Illinoisans should not have to live this way
Tuesday, Apr 14, 2026 - Posted by Rich Miller
* One of my top complaints about Democratic rule in this state is the super-majority party’s unwillingness to firmly step in to help some small Black-majority suburban and Downstate towns find their way to fiscal solvency. East St. Louis is just one of many…
East St. Louis is under a deadline to find funding to improve its sewer system as part of a phased plan to stop spilling untreated sewage into the community.
The city and state, along with the federal government, have reached an interim agreement to temporarily pause litigation against East St. Louis over the sewage spills so that the city can prepare the long-term control plan, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
A trial in the civil lawsuit had been scheduled for Dec. 14. U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan approved a stay in the case and removed the trial from the court’s calendar in a March 19 order.
The 2024 complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois accused East St. Louis of allowing sewage to spill from city pipes despite two orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address the problem in 2022 and 2023. It sought to require the city to stop the sewage spills and pay civil penalties.
“Funding is the sole obstacle prohibiting compliance, mitigation, and implementation of the long-term control plan,” the city stated in an April 8 status report to the federal court.
The state suing East St. Louis with the feds over infrastructure funding just blows my mind. Illinois should be taking the lead on this.
* But the list of neglected towns is long: Harvey, Hopkins Park, Ford Heights, Brooklyn and on and on and on. They’re all on the brink.
Not to mention some of the poorest Chicago wards.
If no progressive tax hike is approved - and even if it is - the state needs to use some of its capital money to start fixing these problems. There’s just no excuse.
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 8:47 am:
You are absolutely correct it is a travesty. Somehow the state should force counties or larger cities to absorb this small poor broken communities and make it worth their while with infrastructure aid. And thus also applies to lead pipe removal. At least give people zero 0️⃣ interest or forgivable loans to fix the lead. Or tax credit if a home sells force the lead out before closing
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 8:52 am:
Some of those regions also have a history of electing grifters who only make the situation worse. Would the state be bailing out towns suffering from economic disinvestment or corruption, or both? Those towns often need more help than a heftier checkbook.
- Red headed step child - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 8:54 am:
Cant blame this on trump…do better
- Teve DeMotte - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 8:59 am:
You are right.
- Sue - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 9:14 am:
A lot would improve with municipalities being able to reorganize under federal bankruptcy law
- don the legend - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 9:29 am:
Another viewpoint that doesn’t get discussed in polite meetings could be that it is not worth the investment. Something about new wine in old wine skins. Lipstick on a pig.
Not hating, just saying.
- Jack in Chatham - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 9:35 am:
The folks in Springfield should raise the alcohol user fees to fund local government. Alcohol user fees were much higher 75 years ago and they have neither kept up with inflation nor income growth. It is unfortunate that it is easier to raise property taxes during thinly attended municipal and primary elections and for municipal governments to pass grocery taxes than increase the user fees on liquor. Billions of dollars in potential revenue lost.
- twowaystreet - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 9:36 am:
Isn’t there a really big, powerful advocacy organization that should be elevating the issues facing local municipalities?
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 9:59 am:
==Billions of dollars in potential revenue lost.==
How much are you raising the rate to get that kind of revenue? Illinois collects $300M now from alcohol taxes.
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:02 am:
East Saint Louis is down to ~17,000 people. There isn’t much to sue for anymore.
- thisjustinagain - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:09 am:
Harvey was just turned down for financially distressed municipality help by Illinois, and no solvent municipality with any sense is going to annex in a broke (or nearly-broke) municipality.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:24 am:
decaying infrastructure everywhere an issue. fixing is costly. also bad management hidden by the fact that there are so many governments. a whole amusing movie could be made about the South suburbs around Chicago and some truly nutty political figures. amusing but sad situation.
- JB13 - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:29 am:
– really big, powerful advocacy organization that should be elevating the issues facing local municipalities? –
You mean the one trying to stop the state from passing laws stripping away basic city authority like local control over where apartment buildings can be built and local control over who can sleep in their parks?
That “big, powerful” group?
- CA-HOON! - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:31 am:
Add Grand Tower and all the surrounding farmlands to the list, both the US Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Illinois refused to help them repair the Mississippi River and Big Muddy River levees, to the tune of just a smidge over a million dollars.
The city and township had to issue bonds to cover the repairs, which went in fits and starts and took about a decade to finish. This is without mentioning the debt which will hang over the town depressing their already strained budget. They don’t even have a public library anymore in GT, it’s awful what the state has allowed to happen.
- Sue - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 10:34 am:
I am unaware of any other state prohibiting municipal BK( there may be one) but if a municipality is truly insolvent the fix should be allowing a Court supervised reorganization- it worked for Detroit
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:00 am:
“Somehow the state should force counties or larger cities to absorb this small poor broken communities and make it worth their while with infrastructure aid.”
Counties are definitely the missing piece to this, because it is not reasonable to pump more money into the local governments that bankrupted themselves with corruption and mismanagement. Unfortunately the politics of these areas are also entwined with the politics of the county.
Maybe a good place to start to address these issues around Chicagoland would be a political powerhouse county leader who has indicated that this upcoming term would be her last…
- levivoted4judy - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:01 am:
I’m an ESL native and remember when the state had to take over the financial management of the school district and when they city lost ownership of city hall. This is different. It’s a burgeoning public health problem. It’s not time to litigate. It’s time to figure out how to get it fixed.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:06 am:
Again, people, the topic is infrastructure repair, not local operating budgets.
- Old IL Dude - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:08 am:
Every thing sounds good til you run the logistics. I’ve seen so many great infrastructure projects turn into the personal wallet for bad suburban leaders (like Dolton, Harvey, Dixmoor or Project Shield for Cook County) or huge cost estimate jumps like the Red Line extension which went from ~$1B in 2009 to ~$5.75B in 2024. The recent mayor or Dolton is one of the reasons why, if this were to involve federal money, it should be administered by the feds and not the State of IL or local leaders.
- anonymous for this post - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:14 am:
Amalia - speaking of “a whole amusing movie could be made about the South suburbs around Chicago and some truly nutty political figures. amusing but sad situation,” I received a text to this link yesteday:
https://secure.winred.com/tiffany-for-fulton/donate-today?sc=winred-directory&money_bomb=false&recurring=false
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:16 am:
=with municipalities being able to reorganize under federal bankruptcy law=
The only reason you are advocating this is to get out of paying pensions. It won’t work.
=infrastructure=
Everyone wants good roads and bridges and clean water, but politicians have programmed people to expect it for free. That is the real problem with infrastructure. In rural communities where I live, no one wants to consolidate schools and everyone wants low taxes, but building don’t heal themselves.
What has been happening in ESL for the last 50-60 years is a shame. Their schools have been taken over by the state twice, and some local leadership has been a disaster. The state could help, but they won’t so the people get stuck with raw sewage. This is a disgrace.
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:26 am:
== the topic is infrastructure repair
The mentioned communities are the hardest hit, but there are a ton of small communities losing population that are going to run into more issues with infrastructure issues. Counties are part of the solution, but the state needs to step up to handle these issues as they become more prevalent.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:30 am:
Mr. Miller -
Respectful, the issue of infrastructure repair and local operating budgets are linked. To fund an infrastructure repair such as upgrading a sanitary sewer system, the local agency must plan for costs in their operating budget.
If a local agency were able to obtain an EPA loan to fund the cost of a sanitary sewer repair, they must plan for the repayment of the loan.
That being said, most infrastructure is out of sight, out of mind. If it ain’t broke, don’t bother me by talking about it. If it’s broke, I can’t do anything about it because it costs too much to fix, and we don’t have the money.
The municipalities being discussed have very old sanitary sewers. It wouldn’t surprise me if the pipes were terracotta clay.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:35 am:
I am going to be the contrarian, why should a county or state step in to solve a municipal problem?
- Think Again - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:38 am:
=That being said, most infrastructure is out of sight, out of mind=
Sure, that’s true - but cities/towns/villages that are prudent have capital fund reserves, and they have a long-term plan for repair and replacement of major systems
- Huh? - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:49 am:
I am going to be the contrarian, why should a county or state step in to solve a municipal problem? While the State may regulate a sanitary system, they are not responsible for the day to day operations. A County has nothing to do with a sanitary system.
What makes you think a County has the expertise or funds to take over a municipal sewer system?
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:55 am:
==why should a county or state step in to solve a municipal problem?==
That kind of attitude has always irritated me. The “it’s not my problem” argument. That’s a heckuva way to solve problems when you simply wash your hand of the situation. Municipalities don’t exist without the state allowing them to exist. The state bears some of the responsibility for them.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Apr 14, 26 @ 11:55 am:
- why should a county or state step in to solve a municipal problem? -
Because residents of the state and county are living with unacceptable sanitary conditions. You can point fingers all day but at some point you need to roll up your sleeves and do something.