City officials this week will take a look at ordinances that would make several significant changes in the way Naperville handles its money.
City Council members are considering proposals to shift the budget schedule so it coincides with the calendar year; to begin requiring residents to pay for the garbage disposal; and to implement the city’s first retail sales tax, possibly at a half-percent. An ordinance paving the way for each potential move is up for its first reading at the council’s meeting Tuesday evening. Officials have said they expect the measures to undergo the normal two readings, making it unlikely that action will be taken during the meeting.
“An amendment to the municipal code requires a first reading unless waived by six positive votes from council,” city spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said in an email.
The council was divided in its Aug. 18 vote to order preparation of the ordinance implementing the new tax. Council members Becky Anderson, Judy Brodhead, Kevin Gallaher and John Krummen joined Mayor Steve Chirico in voting for the measure, while members Kevin Coyne, Patty Gustin, Paul Hinterlong and Rebecca Boyd-Obarski opposed it.
Aligning the budget year with the calendar, which so far has triggered less controversy, would streamline fiscal planning and make the process more efficient and transparent, Finance Director Rachel Mayer said in a memo.
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“Departmental budget requests will be more accurate with 6-months of actuals being included in the preparation, reporting, and forecasting,” Mayer said. “A budget that is more accurate and aligns with funding sources will allow City Council and community stakeholders with a comprehensive view of the budget.”
Council members are slated to hold the first reading of an ordinance making fiscal 2016, now scheduled to extend until April 30, into an eight-month “stub year,” so the new budgeting timeline can take effect at the start of 2016.
Also on the agenda for Tuesday is a measure that would transfer the cost of garbage collection from the city to residents, who now pay just $2 a month per household for the service. The full monthly cost of $12.35, if shifted to residents’ utility bills, would be lower than the fees in place in neighboring communities, some of which charge their residents more than twice that sum per month, officials have pointed out.
Officials have a second option for making garbage pickup into a user-supported service. They might instead include the fee in homeowners’ real estate tax bills, which would create a differing amount for each property, tied to its assessed value. Bolingbrook and Schaumburg currently use that approach to cover the cost of the contracted service, according to data published by the city. The other 13 northeast Illinois communities chosen for the city survey bill their residents directly on a flat-fee basis, an approach some Naperville residents have said they consider unfair to small households and those on fixed incomes.
Staff has said that passing along the responsibility for the cost of garbage service to the residents would save the city’s general fund about $5 million annually. Coupled with a plan to cut annual departmental spending by $1.8 million, the change is expected to correct a structural imbalance in the city’s finances that has been blamed for a projected $6.8 million shortfall in the current budget year.
Also on the table and slated for its first reading is an ordinance that would implement the city’s first local sales tax, at half-percent. If passed, the measure would bring the retail tax rate in the city to 7.75 percent.
Revenue derived from the tax, estimated at $8.5 million per year, would be used to pay for capital projects, which aren’t included in the general fund budget, and to pay down the city’s debt.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers of the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.
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