Divided City Council Approves Budget With Property Tax Increase

EVANSTON, IL — A divided Evanston City Council adopted a 2021 budget after whittling down a proposed property tax increase.

In a series of 5-4 votes during a five-and-a-half hour meeting, aldermen agreed to reduce planned payments to the city's reserve fund while rejecting an effort to eliminate the tax hike by cutting increases to police pension contributions.

The first reading of the budget was approved on Nov. 12 with a 4.9 percent increase to the city's property tax levy, which would have generated $2.5 million in revenue. By the time the final budget was approved Nov. 23, the tax hike was reduced to 1 percent — an extra $571,000.

According to city staff, the increase to the city's share of property tax bills equates to an extra $4.85 per $100,000 of taxable value for owners of residential properties. More than 80 percent of the property tax paid by Evanston residents go to other public bodies, most of it local public school districts.

Four aldermen voted against the budget — 2nd Ward Ald. Peter Braithwaite, 5th Ward Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, 6th Ward Ald. Tom Suffredin and 9th Ward Ald. Cicely Fleming.

Saying they would not support any budget that increases residents' property tax bills, Rue Simmons and Fleming argued there were more savings to be found in the budget. Suffredin said the property tax increase was the reason he voted against the budget. Braithwaite did not respond to an inquiry about his motivation for voting 'no.'

"If we raise our taxes, it's just completely out of touch and not in line with everything that we say that we value, in terms of being welcoming and inclusive and wanting a diverse community," said Rue Simmons, who decided against running for re-election for a second term in office in the spring.

"We raise our taxes every year, and since I've been here the discussion is the same, you know, 'If we don't raise the tax we'll have a higher tax,' or, 'It's only $20 per $100,000 [in assessed property value]' or whatever," she said. "But what that is translating into is displaced lower and moderate income families that are unable to stay in Evanston because it's unaffordable."

A motion by Fleming to keep the city's 2021 contribution to its police pension fund the same as this year's failed after other aldermen pointed out it could end up costing residents more in the future.

The police union — unlike the unions representing Evanston firefighters and other municipal workers — has not yet agreed to any cost-cutting measures to help the city balance its budget, according to city officials.

Ald. Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, joined Fleming, Rue Simmons and Suffredin in voting against the $585,000 increase to the police pension fund, which would have gotten rid of the need for the tax increase.

While 3rd Ward Melissa Wynne and 4th Ward Ald. Don Wilson argued it would be impossible to make further cuts to the budget without jeopardizing city services, Rainey suggested other aldermen were unaware how much some residents have been struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic and recession.

"I think we should not absolutely should not raise one penny in taxes to our residents. It's just too painful for them, and I think some of us, some members of the council don't know how bad it is out there," Rainey said, arguing the city should dip into its reserve fund to fill the budget hole instead of raising the property tax levy.

"If you think this tax increase isn't affecting people, it's just one more thing," she said. "It's just like adding one more rock on top of their head."

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The City Council voted unanimously to reduce spending on new vehicles by $1 million. Aldermen agreed with a suggestion from City Manager Erika Storlie to issue bonds to cover the cost of needed, larger-ticket public works vehicles and put off buying nine additional Ford Explorers and a bus.

But city officials were unable to get Northwestern University to reimburse the city for more of its costs to Evanston taxpayers. According to city staff, Evanston's general fund shortfall increased by $500,000 because the university had not yet provided anticipated "Good Neighbor Fund" revenue.

RELATED: Northwestern 'Refusing To Pay Fair Share' For Fire Dept: Aldermen

Ahead of the budget's approval, Mayor Steve Hagerty said he was unable to negotiate a commitment from university officials to reimburse the city for the approximately $659,000 that Evanston taxpayers pay for fire and rescue services at the university.

The budget initially failed to secure the five votes it needed for passage. Due to its ongoing state of emergency, the city must approve a budget by the end of the year, according to its city attorney, and there was little appetite on the council for delaying a final vote.

Ald. Judy Fiske, 1st Ward, initially voted 'no,' citing the threat of increased borrowing costs associated with a reduced rainy day fund.

"This is the city manager's budget, so the city manager is responsible for presenting a budget to us. We talk about it, we try to figure it out, but we don't try to micromanage, and that what I was seeing that we're doing tonight," Fiske said.

"I'm not so critical of that because we are in a tough time and trying to get ourselves out of it, but I think we have some larger concerns here," she said. "I think our larger concerns are what is the impact going to be on our residents next year."

Fiske said she needed a commitment to replenish the city's reserve fund in the future in order to vote for the budget. Wynne and other aldermen said they would agree to devoting a portion of the revenue from future sales of city assets to rebuilding the fund, and Fiske switched her vote to 'yes.'

The city has not managed to maintain its policy target of 16.6 percent of annual spending in the general fund reserve since 2015. It currently stands at less than 12 percent.

RELATED: 11 Police Officer Jobs Eliminated In Proposed Evanston Budget

Storlie's first draft budget had included a 5.9 percent property tax increase to help pay for a $500,000 increase to the fund, while the final budget adopted by aldermen last week spent $500,000 out of its balance to reduce the property tax increase needed to balance the budget.

In the final vote, Fiske, Rainey, Revelle, Wilson and Wynne were in favor of the budget. Braithwaite, Fleming, Rue Simmons and Suffredin voted against it.