Harry Papka has seen his share of flooding.

"We had water up the street here and the back yard almost up to the house along the back side was standing water." says the 20 year neighborhood resident.

In June heavy rains flooded his basement, ruining his carpet and costing him hundreds of dollars. Papka's neighborhood near 9th Avenue and Nevin Court has flooded numerous times in the last few years. Plans for a new sewer system failed to pass city council Monday with the vote ending in a tie. Mayor Fred Brereton could have broken the tie, but he chose not to, claiming Belvidere doesn't have money for the $750,000 project.

"It's a problem that's been identified. It's a problem that's been stepped up on the priority of public works as well as the city council and I'm confident that we'll find a way to get it corrected." says Brereton.

Brereton says the city wouldn't have this problem if some people in the neighborhood weren't breaking the law. He says even if just a few houses have illegally connected their sump pumps to the sanitary sewer it can backup the system and cause flooding. Nevertheless, Alderman Robert Bowley would like to see something done. That's why he's going to vote for a scaled back version of the project next Monday.

"I know I'm going to support it and I know there's five alderman that I'm sure will. The vote last night was five to five so we'll have to wait and see but I'm very hopeful we'll advance this." says Bowley, a Ward 2 Alderman.

For now the city has added a generator to help pump water out.

Right now the city is facing a year-end deficit of $1.2 million. Several alderman who support the project suggest using the utility tax to pay for the project. Mayor Brereton says the city is already dipping into the utility tax to provide relief for the city's general fund.