Village of Niles v. City of Chicago

Plaintiffs, 52 suburban municipalities that purchase water from the City of Chicago, brought suit for injunctive and other relief, challenging the water rates charged to them as being excessive, unreasonable, and discriminatory. After a trial consisting of 34 days of testimony over the course of one year, the trial court entered judgment denying plaintiffs the relief they sought and also denying Chicago relief based on its counterclaim.

On appeal, plaintiffs raise issues that may be broadly classified into those that attack Chicago’s overall rate-making process and those that list certain,…