Days before his runoff victory, then-mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson paid the city more than $3,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills, raising questions about his personal finances and potentially preventing him from taking office. There was also.
Now, the mayor is extending a helping hand to Chicagoans who are drowning in exorbitant water bills through no fault of their own.
The City Council Finance Committee announced the Mayor's decision to provide approximately $2.4 million in financial relief to homeowners and business owners drowning in water bills due to underground service line leaks that will be repaired after January 1, 2023. The two-year plan is poised to be voted on.
A press release issued Monday included a quote in which the mayor explained his rationale and made veiled references to his own situation.
“I know what it’s like to grow up in a household where objectives aren’t always aligned and one unexpected bill can have disastrous consequences. I know what it's like to have that hanging over your head,” the mayor was quoted as saying.
“This pilot program will provide financial relief to families facing exorbitant bills due to uncontrolled underground leaks.”
The program is aimed at residential customers with single-family homes, two- or three-unit apartments, and commercial property owners with water pipes of 1 inch or less. Eligible customers must own a property with a leak and apply for a suspension once the leak has been confirmed and repaired by the Water Authority.
Eligible property owners will receive a credit that reduces their water bill during the leak to the average bill of non-leak customers. This two-year program is available to all customers, regardless of income.
However, there is a catch. If eligible customers have past due balances, they must pay in full or enroll in a payment plan.
The two-year pilot is expected to cost the city $572,000 in administrative costs and nearly $2.4 million in lost revenue.
A presentation distributed to councilors gave an example of how much relief the program could provide.
In one example, a woman who owned a three-story building with an outdoor basement safe typically received bimonthly bills ranging from $250 to $300.
Instead, she was hit with a $1,500 bimonthly bill in March 2004. She checked the building for leaks, broken pipes, and malfunctioning toilets, but after finding none of the above, she called her 311 and alerted the water department to an outdoor water leak. I asked them to confirm.
As expected, the city discovered a leak in the underground service line from the meter storage to the building. The line has been replaced. City Hall then reduced her bill from her $1,500 to her $275, saving her $1,225.
Prime Minister Johnson clearly considered this relief program so important that he proposed it directly to the committee and pushed for its passage on the same day. The process of introducing a bypass in city council is usually reserved for urgent matters.
City Comptroller Chasse Rehwinkel said the issues the city is trying to resolve were raised by members of the Finance Committee during approval hearings.
Rehwinkel said councilors complained about underground leaks, “causing the bills to go up, sometimes from $100 or $200 per cycle to $1,500, $3,000 or even $10,000. “There were times when I would become one,” he recalled.
“This agency has challenged me to explain the fairness of these high charges and explain why Chicagoans should be paying for services they did not honestly request,” Rehwinkel said. he said on Monday.
“You were right to press me and my office on this matter. The city provides water as a service to its residents. These residents requested this additional water out of good faith. It is also not reasonable to believe that they were aware of the leak that could have caused the bill to increase. This is a policy question that the city must answer for its residents. And it still is.”
The change has been “long overdue,” Aldo said. Ray Lopez (15th) told Rehwinkel.
“I want to commend you for working on this,” Lopez said. “There is a huge need for them, so I hope they will go beyond being pilots.”
The relief plan before Monday's Finance Committee isn't the first time it's throwing a life preserver at water customers.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot called water a “fundamental human right” and halted water shutoffs, then enforced a series of suspensions over water condemnations.