Anonymous:
I agree with your assessment of the school district portion of the tax bill but you are again making the FD and PD scapegoats, they are not overpaid and using private ambulance companies will decrease service and professional care unless you want an 18 year old with no experience taking care of you. The 2 dive teams are for specific reasons, criminal versus rescue, the PD does not do rescue dives and the FD does not do evidence dives but I understand your frustration, it does not make sense at the surface. I also agree with the bonus system, it is not fair and seems to go to the same people and departments. I understand it is in place of raises which have been limited but that is true across the country and there are several out of work so I think that should and could be halted for now.

Lets not forget that 75% of your property tax bill is the schools which get almost no scrutiny at all.

Our kids are routinely held hostage and used as a bargaining chip in the hostage negotiations with the teacher's union.

School costs went up approx 100% in 10 years. Any business would fail with this model.

How much did test scores improve now that we are paying twice the price, answer is I believe ZERO.

For the most part, the City govt is good; although, there are excesses that the City should have the spine to correct on its own.

Here's the latest on the Maywood situation, for those interested:

City Outsources Everything. Sky Doesn't Fall"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/business/20maywood.html?ref=business

With cutting positions in the city, shouldn't it start at the top. How is it they can get rid of Deputy positions all over the city why can't can't they do that in the City Mangers office and the law team of the city. Not to mention how much money did they spend on one of our own city council members on a in house matter.

If they can't do the job get rid of them. They are spending more money on layoffs contracts than taking care of business. Not to mention violating the rights of tax payers. As we said in the early 1980's throw the bums out. Also why do we need a police and fire chief. Make 1 public safety director.

Lay off these high priced fire fighters and replace them Private ambulance companies. Why should the city provide a service that brings the hospitals paying customers. Make them pay for it. They do it in Indiana why not here.

Not to mention they charge tax payers for a service that they are already being taxed for. Isn't that double taxation without representation. But hey they give us a deal for living in town, wow Thanks!

And these police offices, SWAT team really? Dive team? doesn't the Fire Department have one? Another program where they have two of everything, why because the police and fire can't play nice together? Great leadership Mr. City Manager.

Motorcycle cops Please? Who is driving their squad cars while they are out playing on their Motorcycles. I'm not pleased we have support their little hobby. Yea and save the line "we are saving costs on fuel line"

This is why Illinois stinks. The pension system will go bankrupt then the taxpayers will be asked to bail it out. SHAME ON OUR LOUSY POLITICIANS and SCHOOL BOARDS.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-met-pension-deals-20100716,0,1470649.story

What is it about Naperville that makes it so gosh darn successful?

The charming downtown, the Riverwalk, the clean/excellently maintained streets, excellent schools, low crime rate, all of the cultural amenities and special events, the educated population of Naperville...

It takes investment to do these things, these things didn't just happen by themselves. At the end of the day this is a great town and great people take care of this town, that's why Naperville is so gosh darn successful.

John,
Let us not give the City a scapegoat...the economy. That is ridiculous. The puck stops in City Hall.

Naperville has some economies of scale due to our size and population.

Smaller towns like a Lisle may benefit from elimination of the city employees and sub contracting everything to Naperville. Someone would have to run the numbers first, but its a safe bet the Lise taxpayers would come out ahead.

JQP

The problems with governments running of money at all levels is the insane spending, welfare programs, and the monopoly of labor that the Unions have that allow them to gauge the citizens for every penny they can squeeze out of them.

Governments need to ban unionization of government employees and contracting requirements that require unionized workers.

The taxpayers who will get zero from Soc Security and Medicare are on the hook to fund lifetime $50-100K pensions for unionized workers who get higher average salaries and benefits than Fortune 500 employees while employed; and, in many cases can retire at age 45 instead of 65.

Monopolies suck, government unions like the teachers are no exception.

Dist 203 is more than 70% of my tax bill which doubled over the last ten years.

Bonuses

How can the City pay bonuses in the middle of a depression? Are they smoking the confiscated products at City Hall?

Outsource, outsource, outsource.

Privatize, privatize, privatize.

Unless the government can do it cheaper than the private sector they should not be offering it as a government service.

Government needs to operate more efficiently just like many corporations are forced to do. A lot of departments in corporations have to be able to control their costs to below what an independent contractor would bid to do the same service if it was outsourced to them. And they have to do it while considering the total cost of salary, normal corporate benefits, retirement, etc.

We simply have got to start demanding that ALL government services be provided exactly the same way. If the police department can't control their cost then fire them all and contract with the county sheriff. For just about every single department at city hall their are private contractors that can do the same job for less money and it is long past the time when government workers ignored the fact that their costs are out of control and that they still had their hand out wanting more.

Just look at what happened with Chicago conventions. The same thing is going to be happening to more and more of these cozy inside government jobs because we have simply gotten to the point where we can no longer afford do operate local government like this anymore.

Reform, reform, reform.

Mr. Public:

Please understand that it is not a knee jerk reaction to fire the city manager and the city council. I am just fed up with the whole economic mess that these clowns have created.

Time for new blood. Do you really think that things are really going to change for the better with the current administration ?

Also, does anyone know what is going on the the building and planning department? Do we still have the same amount of building inspectors and staff as before? If so, why -------- nothing is going on.

JQP

The problems of the City are indeed linked to the economy. In two ways. They spent like drunken sailors as the economy falsely increased from 2004 to 2008. Then they were burdened when it crashed in 2009.

The answer is simple. Roll back all cost increases implemented since 2004. The City simply cannot afford them.

And look for new savings, like reduced fire costs. Get an objective view, not the fire department. Thanks Annoymous for recognizing that the people were looking out for their self interest.

And quite frankly, the manager created the problem (he never cautioned on increased spending when he was the financial director) and does not seem to be up to the task. The bonus issues, while just $50,000, shows his shortcomings.

JQP,
The city, state and Feds created the fiasco we are in by raping the taxpayer to benefit themselves with such benefits as ridiculous pensions to be handed out to THEMSELVES in the young 50s.

When you compute how much you pay in Fed and State income taxes, sales tax, real estate tax, cig tax, alcohol tax, etc. the governments are taking easily half the taxpayers hard earned wages. With no money left, no one can invest in the economic engine and this is why we are in the mess we are in.

The city, state and Federal problems are not because of the economy....it is really the other way around, JQP. Wide spread corruption killed the economy....it smothered the last remaining fumes needed to keep it running. That is the sad truth. Lay them all off and start all over again. Maywood did and we can!

The city's problems are mostly the fault of the economy, which is also why government entities throughout the country are in trouble these days. Firing the city manager and dumping the city council is, IMO, a knee-jerk reaction to a problem that is so much bigger than Naperville.

That said, if the economy doesn't improve any time soon, then it's likely the city manager and city council will have another, much more painful round of cuts to make.

-JQP

This blog has offered some great suggestions. I would focus on pension costs. I agree that public sector employees need to be on a 401(k) or 403(b) plan rather than a fixed income pension. Virtually no companies can afford those plans anymore (and nearly all have eliminated them) and governmental entities certainly can't either. Naperville should demonstrate leadership on this important issue and adopt this long overdue pension reform asap.

"Second, be honest. People posted on these pages that ambulance costs could be cut. Constant arguments that they could not. Then the fire chief did that."

------

Yes, we attacked CIJ for proposing this after her "annoying" daily research and suddenly the Fire Chief decides to do it and everything seems to be OK and the taxpayers got some needed relief.

I guess it wasn't such a bad proposal. The attacks against CIJ if I recall mostly came from none other than the members of the Fire Department who feel threatened any time a savings to the taxpayers affects them.

Having been raised by two school teachers, in the past I understood that public employees were generally agreeable to receiving lower wages in exchange for better benefits (favorable early retirement, pensions, health plans, vacations/holidays, etc.)
What has happened over the past decades is public employees have adjusted their wages to the same level(or often better) than private workers (wage creep) while insisting on keeping all other rewards. Therefore, they are now receiving compensation well above other sectors without the funding to support them.

My suggested solutions are:
1. Adjust salaries to be inline with the private sector (no step increases, etc.)
2. No retirements until age 65
3. Anyone currently retired early can not double dip. If they take another job, their early retirement payments will be adjusted / delayed accordingly. (Note: Naperville's administrative staff is filled with employees drawing full retirement as former policemen/firemen, etc. - supposedly under the assumption they couldn't handle the work anymore, even though most held office jobs.)
4. Replace all Pensions with IRA's comparable to private industry.
5. Eliminate boosts in salaries in last years of service, made to increase retirement payments.
6. Employees (such as teachers) that receive extended vacation periods (summers & holiday breaks) should have salaries adjusted to allow for a prorated compensation.
7. Eliminate all capital / expansion projects unless they are absolutely necessary for maintenance of existing infrastructures. Naperville is good enough - we don't need to fill every dream project.
8. Subcontract as many projects / activities as possible for cost savings. A large portion of government functions can be handled by private contractors who would love to have the business.
9. Treat public money like it was your own.

The first thing to do. Deduct the bonuses from the salaries of employees next year. If they care, then let them leave. Let them find another job.

Second, be honest. People posted on these pages that ambulance costs could be cut. Constant arguments that they could not. Then the fire chief did that. No loss of life, proved that the operation was overstaffed. Continue with fire houses. Convert at least 4 of the ten houses to 8 hour day operations. They would close during late hours just like the ambulances. Since there are about 32 fire crews accross the City (3 per house plus two relief crews), such a plan could save as much as 25% of the payroll cost (8/32). This would balance the budget alone (then bonuses could be paid).

See if there could be similar savings in police as well. These are the two major sources of spending.

And layoff 90% of the planning and building department. Nothing is happening and won't be happening. If activity comes back, outsource this service to private companies so cost is variable and not fixed.

When done, cut property taxes 20% for struggling taxpayers. This would improve value of Naperville real estate. People want tax cuts, not wasted government spending.

I think it is a great idea. However, The city manager, city attorney, and elected council members should be fired first. They are the ones that ill spend the money and don't know what the word budget means. Then trim the city employees to help balance the budget.

City council like 204 can't handle money and think that there is an endless well of money. When will they wake up and see that there is not?? It will never happen !!

Welcome to paradise and the nothing is too good for Naperville!