Aldermen and residents are uncertain of what will happen at the first public review of next year’s proposed budget Saturday, but all of them have their own agendas.
Some aldermen said they don’t want to see taxes going up but believe increases will be necessary to balance the budget’s deficit. They also said they hope the budget process will not generate so much controversy as redistricting proposals did this fall.
“The question is rarely whether (taxes) will go up,” said Ald. Gene Feldman (9th). “The question is how low can we keep it.”
Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) said she was concerned that tax increases would hurt families living on fixed incomes or those raising children, but she pointed out that Evanston requires more money for social services than its neighbors.
“We’re not a suburb, we’re a city,” she said. “Therefore our budget looks different from Wilmette or Kenilworth.”
However, Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said instead of raising taxes, fines or fees, the budget can be balanced by trimming expenses — though he wouldn’t say which ones.
“My priorities are to try and cut something,” Bernstein said. “I don’t want to keep raising taxes. I would like to see greater efficiencies in certain departments.”
Some residents had other goals in mind.
Shannon Seiberling, an Evanston librarian who also lives in the city, said she would not mind the proposed 1.2 percent increase in total property taxes.
“I think it’s a fair way to try and balance the budget, rather than increasing fees,” she said. “I like the idea of spreading out the realm of increases.”
Seiberling said she did not think cuts should be made but added that she did not think city services really need additional funds.
Jim Emery, 69, has lived in Evanston for 50 years and said he would like to see improvements in some city services but doesn’t want to pay more in taxes.
“Being a senior citizen, I would like to see the Levy Center get more money,” Emery said. “To me, Evanston is already very highly taxed. About two-thirds of the budget goes to schools, and because I’m past that age, I think that spreads things pretty thin.”
Bernstein said aldermen might have less time for considering budgetary concerns this year.
He said the ward redistricting process cut into time normally allotted for deciding the budget. In the past two years, aldermen started discussing the budget in a special committee as early as late summer, but this year they were working on the redistricting process until December.
The proposed budget was released Jan. 1, and Feldman said it is normal for the council to begin then.
Feldman said residents remember that although the council might vote to raise taxes, economic development already has footed part of the bill.
“Whatever amount we settle on would already have greatly decreased by success of downtown development condos,” Feldman said. “If it weren’t for those, the difference between our income and our expenses would be dramatically greater.”
