Water Affordability and Equity in Harvey, Illinois

The community I live in and chose to learn more about is Harvey. The average water bill is $64 while the monthly expenses on average are $1,979. The housing costs are $973 which makes the water bill about 7% of the costs. The average water bill cost has increased by 94% since 2008. I think the reason for such a drastic increase is due to the water issues Harvey has been a part for the past years. Harvey is trying to regain control of water operations after they were improperly diverting water funds elsewhere. The water bill has outpaced growth income by 80%. As the water bill costs have increased, there has been an increase in unemployment rates which result in a -14% income growth. A low-income household needs to work 100+ hours to pay for their water bill.