Naperville's motor fuel tax may increase
Naperville city councilmen have backed off the idea of creating a sales tax to fill next year's budget gap.
Most at a workshop Monday showed support for increasing the motor fuel tax and implementing a fee for garbage pickup instead.
Councilmen are also considering using a portion of its citywide food and beverage tax for operating expenses instead of cultural grants.
The city has been working to close an $11.2 million budget shortfall. Roughly $4.5 million of that will likely come from increased revenue but councilmen have previously committed to not raising the property tax rate.
Staff had proposed creating a 0.5 percent sales tax to help fill the hole. Late last week, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce came out strongly against that plan, saying it "threatens the economic recovery of our region, hurting businesses and consumers."
The proposal had garnered some initial support from councilmen earlier this fall as long it stayed under 0.25 percent, but Monday, many said they would prefer other options.
Councilman Jim Boyajian commented a sales tax would be hard to repeal once it had been created.
Instead, the majority support increasing the motor fuel tax by at least 2 cents on top of the current 2 cents. Councilman Robert Fieseler said such an increase makes sense because it would help fund road improvements and would be paid for by people using the roads.
In addition, many support implementing a fee for residents of $4 or $5 a month in order for garbage pickup to remain a "take-all" program. The city had been exploring limiting residents to one or two cans to save money but said Monday they would be willing to continue the take-all system for a fee.
One of the biggest areas of contention is whether to change the 1 percent citywide food and beverage tax that funds Special Events and Cultural Amenities grants. Councilman Grant Wehrli supports eliminating funding of the grants entirely and using the tax to fund the city's operations. He said funding police and firemen is more important than funding artwork and band concerts and it is a tax people are already paying.
However, others said they would only support using part of the food and beverage tax for the general fund. Councilman Richard Furstenau said the city has funding obligations like the Millennium Carillon that come out of SECA money.
Councilmen did not reach a consensus on revenue increases Monday and will continue those discussions at future workshops.
The city has also identified $6.3 million in cost savings to fill the budget gap. Of that, $3.5 million is related to personnel. City Manager Doug Krieger has said there will be layoffs and elimination of vacant positions but would not say Monday how many there will be. No layoffs will happen until after the new year.
A consultant for the city had previously recommended the city eliminate the equivalent of 25.5 to 57 full-time employees to save $1.9 to $4.3 million.
Cost savings will also come from reducing support costs and also some city services. For instance, the city will reduce contract tree trimming, eliminate both recycling collection and refuse service at multifamily units, close the Community Connections Center and suspend the Ogden Avenue grant program. Councilmen also agreed to reduce overtime in the fire department.