Tax Levies Abated by the MWRD Board

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) Board Meeting
​February 3, 2022

Board Action:

• The Board approved an $11.2 reduction of the levy of taxes in the Capitol Improvement Bonds for levy year 2021. With early redemption of outstanding General Obligation Improvement Bonds in advance of their maturity, there was also a tax abatement of $56 million.
• Discussion of the procurement process centered on Agenda Item #8, which was the only bid for glassware and chemicals, that was rejected because of an error. The online process of submitting a bid was reviewed along with how vendors are guided through the bidding process. Could better software be used to make the online process easier?
• Agenda Item #9 was questioned because the bids were over the estimates. The Executive Director will be coming back with goals that may have influenced these bids.
• Agenda Item#28 was discussed because no goals for affirmative action were met because of insufficient transportation to transport sludge. If there are not enough vendors to bid on an item, vendors from Chicago, Cook County, and IDOT are approached to apply. It was suggested that a purge list of contractors/vendors be generated, since many companies may have closed because of the pandemic. This will be done by email and USPS.

Deferred or Deleted Agenda Items

• Agenda Item #4, Amending the MWRD Ethics Ordinance, and #11, payment for JULIE underground project coordination, were deleted from the agenda by the Executive Director.

Commissioner Requests

• Update on Disparity Study
• Update on vendor purge process
• Process to increase list of approved vendors/contractors

Observer - Peggy Kell