Evanston Aldermen Set To Increase Fees, Fines, Taxes

EVANSTON, IL — Alderman approved 10 new fee increases, permitting changes, tax hikes and higher fines as they were introduced Monday. Final votes on those measures, along with increases to property tax levies, are on the agenda for a final vote at the Evanston City Council's Nov. 27 meeting.

City staff recommend an increase of nearly 3 percent to Evanston's 2017 tax levy, covering its general operations, retirement, pension, general assistance, solid waste, debt service and library funds, according to a memo to the council from Treasurer Marty Lyons.

Among the budget balancing measures aldermen are set to adopt: a 20-cent per trip ride-hailing service tax, applying the 7.5 percent hotel tax to short-term vacation rentals and increasing the cost of building permits, especially for demolitions and historic districts.

Several of the changes would impact parking-related costs. Expired meter fines would rise to $20 from $10, tickets for street sweeping violations would rise from $5 to $40 and monthly parking fees for city lots would go from $90 to $110. Outside of downtown, parking meter hours would be extended four hours to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and those that cost $0.75 would cost $1.

The changes are the result of efforts to close what began as a $6 million budget shortfall, which city officials blamed mostly on lower than expected building permit revenue last year.

City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz told alderman Monday that if they wanted to keep all currently planned capital expenditures, they would also have to decide to raise the city's debt limit to be able to afford it. Currently, the debt limit is set at $113 million, according to Ashley King, budget and finance manager in the city manager's office. Adoption of the FY2018 budget would effectively raise the limit.

Some budget issues remain outstanding, like what to do with the city's four victims services positions – some of which remain unfilled. Staff suggested shifting the jobs from the police department's Social Service Bureau to the Health and Human Services Department and making three of the four part time, but alderman rejected that idea Monday by a vote of 4-5 and asked for more options to reorganize the department Monday.

Find below a summary of the City of Evanston's Fiscal Year 2018 budget, along with a budget balancing worksheet, submitted to aldermen for adoption Nov. 27:

» via the City of Evanston

_{Top photo: Evanston City Council Chambers | Patch archive, Jonah Meadows}