Budget Message / Highlights - Metropolitan Water Reclamation ...

METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
2009 BUDGET
Cook County Watersheds
The primary objective of the watershed plans is
the determination of capital improvement projects
to help alleviate regional stormwater management
problems. The District will prioritize potential
projects arising from the watershed plans on a
countywide basis. Until the watershed plans are
completed, the District will consider funding
projects which provide regional benefits and have
been studied and approved by regional agencies
such as the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources/Office of Water Resources and the
United States Army Corps of Engineers. One of
the first projects may be the creation of a reservoir
at Heritage Park in the Village of Wheeling.
Additional downstream projects are contingent on
this additional compensatory upstream stormwater
storage, including the Levee 37 project protecting
areas of Prospect Heights and Mount Prospect.
Work on the countywide regulatory ordinance, the
Watershed Management Ordinance (WMO),
began in 2007 and will conclude in 2009. The
ordinance will establish uniform, minimum,
countywide stormwater management regulations
including drainage and detention, floodplain
management, wetland protection, stream habitat
and riparian environment protection, soil erosion
and sediment control, and water quality. A draft of
the WMO will undergo a public review period in
2009 prior to its adoption by the District Board of
Commissioners.
The Maintenance and Operations Department initiated a Small Stream Maintenance Program (SSMP) in 2006 to
provide stream cleaning services for the removal of debris and fallen trees which impede the flow of the streams and
cause flooding. The SSMP has expanded services to include approximately 1,000 miles of small streams in Cook
County. Stream cleaning is done with a combination of in-house staff and contracted services based on citizen and
community requests for debris removal and field surveys by District staff. District staff work in concert with local
communities to remove and dispose of debris as needed.
Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust
The District provides subsidized health care benefits for its retirees. The Government Accounting Standards Board
(GASB) pronouncement 45, requires reporting of the future liability for maintaining these benefits in the
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The initial projection of the future liability to the District was
estimated as being as large as $900 million, depending on the underlying assumptions and adoption of policies.
The Board adopted staff’s policy recommendation on July 13, 2006 to establish an irrevocable trust for funding the
future liability with the following operating parameters:
• 50 percent funded level target;
• 50 years to reach funding level;
• $10 million funding in each of the first 5 years beginning in 2007 from the Corporate Fund;
• An initial investment mixture of 50 percent equities and 50 percent bonds with a maximum limit of 65 percent
equities that allows for investment growth.
The policy set adopted by the District is cautious by design, and will provide ample opportunity for adjustment as
experience is gained. Future direction may also be changed significantly by national health care policies and programs.
The accumulated unfunded Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) obligation was approximately $443 million when
reported in the 2006 CAFR.
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