Aurora mayor warns OnLight nonprofit faces near-term cash shortfall; council briefed on stabilization steps

Mayor John Lash told the Aurora City Council Committee of the Whole on Sept. 2 that OnLight, the nonprofit that manages the city-owned fiber optic ring, is close to insolvency and councilors should be prepared for several possible outcomes if the organization cannot be stabilized. “OnLight is our fiber optic ring that runs around the city,” Lash said in opening his briefing. He later said, “Currently we have about enough oxygen to get us to the end of the month.”

The mayor said the network’s nonprofit operator, OnLight, has about $1 million in debt, carries roughly a $27,000 monthly operating deficit and has taken out letters of credit with Old Second Bank to cover obligations. He told the council the city owns the physical fiber infrastructure and that, “if OnLight dissolves, all the assets revert back to the city of Aurora per the MSA.”

Why it matters: the fiber ring carries service to municipal facilities including wells, the Public Works building, new fire stations and other city infrastructure; loss of the operator could require the city to step in to preserve municipal broadband services and cybersecurity protections. Staff said there are about 16 paying customers on roughly 60 miles of fiber and that OnLight lost 12 customers while adding one since 2018.

Details from the presentation and council discussion: Lash reviewed multiple years of spending decisions and contracts that, he said, produced poor returns. He said OnLight paid small monthly fees to rent two fiber strands into Chicago and leased space at the CME; the council was told the Chicago strand rental was roughly $14.50 per month and a rented room at CME was costing about $5,000 per month. The administration said prior attempts to move to fiber-to-home failed three times, produced significant legal bills (the presentation cited roughly $113,000 in legal expenses) and included unregulated debit-card spending. The mayor said previous marketing and event spending included one $50,000 “Innovation District” event for which there remains no finished district.

Council and staff direction: Lash said the city has started cost-cutting steps: canceling or reducing rent and vendor contracts where possible, restructuring a part-time CFO contract to end in three months, and onboarding a volunteer with technical experience for a three-month period to cover operations and customer support alongside existing contractors. He also said the Illinois Broadband Office provided a temporary consultant to help chart a path forward. Lash asked the council to recommend IT-literate board candidates for the seven‑member OnLight board; he said Alderman Larson already serves as the council’s representative on the board.

Council reaction: Alderman Ted Masiakos called the presentation “stunning” and pressed for answers about how past transparency requests were handled. Masiakos asked how the city would “find out what's really going on” with unexplained cash withdrawals and marketing expenses the presentation listed. The mayor said the immediate goal is to keep OnLight operating and to stabilize the nonprofit rather than absorb it into the city, and that if stabilization fails the city would have to explore bringing the network operations in‑house to protect municipal services.

What was not decided: the council did not vote on an operational takeover or on transferring OnLight’s functions into city government. No formal motion or ordinance was introduced during the briefing; the mayor said public board meetings would be scheduled once a full seven‑member board is appointed. He also said there is no new, dedicated outside revenue identified for a fiber‑to‑home expansion, and that the large Illinois broadband funding pools referenced in the presentation were already committed to other applicants.

Next steps noted by staff: pursue customer retention and competitive pricing to increase revenue, complete internal cost reductions, recruit volunteer and appointed board members with IT expertise, and continue coordination with the Illinois Broadband Office and existing contractors to maintain service continuity.