Mayor proposes $10/month public safety fee to shore up city budget and fund deputy hours for school coverage

Mayor Johnson told the Elgin School Board that the City of Elgin is weighing a municipal public-safety fee to help cover a roughly $40,000 shortfall in the city general fund and to allow additional deputy coverage for school hours. "Fee would be $10 a month," he said, and suggested contract language could specify X hours per week to accommodate school schedules.

Alex McHaddad, Elgin’s city administrator, said the proposed public-safety fee would mirror approaches used by other smaller cities and would be aimed at closing the $40,000 gap in the general fund. Johnson emphasized the city was not, at the time of the meeting, formally asking the district to pay for the service; rather, he described how the fee and sheriff-contract language could be structured to provide specific hours of coverage that align with elementary and high school schedules.

At public comment, a resident asked how coverage would be coordinated between elementary and high-school hours; Mayor Johnson said the schedule would be coordinated with district staff. The discussion was introductory; no formal intergovernmental agreement or district budget action was requested or taken at the Nov. 18 meeting. The board recorded the exchange to allow further conversation between city officials and district leadership.

Next steps: city staff indicated the idea would be further considered by the city (including potential ballot or ordinance steps at the city level), while district and city staff would coordinate timing and schedules if the program moves forward.