In a lengthy discussion of Evanston’s proposed 2026 budget and proposed 2026 Capital Improvement Plan on Monday, councilmembers expressed hesitance toward raising property taxes for the first time in five years.
This was the first time City Council discussed the proposed budget, which city staff released on Oct. 6. Council aims to pass the 2026 budget at its Nov. 24 meeting before the Cook County December deadline.
The proposed budget suggests a $6.5 million increased property tax levy to support the General Fund, expenditures that don’t fall into a specific category, as well as pensions for the new Parks and Recreation fund.
Taxes have been kept flat for the five years leading up to fiscal year 2026, according to the city’s Chief Financial Officer Hitesh Desai. However, inflation has squeezed the budget.
Councilmembers remained consistent in their reluctance to increase property taxes. Council previously voted Sept. 29 to implement a municipal grocery tax as a favorable — but unpopular — alternative to raising property taxes in light of the state grocery tax expiring in 2026.
“My perspective here is that we’ve held off on increasing our general fund property tax for five or six years, and now — boom — all of a sudden, you have to make a pretty big step, (about) 13%,” Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) said. “That’s going to hurt.”
Without the tax levy increase, the General Fund will be completely depleted by fiscal year 2028, according to the city’s Deputy CFO Clayton Black. But even if it is implemented, more action will still be needed to combat a budget deficit in fiscal year 2027.
City Engineer Lara Biggs delivered the Capital Improvement Plan presentation, providing an overview of ongoing and proposed projects to improve infrastructure around the city. Biggs highlighted that several traffic lights and parks are approaching the “end of their useful life.”
“Just in a number of playground pieces of equipment that we had to remove in 2025 for safety reasons, we would need $4 million just to replace (them),” she said.
In response, Ald. Shawn Iles (3rd) voiced strong concerns about whether the necessity of some proposed projects warrant such high costs. The proposed budget for repairs on the water fixture in Evanston’s Fountain Square lands around $2.4 million — a price tag Iles said is too high given Evanston’s cold climate would make it “difficult to maintain.”
Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) pushed back on Iles’s concerns, citing a responsibility to taxpayers to keep the fountain working after spending over $6 million to construct it in 2019.
Iles also suggested that instead of repairing all of the playgrounds, some could be converted into parkland. He added census data could be used to assess the community’s needs.
“There’s a few things that you’ve talked about that I’d like to put back up on the shelf,” Iles said to Biggs during the discussion.
The CIP presentation also addressed concerns with funding the Sidewalk Improvement Program. The current program replaced a 50/50 cost sharing program in 2022, placing the onus on the city to fund sidewalk repairs. According to Biggs, demand for repairs is high, and costs have increased to the point where the 15-year timeline for the Sidewalk Improvement Program’s phased approach is projected to double.
Ald. Juan Geracaris (9th) and Nieuwsma voiced support for the current sidewalk program, arguing that the city should bear the responsibility to pay for sidewalk repairs.
“I walk down somebody else’s sidewalk probably more than I walk down the sidewalk in front of my own house,” Nieuwsma said. “If all I’m doing is paying for what’s in my own house, it’s not really paying for what I’m actually using.”
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