More workers, no jump in taxes, fees
Plan calls for 16 full-time, 6 part-time employees, paid for with reserve cash
The city of Elgin’s proposed 2023 budget calls for hiring 16 full-time and six part-time employees but no increase in property taxes or fees, officials said.
Adding the positions to the police, parks and recreation, neighborhood services, public works and administration departments will increase general fund expenditures by 25%, resulting in a $13.7 million deficit, but the difference will be funded with reserve cash, City Manager Rick Kozal said.
“The organization’s traditionally lean staffing model is being stressed by the city’s increasing population and community demands,” Kozal told the Elgin City Council Wednesday night. These jobs “are front line positions necessary to maintain services at the service levels expected by the community.”
The $359.7 million overall spending plan is 14% higher than the $315.2 million budget adopted for 2022, according to city documents.
The general fund portion of the budget covers operating costs, including employee salaries and benefits. If approved as proposed, $161.7 million will be spent in 2023 and $148 million collected in revenue, with the shortfall covered by surplus money taken from other funds, the budget says.
Police Chief Ana Lalley has requested money to hire five new police officers, a property evidence custodian and several part-time auxiliary officers.
“It’s at a tipping point. I absolutely need these five new officers,” Lalley said.
The police department has fewer officers now than it did 15 years ago, she said. Currently, there are 184 sworn police officers, 34 of whom are supervisors and the rest patrol officers or detectives.
Hiring five new officers also was the recommendation of the city’s Community Policing Task Force, the citizen group that has spent months analyzing police department operations.
Officers may work a 16-hour day and then be asked to work another 16 hours the next day to cover for officers who are off or call in sick, the chief said.
“You never know when you’ll get called on,” she said. “You can imagine how disrupting that is on an officer’s schedule.” It also affects morale, she said.
The police department is handling more calls that require more time, especially those involving its Collaborative Crisis Services Unit, which deals with people who have substance abuse or mental health issues. They’ve dealt with 1,100 such emergency calls since January and responded to 1,300 in 2021, Lalley said.
Three community service officers will be hired to handle bond hearings because of SAFE-T Act changes taking effect Jan. 1, she said. Hearings could take four to five hours because of the new law, she said.
The chief also wants to add to the payroll three social workers, whose salaries previously had been paid out of a long-term grant that’s ending. The employees focus on victim advocacy, which can include obtaining restraining orders, doing counseling and providing other assistance in domestic battery, family court and other types of cases.
“I can tell you they are very busy,” Lalley said. “One person walks into the police department and it can take them days to resolve the incident because there’s no one else to help . ... The work they do is so important.”
Mayor David Kaptain urged Lalley to take a closer look at staffing levels.
“I will support the five but I have to tell you, I don’t think it’s enough,” he said.
If people don’t feel safe, they will leave town and businesses won’t come here, he said. “This is critical for us,” he said.
Parks and Recreation Director Maria Cumpata is requesting three part-time auxiliary officers for The Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. The health and fitness facility has one million visitors a year, she said, and programs like basketball can draw as many as 700 at one time, she said.
“The things we are running into most recently are large groups of people congregating in the building,” Cumpata said. “Just like any situation, the larger the group, the greater the chance for misbehavior.”
Councilwoman Tish Powell agreed. “I think this is long overdue. I’m glad to see it,” she said.
The other new positions requested are a plan examiner, a 311-citizen advocate, a traffic division utility worker, a building maintenance worker, a web developer, a human resources associate and a special event coordinator.
No final decisions were made Wednesday. Budget discussions continue next week.