Dupage Policy Journal

Officials from Hanover Park discussed their ideas and methods for water bill relief efforts at their April 6 village board meeting, heeding discussions on prioritization and fund accounts put in place to support struggling residents.

Trustee Herb Porter opened the discussion while they were approving a payment to the Park District for the aquatic center, questioning why they didn’t put more into prioritizing water relief funds. Later in the meeting, the city officials gave some background information, sharing that they had created a $2,500 trial fund account to provide relief services to residents struggling to pay their water bill, and had their finance department work with other communities to develop a possible program and solution for the village in the long term.

"We didn't want to just leave it as an open and we wanted to put some type of amount on that $100 (which) is the recommendation, so that we can make sure that we can spread it out over more residents than maybe one or two," Juliana Maller, Village Manager of Hanover Park said. "That way, we can evaluate as we go through the year to see whether more funds are needed or if the $2,500 is adequate."

In discussions with the townships, Maller said, they expressed a desire to be sent individuals in need first as they are able to help in ways beyond water assistance, including food banks and child care assistance.

"They have many programs, and so they would like to help that individual as a whole first and then know that we would have additional funds to help if for some reason, they exhausted the aid through the townships," Maller added.

This comes as Lynda Chambers, the assistant finance director, said that in talking with nearby townships, the city’s relief funds will be added to the list that the township helps low-income and struggling residents apply for and get assistance from throughout the year. If residents go through this process and are still in need of help, they will be referred back to the village, which could provide an additional $100 a year to help them make payments. This village will start this supplementary program when the water rate increases go into effect on May 1 and will adjust the amount in coming years if need be.

The village also approved a payment of $61,760 to the park district in fill-up fees so they can open up the Aquatic Center to residents this summer. While different numbers had been discussed, officials explained that the pool fill-up number this year was estimated at a little over $90,000, but the park district’s budget could handle some of that cost and the village was only filling in its shortfall amount, which was less than previous years.