Naperville’s preliminary 2026 budget calls for $190 million in capital improvement and infrastructure projects — 6% more than last year, city staff said Monday at the first of three Naperville City Council budget workshop meetings.
Most of the funding is slated for transportation and utility infrastructure projects, with about $31.4 million earmarked for upgrades at the Springbrook wastewater treatment facility and $28.4 million for water main replacement work as Naperville continues to address its 37-mile backlog of aging water mains.
Over the next five years, city officials hope to replace 6.5 miles of water mains per year, although that number could increase to 10 miles a year as more mains age.
“In the 2030s, it’s likely that the rate of water mains reaching the end of life will increase rapidly,” Finance Director Raymond Munch said. More than 125 miles of water mains could need replacement by then, he said.
About $30 million is earmarked for electric utility capital improvement projects, significantly less than the $44.5 million requested by the department. Declining sales, rising costs and supply-and-demand constraints have contributed to decreased fund balances, putting the utility in a more challenging position, Munch said.
Moving overhead electric lines underground continues to be a priority, with 95% of the city’s overhead electric lines already buried.
“Fifty percent of our outages are on 5% of our system. That’s to say, 50% of our outages are on the overhead portion of our system,” Electric Utility Director Brian Groth said.
It’s proposed that $1 million be set aside in the 2026 budget for electric utility line underground conversion, with two planning options for future underground work proposed.
The first calls for spending $18 million over five years to put electric utility lines along major roadways underground and other related work. The second entails spending $35 million over 10 years to perform more complicated work, which would require the city to secure easements through residential backyards.
Option one would reduce outages for about 1,500 customers per weather event, while option two would affect fewer than 50 customers per event.
“I would say that the tier one work impacts a lot of customers,” Groth said. “This is the best use of money. It impacts large customers and impacts residences. The tier two work is difficult. It’s very difficult, and we don’t know to what level folks will grant us easements to be in the backyards.”
Council members favored sticking with option one for now, but option two might be revisited at a later time.
“I’ve talked to a lot of neighbors — dozens of neighbors — over the last couple years,” Councilman Patrick Kelly said. “There is a pretty serious divide, I would say, almost half and half, to be honest. Half that are very excited about it and hate the outages. … and half who say, ‘If you want to cut through my yard, over my dead body, it won’t happen.’”
Other electric capital improvement projects budgeted for 2026 include substation upgrades and cable replacement.
As for transportation, $38.6 million has been allocated for road-related projects, roughly 31% more than in 2025. Costs are being driven by rising expenses, aging infrastructure and more projects moving into construction phases, staff said.
A significant share of the increase comes from projects carried over from previous years, such as the North Aurora Road underpass work, improvements to Naperville Road and Naper Boulevard, and development and traffic improvements for the South 40 site. Those three projects alone will consume $16.8 million of the budgeted $38.6 million, Munch said.
The city also plans on allocating $2 million for 248th Avenue improvements, which will pay for land acquisition and design. One new project — upgrades to the Washington Street Bridge over Interstate 88 — will receive $400,000 from the city.
Sidewalk program to end
Consistent with recommendations from the city, the council advised staff to end the city’s cost-share sidewalk replacement program through which the city pays for 60% of the sidewalk replacement and homeowners pay the remaining 40%.
In April, the council voted to pause the cost-share program but after further analysis, Munch said it would make more sense to permanently end the program, which generates less than $300,000 in revenue for the city.
The program is a heavy administrative burden on the city, requiring about 375 hours from staff across three different departments and costing $15,100 in personnel. Mailing invoices and estimates costs the city about $4,700, with many of the invoices going unpaid.
“The issue here isn’t so much about the program cost,” Munch said. “This is about the time staff dedicate to the program and, more importantly, time that could be dedicated to other priorities.”
Munch also noted that the city has sufficient revenue sources, particularly from the home rule sales tax, to support future sidewalk improvements without billing property owners.
The next budget workshop is scheduled for Oct. 28 and will focus on general operation expenses. If needed, a third budget workshop will be held Nov. 10.
The council will approve the 2026 budget and property tax levy in December.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
