Freeport trustees OK water rate hike

Water usage rates in Freeport will rise $95 per year for the average homeowner, after the village trustees voted an increase Monday night.

The hike, approved unanimously, will cause the average residential water bill to climb to $487 per year, officials said. An average water user is described as one who uses 150,000 gallons of water in a year, officials said.

The village water department needs to raise rates because of a combination of debt payments and repairs to the system, said Bob Holzmacher, a consultant to the village. The department has a budget of about $5 million annually, he said.

“It’s an unhappy topic,” Holzmacher said.

The rate hike will allow the water department to raise an extra $1.24 million, Holzmacher said. That will allow the department to dedicate $465,000 to capital improvements, $622,000 to paying down its deficit and debts, and $150,000 to stabilizing future rates, he said.