State Senator Steve McClure (R-Springfield) has advanced legislation designed to reduce costs for customers of non-profit wastewater treatment utilities.
“This is a common-sense bill that will provide much-needed consistency in how water and waste-water facilities are treated, which could help offset rate increases for customers,” said Senator McClure. “When we can fix outdated rules, saving money for families, it’s a win in my book.”
Senate Bill 2356 updates how not-for-profit wastewater treatment facilities are valued. Under current law, those facilities are assessed with higher values, which leads to higher tax assessments, and typically those costs are passed on to utility customers.
McClure’s legislation makes the assessment process the same for both types of facilities, potentially saving money for customers of the utilities. The change would potentially help customers statewide but was filed specifically to help utility customers in Effingham and Jasper Counties.
“Wastewater infrastructure requires a high amount of capital to maintain, and by reducing the taxes on the facilities the savings can be used for operations and maintenance expenses which will put less stress on rate payers,” said Bill Teichmiller, CEO of EJ Water Cooperative. “We appreciate this bi-partisan effort to help wastewater facilities reduce costs and provide affordable services to their customers.”
McClure’s bill passed the Illinois Senate on March 24th and now awaits action in the House.