Mayor’s Water Affordability Proposal A Good Start, But Chicago Can do More

For Immediate Release—October 23, 2019

Chicago—In her budget address to the City Council, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot today announced support for an income-based water billing program accessible to households earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level. Over the last decade, the City of Chicago has tripled water service costs and sent shut off notices to more than 150,000 households. 

Food & Water Action Organizer Jenya Polozova had this response to Mayor Lightfoot’s announcement:

“We are encouraged by Mayor Lightfoot’s support for a water affordability program that would provide reduced water and sewer rates to low-income families. 

“But as we await details on her proposal, we encourage her to adopt a percentage of income affordability program offered by the Water-for-All ordinance. Alderman Carlos Rosa introduced this groundbreaking ordinance in 2017 to ensure that water bills are permanently affordable to the 194,000 households in the city with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level. The Water-for-All ordinance also includes policies that will ensure democratic control over our water system and equitable investment in water infrastructure across all our neighborhoods. This is the kind of policy that the Mayor and City Council need to implement to ensure safe, affordable water for all Chicago families.”

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Contact: Julie Light, 510-992-4083, [email protected]

Food & Water Action is the political advocacy arm of the research and education organization Food & Water Watch. We mobilize people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water and climate problems of our time.