Politics
Lincoln Park Council Passes Revised Stormwater Fee Structure, Placing District Among Costlier Midwest Peers
A 14 percent increase in the annual stormwater utility charge, approved Tuesday night, puts Lincoln Park residents above the regional median but funds $4.2 million in long-deferred drainage upgrades.
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Lincoln Park's city council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to adopt a revised stormwater utility fee schedule that will raise the average residential bill from $87 to $99 per year beginning October 1, 2026. The change affects all 23,400 parcels within the municipality, with commercial and industrial property owners facing steeper increases tied to impervious surface calculations. The measure passed after roughly 90 minutes of public comment at the July 7 session held in the Lincoln Park Civic Center chambers.
The vote arrives as municipalities across the Midwest grapple with aging combined sewer infrastructure and a shrinking pool of federal grant dollars. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which historically covered up to 30 percent of local drainage capital costs, has seen its appropriation held flat since fiscal year 2024, leaving councils like Lincoln Park's to close funding gaps through rate adjustments. Infrastructure policy analysts note that roughly 60 percent of comparable-sized cities in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin raised stormwater fees between 2023 and 2025, according to survey data compiled by the Midwest Environmental Assistance Center.
How Lincoln Park Compares to Neighboring Communities
At $99 annually, Lincoln Park's residential stormwater charge will sit roughly 18 percent above the median for Cook County municipalities with populations between 20,000 and 40,000, based on figures published in the county's 2025 Municipal Finance Survey. Evanston currently charges $112 per year; Oak Park sits at $91. Comparable communities in Lake County average $84. Council staff cited the Lincoln Park figure as reflective of the district's older pipe network, portions of which date to the 1960s and were not designed to handle current runoff volumes. The engineering assessment commissioned in January 2026 by the Public Works Department found that 11 of the district's 34 primary drainage segments were operating at or beyond design capacity during a standard 10-year storm event.
For most homeowners, the October billing will add roughly $1 per month. Renters in multi-unit buildings will not see a direct charge on their utility statements, though tenant advocates note that landlords in Lincoln Park have historically passed utility cost increases through to rents within 12 to 18 months of a rate adjustment. The council's ordinance does include a low-income assistance credit of up to $24 annually for households enrolled in the city's existing utility assistance program, which currently serves approximately 870 households.
Where the $4.2 Million Goes and What Comes Next
The revenue is earmarked for a capital program the Public Works Department calls the Phase II Drainage Resilience Initiative. The largest single expenditure, projected at $1.8 million, is the replacement of a corrugated metal culvert on the north branch of Lincoln Creek near Waverly Avenue, a stretch identified in 2023 as the primary source of basement flooding complaints in the Willowgate neighborhood. Two additional projects, totaling $1.6 million, will line deteriorating storm sewers along the Parkside Drive commercial corridor. The remaining $800,000 is allocated for permeable pavement pilot installations at three municipal parking lots, a green infrastructure approach that policy analysts say has reduced runoff volumes by 20 to 40 percent in comparable deployments in cities including Milwaukee and Grand Rapids.
Construction on the Waverly Avenue culvert is expected to begin in spring 2027, pending contract procurement. The council approved a parallel motion directing the city manager to apply for a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program award by the November 2026 deadline, which, if successful, could offset up to 75 percent of the Willowgate culvert cost and free reserves for additional projects. The next regular council meeting is scheduled for August 4 at the Civic Center, when staff are expected to present the formal capital project timeline and bidding schedule for public review.