rate increase would also be charged on top of the proposed 32% water rate increase starting March 1, 2024-2025. Then future rates on both the water and sewer services would automatically increase based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) also known as – the rate of inflation.
Well, isn’t that special?
So, what have we learned? Well, we know we are charged twice for our water. To receive it – then to dispose of it and to treat it – after we use it. And the proposed increase of 32% is for both.
But how will this proposed rate increase affect the monthly meter charges from CWLP’s Water Division, the City’s Public Works Sewer Division along with the Sangamon County Reclamation District for the treatment of the sewage?
Let’s take a closer look at our CWLP bill.
Believe it or not City residents are also charged twice for their water meter. Both charges have a fixed charge based on the size of the meter and also a variable charge for the amount of water actually used each month. The first charge is for the physical meter in the front yard and the actual amount of water being used. The second charge is for the City’s Public Works Sewer Division on the back end. The meter charge on the back end is used by the Sewer Division to maintain the City’s sewer system. Hmmm…
The average residential customer has one 5/8” water meter in their front yard that is supposed to be read monthly in order to obtain an accurate assessment of the customer’s monthly water usage so they can be billed for what they actually use – not an educated guess – since that actual reading of usage affects all the other variable charges on your bill. Our water meter was read only seven times last year and eight the year before. But we won’t go there.
Finally, there is also a fixed monthly charge from the Sangamon County Reclamation District to treat the sewage along with a variable charge for that treatment which is also based on the actual amount of water coming into the residence each month. These charges are already scheduled to increase 6.7% on May 1st so that leaves the two other meter charges in question.
That’s a total of three fixed and three variable charges – just for water! Two of the three fixed charges are based on need and the three variable charges are based on the actual amount of water being used each month by the customer.
This information is readily available on the City’s and CWLP’s website. It just takes a little digging to find it. Now you have some homework to do!
So, in closing be careful what you look for because it might raise more questions than answers but don’t let it ruin your weekend. Have you ever tried to figure out how you’re actually being charged when you take your car in for service?
It’s complicated by design.
Oh, one more thing. We now know that the monthly customer charge for treating the used water (sewage) by the Sangamon County Reclamation District is scheduled to increase by roughly 7% on May 1st. Thats already been decided by the County. Done deal.
This means that the fixed monthly charge for sewage treatment that is currently $7.24 each month will soon be $7.52, effective May 1st and the variable cost of treating the sewage that is currently $4.11 per unit each month will soon be $4.44 per unit, as well.
We also know that the variable cost of the sewage treatment is based on the amount of clean water units provided to the customer by CWLP each month which may not be an accurate assessment of the actual amount of sewage that will be traveling through the sewer system to the treatment plant – unless the customer is willing to pay the additional cost of having a sewer meter installed, that is.
So, for the average residential customer who lives in the City of Springfield and uses 5 units of water per month and is currently paying $27.79 per month to the Sangamon County Reclamation District, they will soon be paying $29.72 to have their sewage treated in addition to the proposed increased cost of receiving their water from CWLP along with the proposed increased cost of using the Citys Department of Public Works sewer system for their sewage to travel to the treatment plant.
Any questions? Good. Class dismissed!
Have a nice weekend.
How many increases does the city have to have, promising replaced sewer drains, cleaner water, etc and still not comes through. I lived in the city for 38 yrs, never saw it happen and now out of the city for 16 yrs, still nothing has been corrected and they still want more money! AND to add insult to injury, if one lives in the county, we have no voting rights, what is to be done, what needs to be done and who should be running the city. FINALLY, we get a Republican Mayor and the first thing that happens is a 32% electric and water increase with another 32% electric and water increase in 2026. Can’t you people understand, we are out of money!!!!!
In the typical budget shell game of kicking the can down the road and underfunding health and pension funds, unions should be livid, shouldn’t they?
no new hiring no lake dredging the lake use bonds and TIF money for repairs and replace