City staff count to reach record high

The proposed 2025 City of Evanston budget calls for the city's count of full-time-equivalent employees to reach its highest level this century.

The budget document issued by City Manager Luke Stowe on Friday calls for the city to have 894.46 FTEs next year, up 10 from the number in the current year's budget.

Stowe says 4.4 of the new positions were already approve by City Council during the course of this year — four full-time crisis alternative responders as part of the new CARE team to respond to low-risk service calls received by the Police Department and a part -time rodent control technician funded through a grant.

Other new jobs include:

Two positions — a plan reviewer and a building inspector — in the Community Development Department to bring more plan review and inspection work in house and help with the increased work load from Ryan Field and other construction projects.

Two positions in the Public Works Department — a manager of field services to help supervise employees and improve workplace services, and a geographic information system worker to handle asset management and tracking for city-owned utilities and buildings.

A community ombudsman in the Health and Human Services Department, a grant-funded position to help support the more than 1,600 people living in long-term care facilities in the city.

A building electrification program coordinator in the City Manager's Office, a grant-funded position to oversee the rule-making process for the healthy buildings ordinance and help manage the $10.7 million grant from the Department of Energy.

Overall the new budget calls for spending net of interfund transfers and excluding public safety pension payments of $342 million in 2025, down 4% from $356 million this year.

The spending reduction is largely a result of some major capital projects nearing completion and a reduction in federal pandemic relief funding.

The budget review process will start with a presentation to the Finance and Budget Committee at 5 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a City Council session on Oct. 14, and a public hearing on the budget on Oct. 28.

City staff count to reach record high

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