More Government “Waste” in Cook County
In recent weeks there has been a lot of bad news surfacing for taxpayers when it comes to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
by Brian Costin
With our proximity to Lake Michigan the Chicagoland area has access to one of the largest and highest quality fresh water sources on the planet. This natural abundance in resources generally let us take for granted water & sewer services, but perhaps we should be paying closer attention.
An article in the Chicago Tribune today identifies more “waste”-ful government in Cook County. This time the Tribune identifies a sludge cooker project which which could cost Cook County area taxpayers up to $217 million dollars, despite the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD) general superintendent saying “we don’t need it”.
The giant sewage-cooking machine in west suburban Stickney is not only exorbitantly costly, it was supposed to be finished more than 10-years ago.
This being Cook County, it should be no surprise that the original deal was brokered by political insiders. The project has been plagued with problems and cost overruns since commissioners awarded the lucrative contract to a company partly owned by the district’s former superintendent, Bart Lynam, raising questions about Chicago-style cronyism and insider politics.
A recent independent audit concluded that the project is already $15 million over its $54 million construction budget, and the best case scenario has taxpayers buying out the contract in five years for $188 million.
This isn’t the only bit of bad news coming out of the MWRD in recent weeks. A recent investigation by the Chicago News Cooperative and the Better Government Association found, “that the number of employees with six-figure salaries has more than doubled since 2005 at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.” “Salaries at Water District Keep Rising Despite Poor Economy”
Also, today the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the MWRD has a questionable $657,000 no-bid lobbying contract with a Washington D.C. firm paying as much as $645 an hour. “Washington firm reaps millions lobbying for Metra, sewage district”
It appears that sewage isn’t the only thing needing cleaning at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.