Lower Electricity Rates Discussed, Higher Water Rates Passed at Council Meeting

Property taxes, electricity, water rates and the Salvation Army made up a full agenda at the village council meeting Tuesday night.

First, the council unanimously passed a motion to estimate the 2011 tax levy.

Next, the council unanimously passed a motion to continue exploring the possibility of creating a stormwater utility.

The process is supposed to be two-way, Mayor Martin Tully said, as village staff educates residents and business owners and the stakeholders give feedback to staff.

Much of the meeting, however, was spent learning about the potential for electrical aggregation in Downers Grove.

The Will County Government League has invited the village to join nearly 20 other municipalities in an electricity aggregation process—which means buying electricity directly from a supplier and thereby reducing electricity costs.

ComEd is the only company authorized to deliver electricity in this region but they are not the only suppliers.

Mike Klemens, from the Will County Government League, said the goal is to seek lower electricity rates for residential and small commercial retail customers. Residents would be notified that they can opt out of the program if they desire.

Before anything can be done in Downers Grove there needs to be a referendum on the ballot as to whether or not the village may institute an electrical aggregation program.

Municipalities must notify the county clerk of their intention to place a referendum on the ballot by December 18, Klemens said.

So, if an aggregation were in place, what would it mean for residents?

An electric bill is broken up into two parts: 60 percent is the cost of the electric supply, and 30 percent is the delivery charge, Klemens said.

With an aggregation, ComEd would still deliver the power, the bill would still come from ComEd, and if the lights go out, residents would still call ComEd. Only the supply portion of the bill would change—iand hopefully it would be reduced.

Commissioner Bob Barnett said this was a great example of elected officials and staff within and outside the community working together and “thinking outside of the box” to be efficient and reduce costs.

Regarding the referendum, Tully said his main concern is making sure when Election Day comes around residents have a clear understanding of the referendum. People may be wary of big government if they don’t really understand the process—and savings.

 “It bears repeating that this has absolutely nothing to do with reliability,” Tully clarified.

Commissioner William Waldack framed the issue this way: each resident will have a chance to vote twice on this issue—first on the referendum and then on the actual aggregation agreement.

Later, the council also voted to increase water rates on all bills after January 1. The ordinance increased the 2012 water fund revenue for the sale of water to approximately $11 million.

The last item on the agenda for a first read had to do with Salvation Army’s request to amend the zoning code to allow a staffed donation truck in the parking lot outside their store on 75th Street during business hours.

Village staff, however, recommended the council deny the request, saying the truck would “negatively impact the appearance” of the property.

Donation boxes were allowed in the past, but not anymore. There is no substantial difference between a donation box and a donation truck, as it relates to the village’s concerns, said Community Development Director Tom Dabareiner.

Commissioner Marilyn Schnell said that the council directed staff to clean up a district because they were getting complaints from residents. It took staff several months to complete that process, she said.

“The bottom line is, from my perspective, whether we wasted four months of staff time…or we meant it,” Schnell said. She went on to say she didn’t think it was a hardship to bring donations to the door.

Salvation Army accepts donations at the back door, and has a small, handwritten sign on the front door asking for donations to be brought to the back. 

Commissioner Bob Barnett said since hours of operation for the store and the truck would be the same, there didn’t seem to be much purpose.

However, Mitchell Melamed, an attorney for Salvation Army who is also on the advisory board, said the truck was necessary because the front entrance is small and there’s a fire lane in front of the store which prevents people from stopping to unload there anyway. And the back door, he said, is difficult to get to. People haven’t been coming to the back, he said.

There has been a dramatic reduction in donations since the outside donation bins were removed a few months ago, according to Major Larry Manzella, an administrator for the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center and the person responsible for 14 of their thrift stores.

“The donations are just not coming in,” he said, and people aren’t bringing donations to the back. The Salvation Army started supplementing donations form other stores, but then those stores started hurting.

“We cannot operate a store without donations,” Manzella said. “The reality is this store is going nowhere quickly.”

Two Downers Grove residents shared their opinions, saying they were still donating even without a parking lot donation receptacle and one woman said it was convenient and well-lit when she brought donations to the back of the store.

The council will vote on these issues at their next council meeting.