Short of revenue, the City of Evanston has made controversial decisions in the name of balancing its budget. It has laid off 28 city employees. It has ended funding for branch libraries. It has hacked $150,000 out of its contributions to community media.

Such measures may mean a more balanced budget, but the city is not yet out of the thick. Here’s an update on the challenges the city faces and will continue to face in the coming months.

Budget

The 60-day deadline City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz gave himself to come before the Evanston City Council and re-evaluate revenue projections is coming up later this month.

After passing the city budget for the fiscal year 2010-11, several aldermen expressed concerns about making budget decisions off of income from unpredictable revenue sources, such as yard waste fees. Bobkiewicz said he would present any discrepancies to the council to see if the city needs to make further cuts.

“Give me a fairly short leash of 60 days to come back with additional solutions,” he said at the Feb. 22 council meeting. “We have to look practically at moving forward at the beginning of the budget year but also understand that there are a few things that are not completely under our total control that are part of our budget solution.”

Bobkiewicz will also report on the income received from Evanston school districts that, as of the February meeting, accepted the responsibility of paying community service officers through an oral agreement.

State funding

The state will not cut $1.7 million from the city’s income tax revenue, Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton told Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl on Friday.

Cities in Illinois normally receive 10 percent of the state income tax their residents pay, but in order to alleviate part of the $13 billion state deficit, Gov. Pat Quinn suggested allocating only 7 percent of the tax to cities.

“We would have been back to reopening the budget and cutting,” Tisdahl said. After a months-long battle to cut $9.5 million from the city’s expenditures to claw Evanston out of the red, “the City of Evanston really could not afford another $1.7 million from our budget,” she said.

Water

The city is trying to scrounge up $60 million over time for the water department. Due to a council decision 10 years ago, water bills no longer fund the water department but instead go to the city’s general fund.

“Now we are seeing the results of that policy,” Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl said. The city is having trouble funding the water department, she said.

The city may raise water bills due to pressure from environmentalists to discourage overuse, Tisdahl said.

“Nationwide, the environmentalists are encouraging cities to charge more for water, to charge what water actually costs, because people use water thinking that water doesn’t cost much of anything,” she said.

Dave Stoneback, newly-appointed director of utilities, will focus on gaining revenue from selling water to other cities, according to a city press release.

The City Council will discuss this issue at a special meeting Monday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.- Brittney Wong