City Council introduced its $342 million proposed 2026 budget Monday evening, after trimming the size of a planned property tax increase at Ald. Clare Kelly’s (1st) request.
The preliminary votes to adopt the budget passed and will be reviewed at the next council meeting on Nov. 24. The proposed budget calls for a $6.5 million increase in property taxes to support city priorities such as public safety pensions, the new Parks and Recreation Fund and the Human Services Fund.
Kelly proposed a $3 million cut to the proposed increase to the general property tax levy, intended for the public safety pensions. The city aims to fully fund public safety pensions by 2040 and has increased annual contributions by $9.6 million since 2022.
Kelly warned against raising property taxes to fulfill the city’s commitment to funding 100% of public safety pensions. She argued that the city still has reserves it can tap — not only in the General Fund — and that raising the levy now “blows through” those first steps.
Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) pushed back against Kelly, citing concerns about drawing on reserves for this expense.
“Once we burn through our reserves, we’re going to have to go back to this again,” Nieuwsma said. “I think taking a step in that direction now will make it less painful later, and that is promoting greater fiscal discipline.”
Kelly’s stance ultimately won out in a 5-4 vote approving a significant reduction to the proposed $6.5 million hike.
Nieuwsma also moved to increase the Sustainability Fund by $25,000 — a topic alluded to earlier in the evening by Jack Jordan from Climate Action Evanston during public comment — to support climate action outreach. The funding would come from reserves, Nieuwsma said, and would bring the Sustainability Fund’s Fiscal Year 2026 total budget up to $1,526,309.
The amendment passed in a 7-2 vote, with Alds. Tom Suffredin (6th) and Matt Rodgers (8th) voting against it.
Kelly also unsuccessfully tried to table the procedural vote on the Evanston Public Library’s budgeted property tax — the motion failed 3-6. Kelly wanted to table the vote in light of an email the council received from the AFSCME representative earlier that day, she said. Councilmembers and the EPL Board of Trustees will further discuss the library’s property tax at a Nov. 19 meeting.
Later in the meeting, councilmembers revisited the proposed Property Tax and Rent Circuit Breaker Program, an initiative designed to provide financial relief to longtime residents — especially low-income seniors and homeowners — facing displacement pressure. Kelly referred the proposal to the council in February.
The program aims to subsidize increased property tax or rent costs for longtime Evanston residents who meet income and housing cost thresholds. As of Monday’s meeting, funding sources for the program are still under review.
Second Ward resident Darlene Cannon asked councilmembers to support the circuit breaker program with $500,000 from the Good Neighbor Fund, through which NU has committed $1 million a year to the city’s Affordable Housing Fund.
During public comment, several community members spoke in support of the program, including 9th Ward resident Lenny Lamkin, who argued that the money from the Good Neighbor fund offers the city a chance to support housing security without new administrative overhead.
“This program does not stop growth in the city. It just protects those who are already here,” Cannon said.
Councilmembers voiced support for the circuit breaker, but emphasized the need for more analysis. Rodgers questioned why the program wasn’t part of the city’s ongoing Strategic Housing Plan.
Ultimately, the council pushed the program to the Housing and Community Development Committee for further discussion.
“I had concerns about how people move not just onto the program, but off of the program as well,” Rodgers said. “Because, obviously, it can’t just be a continual snowball of once you’re in, you’re always going to be in.”
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