Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, addressed the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) board of commissioners during its public hearing on the agency's tentative 2015 budget. The budget is due to take effect Jan. 1.
Msall pointed out that the MWRD's new Strategic Business Plan for FY2015 and beyond provides a potential new revenue source that incorporates state legislation passed in 2014; this legislation allows the MWRD to sell resources like biosolids and phosphorus recovered through normal treatment processes.
"The markets for these byproducts have the ability to become new revenues streams for the MWRD," Msall said. "The District's commendable long-term planning also includes a comprehensive and publicly-available Capital Improvement Plan."
"The Board of Commissioners and staff are aware that it is important to maximize efficiencies when determining every line in the budget," said Chairman of Finance Mariyana Spyropoulos. "We are all working hard to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. It's always good to hear from an outside expert that we are doing everything right."
Source: MWRD
