Naperville to trim 23 vacant jobs; more cuts on the way

The Naperville City Council agreed Wednesday to cut 23 vacant positions in order to help shore up the city's budget.

But it is only about half of the positions that will ultimately need to be cut, meaning more than two dozen city employees will lose their jobs after the first of the year.

The city has been working on filling a $5.1 million hole in this year's budget that was projected to grow to $11 million next fiscal year due in large part to lower sales tax and real estate transfer tax revenue than anticipated.

Eliminating 23 vacant positions will save about $1.7 million. They include three sworn officers in the police department and two in the fire department.

Some of the other vacant positions being cut include a community social worker, video production specialist, financial reporting analyst, billing and collections supervisor, assistant finance director, police department records technicians, a code enforcement officer and development planner.

City Manager Pro Tem Robert Marshall said he expects total personnel cuts will likely be in the upper 40s and will be implemented after Jan. 1. The additional positions being eliminated have not yet been identified.

Though cuts in both personnel and nonpersonnel expenditures, Marshall said the city's budget is balanced this year and actually has a $400,000 surplus in the next fiscal year.

"Staff has worked hard to come up with these budget cuts," Marshall said. "It is my belief we have met that objective and the $400,000 surplus we have in place is sufficient."

Councilman Doug Krause said he would like to see a $1 million surplus, but Councilman John Rosanova said this could be achieved later through the budget hearings in the winter when staff will have more information about how revenues are trending.

Krause, Grant Wehrli, Robert Fieseler, Richard Furstenau and Mayor George Pradel voted in favor of the plan to cut the vacant positions and also reach a $1 million surplus. Rosanova, Kenn Miller and Darlene Senger voted against it. Councilman James Boyajian was absent.

Marshall said he hopes to find the additional funds through nonpersonnel related cuts.

The city will also eliminate an additional three vacant positions from its public utilities department which will save $200,000. The public utilities cutbacks are not part of city's general fund. As a result, it won't affect the projected budget deficit.