Flossmoor Votes 'Yes' On $7.2M Water System Repair

Flossmoor residents Tuesday voted in favor of paying their part for $7.28 million needed for the village to fix a decrepit water system.

With all precincts reporting, more than 80 percent of voters (4,192 compared to 1,046) approved the expenditure. The village plans to partition the project into three phases over the next eight years. The focus will be on repairing the worst 18 percent of the whole system.

“We’re hopeful, if we’re targeting our most problematic (water) main, that we will get the most bang for our buck,” Flossmoor Village Manager Bridget Wachtel said in a former Patch article.

According to the has been losing one out of every three gallons—$320,000 worth—of water due to leaks and main breaks. They hope to knock that number down to one gallon lost of every five.

In addition to improved loss control, the improvements will improve the stability of mains integrity and hydrant water flow during fires. Currently, main breaks have been costing the village roughly $100,000 annually.

So how will this affect residents? The village estimates taxpayers having to pay an increase of $107.47 for a $200,000 home, $167.25 for a $300,000 home and $286.80 for a $500,000 home, according to a previous memo from Wachtel.

Had residents not voted in favor of the referendum, the village intended to pursue alternative, more costly forms of financing the repair project.

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