Water Bills in Rockford Increase in 2016

Sorry Rockford, your water bills are going to be more expensive.

A few aldermen tried to stop it from happening last night, but it passed anyways in a close vote according to WREX.

In order to raise the water bill, it needed eight votes to pass. It only received seven votes, but the mayor used his voting power to vote yes.

Of course no one wants to see the rates raise, but it’s something that the city needs to do.

On average, the city replaces one mile of water main per year, but there are 120 miles that need to be replaced.

The water mains in Rockford constantly need repairs when they break. It's expensive to replace them, but by raising the water rates in Rockford will make it cheaper to replace the old water mains.

How will this impact your bill? Well, the majority of households will pay about $1.30 more a month for all of 2016. An extra $15 or so over the course of a year doesn’t seem like much, but it will add up big time.