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Evanston committee approves $1M alley transfer, hears lead‑service line overrun and bond update
Summary
The committee approved an $1,000,000 transfer to the special assessment fund to accelerate alley repairs, received staff briefings on a lead service line replacement cost overrun (partly covered by an IEPA SRF loan) and a trimmed general obligation bond issuance plan reduced by roughly $6M to about $31M.
On May 6 the Finance & Budget Committee approved an $1,000,000 transfer from the general fund to the special assessment fund, heard a briefing on a cost overrun for the 2026 lead service line replacement program and received an update on the city’s planned general obligation bond issuance.
Alleys: The council moved and unanimously approved transferring $1,000,000 to the special assessment fund to reduce the alley petition wait list. City engineer Lara Biggs said the city currently has "over 90 people on a wait list" for alley petitions and that the additional funding would allow construction on roughly one to two additional alleys beyond what current bonding would cover.
Lead service lines: Staff explained that the city applied for and received an Illinois EPA State Revolving Fund loan that can cover up to $5 million in lead service line replacement with principal forgiveness for qualifying projects. After design and bid results, staff acknowledged the project costs exceeded earlier estimates; the loan provided additional coverage and some capital project timing savings offset part of the gap, leaving an uncovered remainder discussed in the meeting (committee discussion cited a remaining overage in the range of about $538,000). Staff said the overrun does not put other water projects at risk and explained savings from delayed projects will be carried into 2027 to cover budgeted work not yet performed.
Bonds: Finance staff said the planned general obligation bond issuance was reduced from a previously authorized maximum of $37 million to about $31 million (a $6 million reduction) to manage near‑term borrowing in the current interest rate environment while preserving $1 million for a library roof project. Staff said the sale was targeted for the third week of May and discussed callable structures to allow early refinancing if rates decline.
What’s next: The alley transfer is effective following the committee recommendation. Staff will provide additional detail on the lead‑service‑line funding mix and the bond sale parameters at subsequent meetings.
