On Jan. 1, 2026, Illinois will eliminate its 1% tax on groceries, a change that will leave Naperville with an estimated $6.1 million hole in the city’s 2026 budget.
Without replacement funds, new hires and programs will be put on hold. At Tuesday’s third and final Naperville City Council 2025 budget workshop, Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger said the anticipated financial gap may lead to city staff layoffs.
“A $6 million hit would be significant, where I believe that adverse personnel changes, which means terminations, would be required,” said Krieger.
McBroom suggests cutting DEI department to help offset loss
Krieger didn’t specify where those layoffs might come from, but Councilman Josh McBroom voiced his opinion on one option of eliminating the City’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program.
“We’re going to have to make hard decisions…If we can’t even have a decision about a department that has no measurable return on investment to the taxpayer, that’s controversial and political, where are the other inefficiencies?” said McBroom.
Councilman Benny White came to the defense of Naperville’s DEI initiative.
“I would encourage us to continue on with our efforts when it comes to ensuring that members of this community feel valued, understood, and included in what we do here in the community,” White said.
The city hired Dr. Geneace Williams as its first DEI manager in February 2021. She earns an annual salary of $121,661 and is Naperville’s only DEI employee.
No actions on city DEI were taken during Tuesday’s meeting.
Future funding for proposed police unit yet to be determined
One of the new programs that could be put on hold due to the grocery tax loss is the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT), a new police unit dedicated to answering social service and mental health calls. It was proposed at the city council’s second budget workshop on Oct. 22.
Creating the MCIT will cost Naperville approximately $721,000, with $495,000 set aside for total annual salary and benefits, $181,000 for two additional patrol vehicles, and $45,000 for equipment.
City staff factored the MCIT, along with a new public works employee, into the proposed 2025 budget. However, they will only hire the new staff if they find replacement funds to account for the loss of the grocery tax in 2026.
Krieger said discussions between the dais and city staff on the anticipated shortfall will start in Q2 of 2025.
City staff anticipate lowest property tax rate in over 50 years
The city’s final budget meeting gave a full picture of Naperville’s proposed budget for 2025, which includes the city’s lowest property tax rate since 1968.
Staff expects to lower the tax rate from 0.6454 to 0.6279 in 2025.
Using recent data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, the city’s Director of Finance Raymond Munch said the current median Naperville home value is $558,100.
He said the proposed tax decrease would set the average Naperville property tax bill at $1,118, a $31 decrease from 2024. Due to variance in home prices, Munch said, “It’s virtually impossible to predict what each homeowner will experience on their property tax bill.”
The city also unveiled its planned $58.88 million property tax levy for 2025, a 3.3% increase from this year. These funds go toward the Naperville Public Library, the city’s general fund, police and fire pensions, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Naper Settlement, and debt service.
Property tax levy funds account for approximately 9% of the city’s budget.
Naperville’s total proposed budget for 2025 stands at $641.88 million, with $179.38 million for the capital improvement program, and $166.43 million in the general fund.
The city council will vote on the 2025 proposed budget at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3. It will then vote on a property tax levy at its Tuesday, Dec. 17 meeting.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
