CHICAGO — A federal judge has brushed off efforts by Cicero, Ill., to block a BNSF Railway lawsuit over a $1 million increase in sewer rates, saying the ordinance targeted at the railroad’s yard “does not simply impact railroads — it effectively holds them hostage.”
The Cook County Record reports that U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger wrote in his decision that “Cicero sent BNSF an unmistakable message: Pay up, or get run out of town … It’s at least plausible that the 1,000% spike in sewer rates interferes with rail service and prevents BNSF from carrying out its business.”
BNSF filed suit in June 2021 after Cicero passed an ordinance requiring railroads, and only railroads, to a pay a $350-per-acre charge for sewer service, which led the railroad’s sewer bills to increase by 1,250%, from $6,643 to $90,300 per month [see “Illinois town, BNSF square off in lawsuits …,” Trains News Wire, July 22, 2021]. The town argued the rate increase was necessary to address storm runoff from BNSF’s major yard in the city, and also sued over flooding near the railroad’s Cicero Yard; that suit has since been combined with the current action in U.S. District Court.
Seeger had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the Cicero rate increase, saying BNSF would likely ultimately prevail in the dispute.
Checking the website of the City of Cicero, the city trustee meeting minutes have mysteriously stopped being available after 2/8/2022. While all of the status of their legal and court issues are clearly published, the only reference I can find is a request from the city attorney to take a specific legal issue to closed session and they voted unanimously to do so.
I also went back to the June 2021 trustee minutes and there is one line that says “this item was struck from the record at the request of legal counsel….no action taken”.
Since Illinois doesn’t have a sunshine law, Cicero can have closed session meeting with no minutes.
The City of Cicero did issue the building permit to BNSF for them to regrade and modernize the Cicero yard. Reportedly, this is the issue at hand, that this work now permits more rain water to exit the property now. The current sewage rate was based on the fact that the majority of the yard was essentially “open” or non paved except in certain places for maintenance equipment.
Cicero was claiming that recent flooding is being caused by this updated work by BNSF which is allowing more runoff to exit and not be absorbed by the earth.
$350 an acre worth of water treatment? I doubt it.
Rain Tax, we have it here