The city of Elgin has been awarded a $10.8 million interest-free loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to replace lead water lines, reducing the amount of bonds they’ll need to sell this year.
City Manager Rick Kozal announced the loan approval — which is twice as much as city officials was expecting — at Wednesday night’s Elgin City Council meeting.
The additional funding became available because other municipalities either withdrew their loan applications or didn’t submit them, Kozal said. As a result, the city will be able to reduce its planned bond sale to $5.2 million, which in turn reduces the amount of interest paid, he said.
Prior to this development, Elgin was expecting to receive a $5 million IEPA loan and to sell $15 million in bonds at a 4% interest rate for its 2024 schedule of lead water service line replacements.
The city also received a $2 million state grant, secured by Sen. Cristina Castro and Rep. Anna Moeller, both D-Elgin, that will allow another 150 more homes to have line replacement work done before the 2023 program ends in May, Kozal said.
The third year of the program starts this June and continues through December during which an estimated 870 lead service lines will be replaced free of charge for homeowners. A map of the homes included in the 2024 program can be found at elginil.gov/2606/YEAR-3—2024-Lead-Water-Service-LineRe#:~:text=The%20City%20identified%20approximately%20870,Year%203%20project%20area%20here.
Service lines are those that bring water from the city’s main water pipeline into residents’ homes. While scaling in pipes typically prevents lead from being released, there are instances where it has been found in the drinking water of some houses. Only structures built before 1986 are affected. Lead is not present in the city’s water supply, officials have said.
Lead exposure can cause serious health problems, especially in children, and can result in learning disabilities and damage to the central nervous system, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Under current state mandates, Elgin must have all of its lead water lines replaced by 2036. Grants, low-interest loans and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act have paid for about 1,305 of the city’s 10,477 lead service lines to be replaced as of December 2023.
Kozal said Elgin has been aggressively pursuing funding for the service line replacement program so that money collected through city utility fees does not need to be tapped.
Although water rates were increased by 8% this year to bring in more money for line replacements, staff has “consistently worked to find ways to fund this program at the lowest possible cost to residents,” he told the council Wednesday night.
Kozal credited Water Director Nora Bertram, Chief Financial Officer Debra Nawrocki, and Public Services Director Mike Pubentz for their ongoing work in securing funding.
“Good work (from) everybody,” Mayor Dave Kaptain said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.