Naperville department heads want to hire 18 new full-time employees in 2024, a personnel bump city staff say is needed to fill operational gaps and can be funded without tax increases.
Elected officials aren’t entirely sold on the idea.
The Naperville City Council was presented with the requests Tuesday at a budget review meeting, with staff seeking feedback before submitting final budget requests for council review. While some of the proposed jobs were met with enthusiasm, others spurred a recurring question: will adding the payroll position really fill a need?
No decisions were made at workshop meeting, the second of four being held to review next year’s budget, which goes into effect Jan. 1.
The first, held last month, focused on the capital improvements side of Naperville’s finances. Tuesday’s concentrated on operations, including the city’s level of service — current and aspirational — and how revenue streams are, and could, meet those needs.
No cost estimate was provided for hiring 18 new employees in 2024 — a move meant to focus on the reasons behind the requests before price tags are added the mix — but staff was adamant the requests could be handled by existing revenue streams.
“We have experienced some long-term change in revenue sources over the past few years that make it possible to fund the resources that we (are discussing) tonight,” said City Manager Doug Krieger, who acknowledged the requests are “significantly more than we make in most budget seasons.”
Revenue from state sales and use taxes, state income tax, service charges — such as ambulance fees — and hotel/motel tax are all projected to rise in 2024, keeping in line with what they’ve seen over the past three years, officials said.
Recent growth can be attributed to a few factors, including changes to state law, economic trends and new city programs. The overall effect, staff said, is a revenue stream equipped to handle new hires coupled with the expectation that Naperville’s tax rate will remain flat to declining.
Councilman Ian Holzhauer asked how they could be so certain that “it can all be supported through existing general fund revenues with a flat to declining property tax rate?”
Finance Director Rachel Mayer said it’s a calculated risk but they strongly believe their projections are accurate.
“We’re probably 98% sure what the numbers are going to look like in most areas, that’s why we’re confident that we can make the recommendation,” she said.
Key to hashing out an effective spending plan is examining “how our budget request can help fill service gaps that we’ve identified through the year,” Krieger said.
To pinpoint those holes, Krieger asked department heads to review their current operations, locate areas for improvement and submit requests for resources that would help. The number one ask: people. After initially receiving 33 personnel requests, they boiled down the list to 18.
Among the recommended positions are six new police officers and in-house public works staff to primarily deal with concrete restoration.
One of the most contentious requests was from Naperville’s technology department, which is asking for two more employees to support the city’s increased tech investment. But some council members questioned how a 35-person department wasn’t large enough to handle the demand.
“At what point … do we have too many tech individuals and we lose the efficiency that (they’re) supposed to bring?” Councilwoman Jennifer Bruzan Taylor said. More information is needed “show me that’s not the case yet,” she said.
IT Director Jackie Nguyen said her department’s requests were borne out of growing technology demands from the city and the community.
“There’s a lot more features, functionalities and technologies that are being introduced everyday, and so the growth of the staff and the infrastructure is to support all of those demands,” she said.
Holzhauer asked that staff levels of neighboring towns’ IT departments be cross-checked to verify Naperville’s need.
Likewise, requests from human resources also gave some council members pause despite their relevancy to a citywide problem: high turnover and hiring shortfalls. Wanting a long-term solution, HR requested two personnel to help with recruitment and retention of city employees going forward.
Some asked why the city couldn’t hire independent contractors, part-time employees or temps to address the need. HR Director Blaine Wing said all options are on the table.
The other new jobs proposed are for a transportation manager to oversee special projects and programs beyond day-to-day traffic issues; staff to process building permits more quickly; someone to oversee city purchases and contracts, which are set to increase next year with a host of new capital projects on the horizon; and a grant coordinator to maximize dollars the city secures from state and federal sources.
