On Oct. 24, Naperville City Council met for the first of three 2023 budget workshops. Two of the key functions of the proposed budget are “Keeping Naperville Safe” and “Supporting Effective Governments.”
Proposed 2023 Budget
The proposed 2023 City of Naperville budget is $603.32 million, which is an 11.6% increase from the 2022 budget. Operating expenses total $428.73 million, which is an increase of 5.6% from last year. City officials stated no new taxes or fees are included in the proposed budget.
“We are looking for the future,” said Finance Director Rachel Mayer. “We positioned ourselves very well financially to this point. There are a lot of needs that we have to address coming up.”
Driven by the post-pandemic recovery in state-shared and local taxes, the total revenue from all sources is proposed to be $588.53 million, a 5.5% increase from 2022. Charges for electric water and wastewater remains Naperville’s largest revenue source at $254.78 million. State sales tax increased 10.5% to $46.23 million and state income tax increased 20.3% to $21.97 million.
City officials requested eight positions to be added to Naperville’s payroll. This list includes new positions on city staff and in the Naperville Police Department.
Keeping Naperville Safe
Under the proposed budget, the Naperville Police Department revenue would increase by 7.3% to $8.93 million, while the fire department’s revenue would go up 13.8% to $9.69 million.
Proposed public safety personnel include two new police sergeants: one for the strategic response unit and another for the high-tech crimes unit, along with a records specialist.
In their 2023 proposed budget, city staff included a $300 thousand renovation to the fire station living quarters, a $481 thousand police department building renovation and a $400 thousand centralized emergency management facility evaluation.
Proposed public safety equipment includes new EMS cardiac monitors & auto pulses, totalling $307,000, four replacement fire trucks, an ambulance and a pumper, totalling $1.1 million and 13 new or replacement police vehicles, totalling $930,000. Proposed public safety technology expenditures include $2.76 million for a computer-aided dispatch and records management system replacement, and $1 million for a public safety radio network.
“(The new radio system) is something that will benefit the entire community,” said City Manager Doug Krieger. “It is the lifeline to our officers and firefighters out in the street.”
Supporting Effective Governments
In the 2023 proposed budget, Naperville City staff are requesting eight new positions. Besides the three police positions, city staff have requested an assistant planner, project engineer, engineering manager, deputy city attorney and an assistant to the city manager.
The City of Naperville will look to undergo several citywide initiatives and projects. The proposed budget sets aside $575,000 thousand for professional third-party support to supplement the current IT staff. Naperville is budgeting $360,000 for upgrades to the City’s technology storage assets.
The next budget workshop will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 9. There will be three budget workshops in total, and the city council will host a public hearing for the new budget on Dec. 6.
Naperville News 17’s Will Payne reports.
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