Elmhurst Finds More Possible Budget Cuts: Official

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst official on Monday "conservatively" estimated that the city has found about $300,000 in potential budget cuts.

At a City Council meeting, Alderwoman Noel Talluto reported on the city's promised "deep dive" into spending, prompted by Elmhurst's budget issues.

Talluto, who heads the council's finance committee, said it had been hearing presentations from city departments. So far, she said, 20 cost-cutting ideas have emerged.

That is before the city's three biggest departments – police, fire and public works – have come before the committee.

Late last year, the council voted to cut $3.6 million from the budget and increase property taxes by $1 million.

At the time, aldermen Dan Virgil and Jacob Hill, who are on the finance committee, pushed for even more cuts, but Talluto and the council majority rejected that effort.

The majority then pledged to have the finance committee conduct the "deep dive" starting in early 2026.

But the committee, which is also in charge of council affairs and administrative services, had spent much of its time behind closed doors.

Under state law, discussions about budget cuts, no matter how uncomfortable, must happen in public. Discussions about specific personnel can take place behind closed doors.

Talluto has previously declined to comment on the purpose of the closed sessions. But on Tuesday, Virgil told Patch that the committee met behind closed doors under the Open Meetings Act exception for "deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees."

At Monday's council meeting, Virgil described the budget situation as tough, with income rising but spending going up even more. As a result, he said, the city's budget gap continues to grow.

"This is not necessarily a new trend," Virgil said. "It has been going on for a few years, but because of some of the COVID relief funds that the city received, that's sort of mitigated our issue a bit."