Naperville looks to cut professional memberships, subscriptions
Membership has its privileges in Naperville, but it also comes with a price tag.
City council members this week are responding to an internal report regarding 136 different annual memberships and subscriptions paid by taxpayers for municipal employees. Naperville pays $175,196 a year for such items, according to the report.
Councilman Steve Chirico, who requested the study, said he wants to make City Manager Doug Krieger aware of the costs.
“My goal was to expose that information to the city manager’s office so they understand how many things we’re involved in and encourage them to really take a closer look at what we need to be involved in,” Chirico said. “I understand sometimes you join an association for a one-time benefit or purpose and then they automatically renew. But if we don’t use it, let’s get rid of it and streamline this list a little bit.”
Annual membership fees on the list range from $36,776 for the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference to $1,795 for the International Society on Arboriculture to $15 for membership in the Municipal Clerks of DuPage County.
Councilman Grant Wehrli applauded Chirico for bringing the list to light, but he’s not convinced it’s complete.
Wehrli said “$175,000 is certainly a lot to pay in memberships to anything, but I think there’s some memberships that aren’t represented on the list. I’m sure we can prioritize and wouldn’t notice if we no longer belonged to some of these. But that’s what I need to learn. For $10,677, is the American Public Works Association providing us with data that our public works can’t live without? I’d like to see the (return on investment) for that $11,000.”
Several department heads either didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment or referred calls to Krieger. He said department leaders have begun trying to trim the list.
“This is the first time we have ever consolidated this information into a report,” Krieger said. “Each department has now had the chance to look at different memberships and look at ways to eliminate the duplication of coverage by sharing information rather than having multiple people signed up for the same deal.”
Councilman Bob Fieseler reviewed the report and said officials probably can argue for most of the items. Those that can’t be justified, he said, likely will be eliminated now that the list has come to light.
“As in most cases, I think you first manage by embarrassment. So we’ll see some of these things that maybe don’t belong disappear quickly,” Fieseler said. “Everyone will do a self-assessment and I think this will resolve itself rather quickly.”
Several council members said most memberships that provide a certification or personal development should be paid by the individual rather than the city.
“If nothing else, this should spur us, as policy makers, to have a policy on memberships,” Wehrli said. “And we should probably do that before we get too bogged down in the budget.”