Naperville mulls whether to fund mental health crisis unit
Naperville officials are revisiting a proposal to establish a full-time unit of highly trained police officers who would respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Police Chief Jason Arres has highlighted at least two major benefits of such a unit.
“It’s the expertise on the mental health calls, but then the freeing of our patrol officers for the speeding complaints that we all see, or the e-bike issues that we see,” he said.
City Councilman Ian Holzhauer also has been a vocal supporter of a mobile crisis intervention unit, or MCIT. However, several officials have voiced funding concerns amid budget challenges.
“We've been talking about this program for years, and this is an essential to me,” Holzhauer said.
During their last budget workshop, council members asked city administrators to prepare an updated report on the costs of adding that program to the 2026 proposed spending plan based on a range of staffing scenarios. The council is set to receive that report Tuesday night.
Maintaining a balanced budget with the addition of the crisis intervention unit is only possible through an increase in the property tax levy, Finance Director Ray Munch wrote council members.
His department “maintains that the long-term fiscal impact of adding personnel in 2026 is a concern, as future budget cycles are expected to be challenged by the same issues discussed throughout the 2026 budget workshops,” Munch cautioned.
“These issues include the moderation of revenues, rising salary and healthcare costs, and potential legislative actions to enhance Tier 2 pensions.”
During preparations for the upcoming fiscal year, city departments were told to hold the line on operating budgets. Last month, the council reviewed a proposed budget that called for no new positions and “only limited” new initiatives.
“I don't think there's any room for the MCIT this year. We barely had room to do what we need to fund,” Councilman Josh McBroom said.
The program would be budgeted as a recurring expenditure in the city’s general fund, with some initial, one-time expenses in the capital projects fund, according to Munch. Under one option at the low end, adding two positions — an officer and sergeant — to staff the unit would cost roughly $452,000, including more than $101,000 for vehicle and computer costs.
“In terms of the future, I think I've been pretty transparent. I think we're going into a period where things are a little bit tighter,” Munch told the council. “We've done a very good job over the past several years to make strategic investments where we could.”
Since 2019, the city has added 64 new positions — 42% of which are in public safety, Munch said.
“So we've made tremendous investments in people and programs over the past several years,” he said. “And while we were able to do that, I think we're moving into a period where it's appropriate to take more of a wait-and-see approach.”
The police department currently runs a basic version of a mobile crisis intervention team, Arres said.
The proposed unit, by contrast, would be able to develop a better rapport with those individuals in crisis, the chief said.
“They’re handling the mental health crisis that our community and many communities around this country are dealing with to an even higher level than we’re already providing to the Naperville community,” he said.
During the development of the current year’s budget, the city faced several uncertainties, including the state’s elimination of the grocery tax and the outcome of negotiations with police and firefighter unions, Munch recalled in his memo.
Final wage increases for public safety personnel were nearly twice the amount included in the 2025 budget, he wrote. To accommodate the unbudgeted increase, the city manager approved a budget transfer of $2.2 million from other departments. The funding included for MCIT was also reallocated to current police officer salaries.