Yorkville State of the City captures community’s rapid development, shifting identity

Yorkville is a city in flux, growing with a shifting identity and sense of purpose. The State of the City with presentations on the 2025 budget and upcoming 2026 budget captured the dynamic developments happening throughout the community.

The 2026 budget is slated for approval by the end of April, with a public hearing scheduled for March 25.

There will be no proposed changes in any taxes or fees or any alterations in infrastructure fees, City Administrator Bart Olson said during his budget presentation before the City Council.

“We’re doing more capital projects this year and the upcoming budget year than we ever have,” Olson said during the meeting.

Capital transfers helped eliminate Yorkville’s $700,000 expected budget deficit in the general fund for the fiscal 2025 approved budget. After a general fund audit this fall, the city expects to end in a surplus for the budgetary year.

One place residents will feel a sting in the future is in their monthly water bills. Rates are increasing to help pay for the $100 million Lake Michigan water project construction. Bills are expected to increase 20% annually for several years.

“We’re currently at about $72 a month for an average home, and we do anticipate that it’ll be in the $90-110 per month range a few years from now,” Olson said.

Yorkville will first receive Lake Michigan water in mid-2028 after the city connects with the DuPage Water Commission’s pipes. The city is using state grants of more than $125 million to help offset costs for the infrastructure project.

Another capital project involves repaving the roadways of subdivisions. Last year, the city highlighted six to seven different subdivisions that required pavement rehab at a price tag between $10 to 15 million. A bond was used to fund last year’s pavement program. The city intends to continue the repaving program into the next budgetary year.

The past year, the city also bought the downtown FS property, renaming the area the “Hydraulic District” as part of a massive rejuvenation program for the downtown area. The investment involves upgrading buildings, the creation of a band shell and an outdoor community gathering area, and reconstructing safer paths and streets.

“We’re seeing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected revenue in those funds because property values have actually exceeded our growth projections,” Olson said. “That means we have more money to either offset projects that we’ve already decided to do or to make decisions on new projects we’re doing in the future.”

The city did not receive the $2 million Main Streets grant it was hoping to help fund the $8 million downtown development project. Olson said the city may now approach the construction on a piecemeal basis.

One significant development that will bring massive influxes of revenue to the city is the new Costco.

“Costco will be the largest sales tax generator probably in our history after it opens,” said Olson. “It should generate several millions of dollars in sales taxes for us down the road.”

In addition to Costco, the city expects to offset future capital projects and infrastructure developments with the tax revenues projected to come in from the influx of data center campuses.

The city has more than 3,000 acres slated for data center development. Olson projects the city will build more than 100 new large data center buildings in its vicinity over the next few decades.

Each large data center building can generate up to a million dollars in annual tax revenue for the city.

However, several public hearings on their construction have featured public opposition to any data centers being placed near residential areas. The city expects to receive two new development applications next week for a 1,000 acre data center development and a 500 acre data center development.

Residents at the public hearings have said the tight-knit Yorkville they knew is becoming unrecognizable. They said unsustainable, rapid development, is rapidly turning Yorkville into just another Oswego.