Naperville works to cut $6.3 million projected gap

A decades-old leaf-collection program in Naperville came under attack Tuesday as officials continue to seek ways to close a large projected budget deficit for next year. During a budget workshop, Public Works Director Dave Van Vooren was forced to defend the program, which costs the city about $1.1 million per year.

The program's elimination was among the dozens of cuts proposed by City Manager Doug Krieger to help close a projected gap that has reached $6.3 million. Van Vooren said the program was already as efficient as possible because crews spend as little time as necessary in areas that do not require as much work.

“You're asking me to take a budget of $1.1 million and take 33 percent out of it,” Van Vooren said. “You're asking me to almost do the impossible. If you are asking me to be 1/3 more efficient, you're asking me to be a miracle worker.”

Councilman Dick Furstenau told Van Vooren that all departments needed to look at their budgets to contribute to the solution.

“I'm not asking you anything,” Furstenau said. “I'm telling you what we need to do. You show here four full-time equivalent positions, and we're talking about $1.1 million. As manager of that, you need to sit down with your troops and figure this out. That's why we're sitting here.”

City councilwoman Judith Brodhead said imposing a fee on the program could help it become a cost-neutral program that would no longer be a burden on the budget.

After discussion, Van Vooren said he would review the program and try to bring its projected costs down before the next council meeting.

Van Vooren and other department heads spoke to the council during the workshop, which at times appeared to be a series of sales pitches as the leaders made their cases to avoid cuts. As each finished, Councilman Grant Wehrli spotlighted their safety performance during the past year. The report included on-the-job injuries for each department, and Wehrli and others said that could be one area where the city could save money.

“If we all just worked a little bit more safely, it would go a long way,” he said.

Among the proposals approved were several reductions in public works, such as street sweeping and parkway tree planting. Also, a community planner and inspector for the Transportation Engineering Development will be reassigned to a different position in the city, Krieger said. All together, the cuts helped reduce the budget deficit to about $4 million.

“We made a ton of headway looking at a lot of expenditure reductions,” he said. “We are getting some great early feedback.”