Proposed 2022 Joliet budget projects increased revenues, includes 29 new positions

The Joliet City Council began diving into the details of a 2022 budget proposal this week.

While the proposed budget shows higher revenues and features more hiring, some council members at a Wednesday special meeting appeared skeptical of the need for some of the spending.

Finance Director James Ghedotte detailed the budget proposal at Monday’s pre-council meeting. The proposed 2022 budget for the general fund is about $206 million, about a 14% increase from the 2021 budget, which was hampered by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city projects a significant recovery in revenue compared to what it saw for the 2021 budget. The $216 million in estimated revenue in the 2022 proposal is nearly 20% higher than the previous year.

Ghedotte attributed the roughly $10 million budget surplus projection to the inclusion of about half of the $22 million the city received via the American Rescue Plan, a federal stimulus bill passed by Congress earlier this year.

Sales taxes for 2021 are also up since a state law change this year allowed municipalities to collect sales taxes on online purchases within their borders. The city projects it will collect about $56.6 million in sales taxes in 2022, compared to about $49.6 million in 2019 and $48.4 million in 2020.

Still, the city projects revenue from gaming will still come in at about two-thirds of the level seen in 2019.

Councilman Larry Hug was especially vocal about the need for fiscal restraint, especially considering the unusual economic trends that might lead to larger revenues for local governments, including rising home prices and more consumer spending.

“One year doesn’t make a trend,” he said. “Neither does two years.”

The additional revenue would allow the city to fill the 27 positions it did not fund because of the pandemic-induced spending cuts this year, as well as funding for 29 new positions, according to the budget document.

Hug went almost line by line for the list of new positions and questioned the need for them.

There appeared to be agreement on the need to hire additional police officers after the pandemic shut training facilities down last year and slowed the rate at which new officers could join the force. The budget proposal lists 13 new positions added for the department.

Interim Chief Robert Brown said the department has 253 officers, which includes some in training and others who are injured and off the street. He said the number of overtime hours officers work is “through the roof” and some areas of the city, especially high-traffic areas, are under-patrolled.

“We need more,” he said.

When Councilwoman Jan Quillman asked Brown what an ideal officer count would be, he said when he joined the department in 2000, there were more than 300 officers.

The city also has yet to allocate most of the first half of the $22.2 million it received via the federal stimulus law. The city received half the funds last year but did not budget for it in its 2021 plan, and will get the second half in May of next year.

Ghedotte said the city has only recommended using about $1.1 million of the federal money to pay for police body cameras, which the city will need to provide for every officer by 2023.

The remainder of the funds have yet to be earmarked.

Ghedotte said Monday the condition of the city’s parking fund “continues to be troublesome.” The city projects its 2022 revenue to fall well short, about $1.2 million, of its expenditures.

He noted the sale of the Scott Street parking deck earlier this year to developer John Bays. The city’s proceeds on the sale are being spent on a study of the downtown parking system.

Until the study is completed early next year, Ghedotte said the system will operate as is.

The council did not vote on the the proposal but asked for revisions to be made before its next meeting on Monday.