Naperville mayor seeking more financial advice

Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico is ready to tackle Naperville's financial challenges, but he's not going to do it alone.

Chirico says he wants more advisers to weigh in on financial decisions as the city faces a $6 million deficit for its 2016 budget - without reserves on hand to fill the gap as was done in the past.

He's proposing increasing the size of the city's financial advisory board to seven members from five, and he wants to get council approval of the change during a special meeting Aug. 11.

"I think going from five to seven is very important right now because we do have some very substantial decisions to make as far as the budget," Chirico said. "We have the nonpolitical citizens view giving us information as to how we're going to close this gap."

John Krummen, the council member who is the liaison to the financial advisory board, said the increase in membership is "much-needed."

Chirico said he plans to take better advantage of the financial expertise of qualified Naperville residents once he's able to get a full board named. The board had been meeting only quarterly and only was considering topics related to taking on debt.

But soon, Chirico said, the role of the financial advisory board will be "substantially" expanded.

On Aug. 11, the council will consider approving the nominations of two members to join the board, Nimish Bhatt and Michael Isaac.

"I have two additional applicants who I believe would be an excellent fit," Chirico said.

The group then could begin giving financial advice within the next month to six weeks.