West Chicago residents stand to save $500,000 per year in taxes under a new bill passed by the state General Assembly.

House Bill 840 would exempt West Chicago from paying the .25 percent sales tax required for membership in the DuPage Water Commission because the city has never used the commission’s water.

“West Chicago residents were paying tax on water they didn’t receive,” said Rep. Randy Ramey, R-55th District, of Carol Stream, who sponsored the bill. “We worked on a bill, worked with the Water Commission, got it passed, and everybody is happy.”

The DuPage Water Commission formed in 1986 when the county approved a $150 million referendum request to fund the construction of a system to connect DuPage to Chicago’s Lake Michigan water supply.

West Chicago never opted into the service and, instead, in 2005 built its own water treatment plant, located at 1400 W. Hawthorne Lane, to help rid the city’s wells of contamination, Ramey said.

“Since 1986, they’ve paid $12 million, yet they’ve never used the DuPage Water Commission and never will,” said bill sponsor Sen. John Millner, R-28th District, of Carol Stream.

Robert Martin, the commission’s general manager, said West Chicago has been included in the tax system because it did not have its own water plant at the time of the referendum. The law creating the commission did not specify how a municipality could opt out of the service.

The bill is specific to West Chicago and requires the city to forfeit access to the commission permanently. Millner said the city would be able to use St. Charles’ water supply in the event the plant went out of operation.

The city also would be reimbursed any sales taxes collected since Jan. 1, 2006 — about $650,000, according to Ramey.

Ramey introduced the bill to the House of Representatives in February. It won unanimous approval from both the house and senate and is awaiting Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s signature.

Millner said he is confident Blagojevich will accept the proposal.

“There’s no reason to veto it,” Millner said. “Typically when there’s a bill everyone agrees on it will be signed."