Joliet council plans spending for 2023

The Joliet City Council focused on more money for fixing sidewalks, repairing streets and cleaning up intersections in a Monday public session concerning the 2023 budget.

The 2023 budget includes $572 million in spending, and the discussion at the council meeting focused on a little more than $1 million of those expenses.

The 20-minute discussion may be the only council debate on details of the budget, which was scheduled for a Dec. 6 public hearing before a vote on approval.

“I feel that the number one complaint that I get is the sidewalks,” Council member Sherri Reardon said when she questioned whether the city can spend more on sidewalk repairs.

The city increased spending on sidewalk repairs this year to $750,000 as part of a combined street-sidewalk initiative that also boosted spending for street repairs to $6.5 milllion.

Council member Larry Hug, who chairs the Public Services Committee that oversees spending on streets and sidewalks, said the city needs to keep going. An analysis by city staff done for his committee showed the city should spend $12.4 million a year to maintain the network of sprawling streets in Joliet, Hug said.

Hug said he would like to see the city budget for streets and sidewalks increased by another million in a long-term effort to eventually spend $12.4 million a year on street repairs.

“I think it’s going to be tough to add another $1 million to the budget at this point,” City Manager James Capparelli said.

Hug replied that the budget could be adjusted to reduce the 13 positions being added to the employee count.

“I think the residents would get a lot more from the additional million for streets and sidewalks than they would from those added positions,” Hug said.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk questioned whether the city’s 50-50 program, which requires residents to agree to pay half the costs for sidewalk repairs, slowed the needed sidewalk repairs.

Meanwhile, Council member Joe Clement pointed to the $100,000 the city plans to spend downtown on weed control and flowers as reason for looking for weed control in other areas of the city, too.

“I’d like to see that expended throughout the city,” Clement said of the $100,000 budgeted for downtown. “Every intersection you see weeds three feet high.”

Council member Jan Quillman agreed, saying, “Our intersections are a mess.”

Public Works Director Greg Ruddy said he would try to obtain a cost estimate for citywide weed control.

Correction: A previous version of this story included an incorrect amount for how much Joliet spent on street-sidewalk repairs this year. The correct amount budgeted is $750,000.