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Elmhurst reviews wireless radio fees, new radios and emergency planning in FY2026 budget discussion
Summary
City staff and the police/fire chief updated aldermen on the city‑owned wireless radio system, current vendor arrangements with Johnson Controls and DuComm, a proposed fee change for FY2026, and related emergency planning work including updates to the Emergency Operations Plan and a required reunification exercise.
Chief Duford and city staff briefed the Committee of the Whole on Elmhurst’s wireless radio system and related emergency‑services items during the FY2026 budget review.
Chief Duford said the wireless radio system is city‑owned and began service in 2009; the city maintains about 605 radios for commercial properties and has used Johnson Controls for maintenance since inception and DUCOM for monitoring. “For those of you who don't know, our wireless radio system is owned by the city. It started in 02/2009. We have 605 radios … they're maintained by Johnson Controls … and they're monitored by DUCOM,” Duford said.
Budget line changes and fees: staff noted a printing misalignment on the budget page for grocery tax revenue and then discussed specific line‑item changes for the wireless radio cost center. In the FY2026 draft budget staff included a proposed fee change for wireless alarm fees; one line (account 540020) showed a reduction from $25,750 to $0 because staff said the city currently has enough radios in stock to cover the coming year. Separately, a J‑form in the ESDA budget shows $14,100 allocated for new non‑emergency responder radios obtained through ETSB/DuComm; the chief said that fee is amortized over four years and will be used to pay for non‑first‑responder mobile incident command radios.
Staffing and program work: the ESDA director and public safety staff described training and coordination accomplishments in 2025—a weather‑threat tabletop review aligned with National Weather Service threat levels, training with police drone pilots and use of the mobile incident command vehicle, and collaboration with Elmhurst‑area hospital safety committees on mass‑casualty standard operating procedures and patient‑flow/security planning. Staff also listed goals for 2026: updating Elmhurst’s Emergency Operations Plan (to be submitted to the state by March 2026), compiling National Incident Management System information for the Illinois state reporting process, and conducting an IEMA‑required functional reunification exercise.
Aldermen questioned fee offsets and revenue. Alderman Grama asked whether alarm revenue and expenses offset each other; Director Coyle and other staff said the finance committee had previously reviewed DuComm fees and deferred passing increases to users in earlier years; the FY2026 proposal includes a tiered structure intended to better match fees to business size and to recover indirect fire‑department costs associated with DUCOM monitoring.
Several aldermen thanked Mayor Levin for work leading DuComm and noted the timing of radio replacements; staff said a recent centralized purchase cycle (done through ETSB/ETSB‑style purchasing) sets radio pricing and buying cycles and that replacement cycles can be lengthy (staff noted purchases may occur on the order of five to 10 years). The chief said the $14,100 amortized fee “is probably going to come down” pending final counts and whether the city reduces the number of radios paid through the charge.
