The Collinsville City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday requesting Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to either veto Senate Bill 3507 or make an amendatory veto.
Collinsville City Hall / Photo by Roger Starkey
The bill calls for restrictions on how much townships and municipalities can charge new users for water and sewage connection fees. If the bill becomes law, the fee cannot exceed 1/6 of the user’s estimated annual charge.
Collinsville calculates new water and sewage connection charges based on the cost to the City and passes the cost along, usually to the developer. According to the resolution, from May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014, Collinsville collected $110,010 in water and sewer connections fees, with an actual cost to the City of $99,756.28. Under the new formula, Collinsville would have collected $2,152.80.
The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Kyle McCarter, of Vandalia, Mayor John Miller said, because certain townships in the state are overcharging excessively for the connections. According to Effingham Radio, O’Fallon developer Darwin Miles testified before the Illinois Senate on March 20 that the same connection for an 8,000 square-foot office building would cost $750 in Roseville, in Cook County, $1,500 in DuPage County and $51,800 dollars in Caseyville Township.
Illinois General Assembly records indicate that Representative Dwight Kay (Edwardsville) attempted to introduce an amendment to the bill on May 14 that would have excluded municipalities from the law. Despite gaining approval from the Rules Committee on May 15, the amendment was not added to the bill.
The resolution passed by Collinsville Monday – and O’Fallon and Highland last week – calls either for a complete veto of the bill or for Quinn to amend it to remove Section 10, which is the inclusion of municipalities. The bill was sent to Quinn to June 25. He has 60 days to act upon it or it will automatically become law.
If the bill becomes law in its present form, Collinsville may require developers to perform the water and sewer connection themselves, Director of Collinsville Water/Wastewater Dennis Kress said. The developers would need their own equipment and the price, therefore, would be higher.
The Illinois Municipal League and Southwestern Illinois Council of Mayors oppose bill SB 3507 in its present form and are encouraging an amendatory veto, or an outright veto. The bill passed the Senate on April 1 with a 54-0 vote and the House on May 27 with a 114-0 vote.
