Oak Park board picks two-tier water rates that charge more above 10,000 gallons

Oak Park’s village board voted 6-1 on Monday, September 15, 2026, to replace the village’s flat water rate with a two-tier structure that charges more per gallon once a household uses more than 10,000 gallons in a quarter. The vote at Village Hall, 123 Madison St., sets the preferred rate structure for 2027 through 2031 and directs staff to draft the ordinance that will make it law, according to the agenda item on the village’s Legistar site and reporting by the Wednesday Journal.

The village says the change is about keeping its water and sewer fund solvent while nudging heavy users to conserve. For a typical Oak Park household, the practical effect in 2027 is a small increase; for pools, big lawns and apartment buildings on a single meter, the increase is larger. The key numbers from the consultant’s presentation to the board are below.

• Water now costs $11.94 per 1,000 gallons for everyone. In 2027, the first 10,000 gallons in a quarter will cost $12.18 per 1,000 gallons and everything above that $12.79.
• By 2031 the lower tier reaches $13.18 per 1,000 gallons and the upper tier $16.37, with the first tier rising about 2 percent a year and the second 6 to 7 percent a year.
• The sewer rate, which is not tiered, goes from $3.42 to $3.59 per 1,000 gallons in 2027 and to $4.37 by 2031, a 5 percent annual increase.
• The fixed monthly service charge for a standard connection rises from $12 to $13 in 2027 and to $21 by 2031.

Why the village says it had to act

Oak Park buys its water from the City of Chicago, and Chicago’s wholesale rate went up 1.85 percent this year after a 4 percent increase last year, the Wednesday Journal reported. The water and sewer fund pays for that water, for operations, for pay-as-you-go capital projects and for part of the debt service on larger projects. The staff report to the board says inflation, coming regulatory mandates and aging pipes are pushing expenses past revenues, and that the fund would become insolvent over time at 2026 rates. Public Works Director Rob Sproule told the board that doing nothing was not an option, per the Journal.

The consultant, working with village staff, set three financial goals for 2027 through 2031: keep a minimum fund balance in line with industry practice, stabilize cash flow, and raise the share of revenue that comes from fixed charges to about 20 percent. Fixed charges were 8.8 percent of rate revenue in 2026, according to the presentation, which is why the monthly service charge climbs 12 percent a year over the five-year period no matter which structure the board chose. The presentation also assumes a 2027 bond issue tied to the Percy Julian streetscape project and about 21 percent non-revenue water, meaning water that is pumped but never billed.

Three options, one pick

The board had three structures in front of it, all designed to raise the same total revenue. The staff report describes them this way.

1. Keep a single flat rate and raise water and sewer rates 5 percent a year, which is what Trustee James Taglia argued for.
2. Create two tiers with the cutoff at 7,000 gallons per quarter, a figure based on two people using 40 gallons a day for 90 days; about 20 percent of residential bills fall under that line.
3. Create two tiers with the cutoff at 10,000 gallons per quarter, based on three people at 40 gallons a day; about 40 percent of residential bills fall under that line.

The board chose the third. Trustee Brian Straw said the 10,000-gallon line addresses the average user and creates a chance to save money through native plantings and other conservation, the Journal reported. Taglia cast the only no vote, saying he did not understand why the village was focusing on a new mechanism when a flat increase would yield a similar result.

What it means for a big user or an apartment building

The consultant ran two examples. A household using 45,000 gallons a quarter, which is the average of the top 10 percent of users, pays $727.27 a quarter at 2026 rates. Under the chosen structure that bill becomes $770.02 in 2027, a 5.9 percent increase, compared with $764.83 under a flat 5 percent increase. The difference between the options for a heavy user in the first year is a few dollars.

Apartment and condo buildings raised a harder question, because a building with one meter is billed as a single connection and blows through the 10,000-gallon tier almost immediately. The consultant’s example of a 10-unit building using 70,000 gallons a quarter goes from $1,111.20 at 2026 rates to $1,179.50 under the new structure, versus $1,168.10 under a flat increase. That works out to roughly a dollar more per unit per quarter, a point Sproule made to the board when he said the difference among the three models for multifamily properties is relatively small.

The Park District of Oak Park was the loudest objector. Mitch Bowlin, the district’s director of business operations, told the board during public comment that pools and other high-volume uses could cost the district up to $15,000 more in the first year and $80,000 more by 2030, and that the district would have to look at service reductions. Erin Duffy, the village’s deputy director of public works, said the village’s own estimate for the park district was lower. Trustee Cory Wesley said the park district should find its own revenue rather than have residents cover the gap. “The people at home, the entire village, shouldn’t have to pay more for pool water,” Wesley said.

What happens next

The September 15 vote was a motion, not an ordinance. The staff report says the board will take up the formal rate ordinance later this year so that the 2027 budget can be built on the new revenue estimates. The same night, the board unanimously created an ad hoc Housing Advisory Task Force to work on affordable housing and the Shape Oak Park zoning proposal, and it approved the 2027 lead service line replacement plan, according to the meeting record and a separate Wednesday Journal report.

Residents who want to see where their own bill lands can check quarterly usage on the village water bill; the 10,000-gallon line is per connection per quarter, and the consultant’s data shows that a bit under 40 percent of residential bills already come in under it.

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