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Water rates on the rise in DeKalb Hike in bill will help city fund infrastructure needs, improvements, well rehabilitation By BRITTANY KEEPERMAN bkeeperman@shawmedia.com DeKALB – City residents can expect to pay more for their water come next summer. A rate increase of 2.2 percent will show up on DeKalb water bills in July. The city also will be billing more frequently – every two months as opposed to every three. City officials said the rate hikes are needed to pay for infrastructure needs such as new
pipes, supply well rehabilitation and improvements to water treatment facilities. The new rate plan passed at first reading Monday and will be subject to a second reading, final vote at the DeKalb City Council’s next meeting Nov. 9. Water rates will rise at a rate of 4.5 percent from 2017 through 2020. After that, rates will increase according to the consumer price index, which is how the city currently determines the prices.
In 2016, residents will pay $3.22 per 100-cubic-feet of water, which is equal to about 748 gallons. In 2017, users will pay 3.36 per 100-cubic-feet and by 2020, rates will be at $3.84 per 100-cubic-feet. “I think [the new rates] addresses our infrastructure needs as well as the operational needs of the water system,” Mayor John Rey said. “I think council is taking a proactive stance on looking at those needs on a 10-year basis and taking ap-
propriate action.” The rates are based on plans to fund 10 years worth of capital improvements, while maintaining a minimum balance of $1 million in the capital fund and keep operating revenue reserves to at least 25 percent of projected operation, maintenance and debt service expenses. Proposed capital projects total $13.1 million, based on recommendations from engineering company Burns and
McDonnell, which completed a study of the city’s water system. The program largely focuses on water main replacement and removal, which will cost about $10 million. DeKalb’s Finance Advisory Committee also has recommended the city review fund balance reserves and remaining projects before entering into any debt for the water project. Loans are recommended in the improvement plan, but ultimately need to come before City
Council for approval. Another recommendation was to keep at least 3 percent of the increase separate from other funds to be sure that it will go toward specified capital projects, Finance Director Cathy Haley said. Right now, water fees are collected in one fund, not split up to be allocated specifically to certain items like capital improvements or maintenance work.
See WATER, page A6
Congress, Obama agree on budget
COMMUNITY LEADERS HONORED
The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mary Beth Nolan – mnolan@shawmedia.com
Carme Gregory (left) of H&R Block gets a hug from Dianne Leifheit, who introduced her as an ATHENA Award nominee Tuesday during the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce ATHENA Reception. Gregory became the 26th recipient of the award, which recognizes an individual for business and professional accomplishments and for serving as a role model to encourage women to reach their full leadership potential.
Recognizing accomplishments Longtime H&R Block director receives ATHENA Award By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com
DeKALB – Those who know Carme Gregory will tell you of her altruism, her “boundless energy” for improving the lives of others and, above all else, her selflessness – except Gregory herself, who didn’t realize it was her name being called Tuesday at the ATHENA Awards. Gregory was the 26th recipient of the ATHENA Award, which recognizes women for their business and professional accomplishments, community service, and work as a strong female role model. “I heard the name, but I didn’t hear it as mine and my husband had to say, ‘That’s you,’ ” Gregory said. Gregory, the premium director and master tax adviser for H&R Block in Sycamore, was one of five women nominated for the award. “When I look at the people that have been there in the past and think I’m now part of that group, it’s a little mind-boggling,” she said. “It’ll be tomorrow before it
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2015 ATHENA Award Winner
Visit Daily-Chronicle. com for video of the awards ceremony.
Nominees: Terri Lehan Hettel – Lehan Drugs Debra Boughton – Northern Illinois Joanne Kantner – Kishwaukee University Athletics College Carme Gregory – H&R Block Nancy Teboda – Children’s LearnPremium ing Center
2015 Women of Accomplishment Sue Guio – retired from city of Clairol DeKalb Mary Beth Van Buer – retired from Barbara Samulowitz – retired from NIU really sinks in.” Gregory was the first woman inducted into the chamber’s hall of fame and has served with the NIU Anthropology Museum as well as the DeKalb Area Women’s Center. She is a past recipient of the Kishwaukee College Instructor of the Year Award and has been a volunteer docent for the Ellwood House Museum since 1973, said 1992 ATHENA Award recipient Dianne Leifheit. “Her co-workers recognize her as a mentor, teacher and leader, encouraging and empowering
women to see their own potential including single moms needing to earn an income,” Leifheit said as she introduced Gregory at the reception. “She takes great pride in the accomplishments of others.” In fact, Gregory is trained and well-practiced in spotting others’ potential and helping them put it to good use. Long before her 44year-stint with H&R Block, she worked as a recruiter for a personnel company in Washington D.C. “In D.C., I was a head hunter
and I don’t think I’ve ever stopped being that,” Gregory said. This is what makes Gregory stand out, co-worker Christina Thompson said. “She has connections. She has brought in people to work in our office that other people probably wouldn’t have hired, and [she] helps sponsor them,” Thompson said. “There are some women in our community that are successes because of Carme’s guidance and her giving everyone a chance.” In addition to the ATHENA Award, three women were named Women of Accomplishment on Tuesday, which recognizes individuals who fit ATHENA Award criteria but who are retired or no longer working. They are Sue Guio, Barbara Samulowitz and Mary Beth Van Buer.
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WASHINGTON – Striving to end a cycle of crisis, congressional leaders and the White House united Tuesday behind an ambitious budget and debt deal aimed at restoring a semblance of order to Capitol Hill and ending the threat of government shutdowns and defaults until well after a new president takes office. The outgoing House speaker, Republican John Boehner of Ohio, prepared to push the deal through his unruly chamber today as his last act before departing Congress at the end of the week. All but forced to resign under conservative pressure, Boehner was nonetheless going out on his own terms. The budget deal stands as an in-your-face rebuttal to his hardline antagonists, on Capitol Hill and off, who angrily oppose spending increases and compromises with Democratic President Barack Obama. They seethed but acknowledged they were powerless to stop an agreement all but certain to pass with votes from Democrats and a sizable number of Republicans. Boehner brushed off their complaints, declaring that he intended to make good on his promise to leave a “clean barn” for his successor, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is set to get the GOP nomination for speaker today and win election on the House floor the day after that. “I didn’t want him to walk into a dirty barn full of you-know-what. So I’ve done my best to try to clean it up,” a good-humored Boehner told reporters after a closed-door gathering of House Republicans, his last such weekly meeting after nearly five years as speaker and a quarter-century on Capitol Hill. During the meeting, Republican lawmakers had a parting gift for Boehner: a golf cart with Ohio license plates reading “MR SPKR”. Boehner told them he had a gift in return: The budget deal. The deal would boost military spending as sought by defense hawks, even as it would take away the threat of “fiscal cliffs” by a GOP-led Congress in the middle of a campaign season where Republicans are aiming for the White House and trying to hang onto their slim Senate majority. Struck over recent days in closely held talks with White House officials and top House and Senate leader of both parties, the agreement would raise the government debt ceiling until March 2017, removing the threat of an unprecedented and market-rupturing national default just days from now.
AP photo
Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio (left) accompanied by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana (right) talks with reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington.
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