Naperville City Council approves $1 million budget increase to bolster Naper Settlement finances

With Naper Settlement facing a growing deficit due in large part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city council voted unanimously to transfer $1 million to shore up the historic site's finances.

Although some council members at Tuesday's meeting questioned the reasons behind the deficit, they agreed to increase last year's budget by $1 million and transfer that money to the Naper Settlement fund. As a result, Naper Settlement received a total of $3.9 million from the city for 2021, most of which came from property taxes.

Naperville officials said the overall budget increase to $503 million was possible because revenues exceeded expenses by more than $10 million in 2021.

"The pandemic came into play," Naperville Finance Director Rachel Mayer said. "So the revenues, besides the property taxes, that support the Settlement have not accumulated at the rate at which we planned. That fund balance has drawn down at a quicker pace."

Because Naper Settlement maintained a fund balance of $1.14 million in 2016, city officials planned to draw down that amount over the next several years. In 2019, the fund balance stood at about $700,000, according to Mayer, and was reduced further by running deficits in 2019 and 2020.

Then Naper Settlement closed for about a year, which created a deficit of about $965,000 by the end of 2021. A recently approved 40% increase in Naper Settlement's property tax rate is expected to support it going forward. Still, Mayer said, the $1 million was needed to balance the fund.

Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan, while understanding the financial hit during the pandemic, still questioned the oversight as the deficit grew.

"Something didn't go right, and I feel like we're talking around the problem," Sullivan said. "What did we do to contain costs, and who is accountable ... to make sure that what the budget says and what is spent is about where we end up? I just haven't heard anyone say, 'Oh, we just overshot. We spent way more than we thought we would.'"

Naper Settlement President and CEO Rena Tamayo-Calabrese said funding hasn't changed in 13 years and is less than what it was in 2009. Mayor Steve Chirico noted that Naper Settlement came in on budget on the expense side, but revenues fell short.

As for the future, Tamayo-Calabrese said Naper Settlement remains in recovery mode from the pandemic.

"I do believe that we will get back to where we need to be, but it's simply going to take some time," she said.