City officials foresee slower growth, plan to adjust budget in response

City Manager Julia Carroll says she sees slower growth ahead for Evanston, and city council members apparently agree.

They’ve established a Budget Policy Committee that will hold meeting monthly beginning at 7 p.m. on June 19 to develop a strategy for keeping the city’s budget balanced if the flow of new revenue slows down.

Ms. Carroll, in a memo to aldermen, said, “We will have to look seriously at the service levels and programs that we provide in order to keep property taxes in check.”

“Our other revenues are not growing much, and I don’t believe they will into the future,” she said, “As development slows, so will our fee revenues, which were raised last year to balance the budget.”

Ms. Carroll also said the city should evaluate outsourcing some services, to see if they can be done at lower cost.

Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, said at Monday’s Rules Committee meeting that the recently adopted strategic plan should make it possible to better tie the budget discussion to city priorities than might have been done in the past.

All aldermen and the mayor will be on the budget committee.