City Council Wraps Up Budget Talks, But Not Without Some Controversy

Elmhurst Mayor Pete DiCianni accused 3rd Ward Alderman Michael Bram of grandstanding Monday night, and told him to “keep in mind” that he did not vote for a tax increase last year.

During a discussion of the 2011-12 proposed budget, Bram pointed out what he perceived to be an inequity in funding for sidewalks and street repair that he said is unfair to the north side of town.

“The concern is the new sidewalk installation program. … There is no allocation of funds (proposed),” he said. “This is primarily a north-side concern.”

He said a cost-sharing program for sidewalks in other areas of town has three times the city funding it had last year; the budget shows an increase from $50,000 to $150,000. He also said no funding was allocated to concrete street repair, while asphalt patching and resurfacing is funded. Many of the city’s concrete streets are located on the north side.

“There’s no money allocated for 40-year-old concrete streets on the north side,” Bram said. “I’m not for the current state of this capital budget. I’m not for this budget at all.”

But DiCianni reminded Bram he didn’t vote for a 4.9 percent tax levy increase, which passed last year. Second Ward Alderman Pat Shea and 1st Ward Alderman Paula Pezza also did not vote for the levy increase.

“I’m all for helping the north side, but you didn’t vote for the levy, as many aldermen did. Keep that in mind,” DiCianni said to Bram. “It’s important to vote for the money so you can spend it. … Sometimes people grandstand.”

Bram was visibly irritated at the mayor’s comments. Any vote made in the past should not be “held over my head” when it comes to the needs in the 3rd Ward, he countered.

“If my vote is hampering 3rd Ward residents, I have great concern over that,” he said. “This is not the first budget (in which) the 3rd Ward has not seen improvements.”

The budget was designed to address areas where there are potential liability issues, City Manager Tom Borchert said.

“Trips and falls can cause litigation and liability,” Borchert said. “We felt it appropriate to re-establish full support to sidewalks where the adjacent property owners would be willing to pay 50/50 to avoid that liability. That is why dollars were allocated first for maintenance (rather than new sidewalks).”

New sidewalks on the north side will involve a Special Service Area and will receive money in 2013, Borchert said.

Borchert also said there is a plan to grind down concrete streets on the north side and replace them with an asphalt top layer. That plan is funded in 2013. But Bram said it doesn’t make sense to repair streets without looking at curb and gutter issues.

“If the sub-base of the concrete streets today is not substantial, why would the curb and gutter be good? That will continue to deteriorate,” he said, adding any asphalt repair on those streets would be a “band-aid” that would end up costing more down the road.

Bram proposed reducing the 50/50 program from $150,000 to $50,000 and allocating the resulting $100,000 "savings" to the sidewalk installation and concrete reconstruction program. His motion failed 11-1 (Aldermen Mark Mulliner and Susan Rose were absent).

Alderman Chris Healy said $100,000 would not be enough to make a difference.

“I need to know where the money is coming from,” he said. “Without that, it will come from the general fund and we’re going to spend money we’re trying to sock away.”

Some aldermen said they would not support the 50/50 program until a new citywide sidewalk policy is adopted.

Second Ward Alderman Norman Leader said street work has moved forward in his district, which also includes the north side of Elmhurst.

“Every time we propose new streets and repairs, the city has acted positively in the 2nd Ward. I can’t speak for the 3rd Ward,” he said. “(But) I don’t want to move on sidewalks until we have a resolution (on the sidewalk policy).”

After much debate, funding for street and sidewalk repair will remain in the budget as slated. As the year progresses, funding can be tweaked with further discussion, DiCianni said, adding it was in the best interest of the council to keep the budget approval process moving forward.

Hiring Freeze Approved

The council also touched on several other areas of the budget Monday.

Sixth Ward Alderman Steve Morley proposed a hiring freeze until a new city manager is in place. Five staff positions—two police officers, two information technology professionals and an assistant zoning administrator—were slated to be approved.

He said the new city manager may want to move employees around, and those positions should be filled based on his or her needs. His motion to approve only one police officer and one IT professional passed on a voice vote. The rest will be frozen, and if the need arises to hire someone before a city manager is hired, that request can be brought before the council for approval.

“This is the first year since I’ve been on the council that we have a positive cash flow and we’re putting some of those positions back in,” Morley said. “My concern is that we are hiring people before we hire a new city manager. This is more of a pause button.”

Also, on March 28, Healy said the city should not be in the business of funding the Elmhurst Historical Museum. That topic was brought up again, but Healy had no further comment, and the museum's $800,000 budget line (a 4 percent decrease from last year) will remain.

“Elmhurst is a very unique town, rich in culture and history,” DiCianni said. “It is something I will support as mayor. Privatizing is a whole other issue. If it comes to a policeman over a museum, we will fund police. But Elmhurst as a whole supports a variety of things.”

Based on the council’s recommendations, city staff will draft a budget for approval at the next meeting April 18.

Aldermen said this year’s budget is much healthier than in past years.

“This budget process has been very good,” Morley said. “We’re turning a corner. We’re very healthy.”