Some Oakwood residents are trying to stop the village’s water provider from increasing their monthly bills for a second time.
Back in 2014, the village sold its water infrastructure to Utility Services of Illinois, since it did not have enough money to maintain the system. The company hiked water bills in 2016 and is proposing a 30 percent increase to go into effect next year. Cathi Cannon Fritz first raised concerns about the issue as a resident, and is now a village trustee.
“People complain about quality, which is one thing, but then the price,” she says. “Together, it’s a real issue, that if you’re going to pay a premium price, you’d like to have a more quality product.”
The village trustees decided not to hire an attorney during last month’s meeting to look into the matter. Fritz says that wouldn’t have mattered, as she later learned that June 2nd was deadline for public comment to be submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission. However, she says residents could still have some luck.
“There are 20 some other territories, villages (and) communities that are under USI,” she explains. “Four others did hire an attorney to intervene, and testimony was filed by June 2nd. Even though we missed the timeline, four other villages did hit the timeline for that, so (it’s) kind of good and bad news.”
Fritz acknowledges that Utility Services of Illinois is a for-profit company that needs to stay in business, but she says residents want to know why the company needs to raise its rates by a substantial amount.
