Naperville City Council split on future financial burden for residents in sidewalk replacement program

While some Naperville City Council members want to ease the financial burden for residents splitting the cost with the city in its sidewalk replacement program, others believe the current system fairly divides the fee.

Council members Ian Holzhauer and Jennifer Bruzan Taylor brought up the issue during Tuesday's city council meeting, saying the cost split of 60% for the city and 40% for residents should be adjusted to benefit residents who may not be financially prepared to pay the unexpected cost.

However, Mayor Steve Chirico said a reduction or elimination of the residents' share may cause people to take advantage of the program. Other council members said an adjustment was unnecessary because of available grants for qualifying residents.

The ordinance for the 2022 Sidewalk Removal and Replacement Program passed unanimously on Tuesday, but Bruzan Taylor and Holzhauer want to see the topic addressed in preparation for future budgets. Not only would eliminating the fee help residents' wallets, Holzhauer said, it'd also reduce red tape for city staff.

"All this stuff is a lot of bureaucratic work," Holzhauer said. "Additionally, for the residents that get that notification on their door, depending on how long they've lived in Naperville, that may be a total surprise that they suddenly owe what to some families might be a substantial amount of money."

Bill Novack, the city's transportation, engineering and development director, said the city last year performed $1 million in sidewalk work and issued 1,551 bills for about $352,000. According to city documents, billing is processed monthly when work is completed, and residents have 30 days to pay before late fees are assessed.

According to Naperville officials, Aurora charges 50% to residents for sidewalk replacement, while Evanston and Schaumburg charge residents nothing.

"This is one of those issues that has always bothered me," Bruzan Taylor said. "It seems like when the city provides basic services, one of the basic services is caring for the sidewalks."

Councilman Paul Hinterlong said the few complaints compared to the amount of work completed shows the program is working.

"Think of it as maintenance like anything else," Hinterlong said. "Painting your house, doing something in your yard. Whatever the case may be."