Lisle trustees debate FY 2025–26 budget priorities, from police staffing and fleet to possible tax abatement; staff to update forecast before hearing

Trustees at the Village of Lisle Committee of the Whole on March 3 discussed a range of proposed changes to the FY 2025–26 budget, including new police positions, fleet replacements, building repairs and a possible property‑tax abatement. Village staff will update the budget and long‑term financial forecast and return to the board at the public hearing scheduled March 17 with cost estimates and an abatement ordinance for the board to consider.

Mayor Piesack said the village’s fiscal position supports returning some revenue to taxpayers and proposed a $1 million property‑tax abatement, arguing Lisle’s recent sales‑tax surpluses and high fund balances made the move feasible. "We can afford to give our taxpayers a break. It's the right thing to do," the mayor said. Trustees disagreed on scale and timing; several favored paying down the police pension or keeping reserves for critical infrastructure instead.

Major budget items discussed

- Police staffing: Staff proposed in the draft budget three additional sworn officer positions and one civilian position. Trustees and the manager agreed to include those positions in the packet presented at the public hearing while giving flexibility to a new police chief to refine titles and structure. Trustees asked staff to model how adding sworn officers would affect police pension contributions.

- Police pension: Trustees discussed an additional one‑time contribution to the police pension fund. Several trustees and staff asked the actuarial office to model multiple contribution levels; $1 million and $1.5 million were floated in the discussion as illustrative figures for how much of a surplus could be applied to the pension. Deputy Village Manager Rachel Mitchell said staff could run actuarial scenarios showing how $1 million, $2 million or higher contributions would change funded status.

- Fleet and facilities: Staff recommended funding up to nine vehicle replacements for the police fleet in the coming year, citing reliability and safety concerns. Trustees also supported advancing planned maintenance and facility work at the police station — including a training‑room remodel and range air‑handler upgrades — and discussed options to accelerate carpet replacement if competitive quotes come in lower than the currently estimated line item.

- Social worker and grant participation: The budget includes a proposed social‑worker position contingent on a grant from the county 708 board; trustees supported moving forward only if grant funding is secured.

- Fireworks and festival seed money: Mayor Piesack proposed seeding a $100,000 budget item for a larger fireworks display and associated event planning for the 2026 semi‑quincentennial celebration. Several trustees asked for a task force and more detailed cost and staffing estimates before committing seed dollars; staff said routine fireworks funding for July 4 (snow fencing, fireworks line item and overtime) is handled from hotel‑motel funds and department overtime budgets.

Concerns and fiscal context

Trustees repeatedly raised the volatility of sales‑tax revenue and concentration risk. Trustee Mullin noted that a small number of large retailers provide a disproportionate share of sales tax and urged caution about relying on surpluses for ongoing commitments. Trustee Lesniak and others stressed the village’s unfunded capital backlog — staff noted an approximately $13.6 million set of projects in the long‑term plan and a larger list of other identified but currently unfunded projects — and asked whether abatement would reduce capacity to address critical infrastructure needs.

Next steps and board direction

Staff will revise the FY 2025–26 draft budget to reflect the board’s feedback (staffing additions, fleet positions, building maintenance items and contingent social‑worker funding) and will produce an updated five‑year forecast showing the effect of the proposed changes. The board asked staff to prepare an abatement ordinance for consideration at or before the March 17 budget hearing and to model the fiscal impact of different abatement sizes and pension payments. No final abatement or budget adoption occurred at the March 3 meeting; trustees asked for the additional forecast and actuarial modeling before final action.

What was not decided

No ordinance change was adopted at the March 3 Committee of the Whole. The size of any property‑tax abatement, additional pension payment and the final configuration of new police positions will be subject to board action after staff returns with revised budget documents and actuarial analyses.