By: Diane Benjamin
Of course, Normal is calling it “fee increases” or “user fee increases”. Regardless of the terminology, Normal needs money and you have it until they take more of it.
Standard procedure for sailing these past the Council is:
- Comparing rates with surrounding cities (PDF page 167)
- Burying the Council docs with technical gibberish so the increases appear vital (all the rest of the pages)
The documentation starts on page 119 and continues to page 324 – Full color pictures included!
http://www.normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2689
205 pages are immaterial when you will be paying more because Normal purposely segregated funds. This fund needs money and the Town can only get it from you. It would be unconscionable to re-use furniture they already own in the new building where they are leasing an entire floor. ( https://blnnews.com/2017/07/16/you-arent-supposed-to-notice/ )
Maybe the Town would have money if they weren’t rebating tax money and paying for grounds maintenance for Rivian – See PDF page 11
At lease Chris Koos turns in expense reports for some of his travels instead of putting it on a City PCard! Did you know Normal paid for a Lahood – I assume Darin – to fly in?
Maybe if Normal stopped entertaining people they would have money for essential services! See all of the bills starting on page 10 – tons of entertainment expenses and of course advertising to get people there.
So, how much more money do they want to steal from you?
1. System-Maintenance Fee. A monthly system-maintenance fee is imposed regardless of the quantity of water consumed. The amount of the system maintenance fee is as follows:
a. For bills issued before October 1, 2017, the monthly fee is $2.50.
b. For bills issued on or after October 1, 2017, the monthly fee is $3.00.
c. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2018, the monthly fee is $3.25.
d. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2019, the monthly fee is $3.50.
e. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2020, the monthly fee is $3.75.
f. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2021, the monthly fee is $4.00.
g. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2022, the monthly fee is $4.25.
2. Use Fee. The use fee is imposed per 1,000 gallons of water consumed during the billing period. The fee is as follows:
a. For bills issued before October 1, 2017, the fee is $1.27 per 1,000 gallons.
b. For bills issued on or after October 1, 2017, the fee is $2.02 per 1,000 gallons.
c. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2018, the fee is $2.23 per 1,000 gallons.
d. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2019, the fee is $2.44 per 1,000 gallons.
e. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2020, the fee is $2.65 per 1,000 gallons.
f. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2021, the fee is $2.86 per 1,000 gallons.
g. For bills issued on or after April 1, 2022, the fee is $3.07 per 1,000 gallons.
Find your last bill and see how many gallons you used.
Then you can figure out how much your bill is going up. The Town of Normal was nice enough to raise multiple years at once, that way they won’t have to put up with hearing of citizens until at least 2022. They aren’t done raising taxes, so don’t worry about having to wait until then.
Is your income going to more than double by 2022? This bill will, what will you have to cut to pay for it?
Bloomington recently completed their fee rate study late last Summer or early Fall. At their November retreat, they (Renner) decided to wait until after the election to announce the increase. Now that Normal has increased their rate fees, Bloomington will be next and be compared to Normal’s. Funny how that works.
All the rest of those cities will compare their rates and realize they are too low!
Diane. Thanks for all you do.
I must correct you on one item. They didn’t pay for LaHood to fly to Normal. That was a trip to DC sponsored by LaHood’s office (and I assume what Koos’ reimbursements are for).
Thanks, I just saw Fly-in and figured Flying-in was to here