City Council Vacancy
NACC would like to extend our profound gratitude to Allison Longenbaugh for her dedication to our community and her distinguished service on the Naperville City Council.
At the end of the council meeting on August 19th, Councilwoman Longenbaugh announced that she is stepping down because she has accepted a new job and as a condition of her new employment that she will no longer be able to serve on the city council.
Supna Jain, currently serving as Vice President of the Indian Prairie School District (ISPD) 204 Board of Education, has been nominated to fill the vacant seat and a confirmation vote will take place at the next council meeting on September 16th.
Councilwoman Longenbaugh recently voted with the Chamber in opposition to the home rule sales tax increase.
Click here to watch the August 19th council meeting.
Sales Tax Increase
Due to the resignation of Councilwoman Longenbaugh and a question of procedure during the August 19th council meeting, the future of the sales tax increase proposal is a bit unclear. Citing a procedural concern that the substitution motion to pass a local grocery tax instead of increasing the sales tax did not receive an adequate public hearing, Naperville legal staff has asked that the proposals be added to the next city council meeting agenda on September 16th.
The funding options, which seek to generate an estimated $6.1 million in revenue the city lost when Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly eliminated the 1% state tax on groceries, will be considered after the vacancy on the council is filled. The revenue from the former state tax went to municipalities and not to the state budget.
Until that point, the council seems deadlocked 4-4 between members who support increasing the sales tax and those preferring a local replacement grocery tax.
NACC opposed the sales tax increase because Naperville’s competitive sales tax rate has long been a major advantage for attracting both shoppers and businesses. Any increase to the Home Rule Sales Tax puts that edge at risk and makes Naperville businesses less competitive relative to surrounding communities or online shopping. It would have also added cost for our restaurants, an important sector of our local economy. Now is not the time to be raising taxes on businesses while they are already facing trade wars, tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs.
NACC is neutral on substituting a local grocery tax for the repealed state tax.
We are enormously grateful to the council members who voted with us and will continue to advocate on this issue.
How Council Members Voted
Voted with NACC:
- Mayor Scott Wehrli
- Allison Longenbaugh
- Josh McBroom
- Benny White
- Nate Wilson
Voted against NACC:
- Mary Gibson
- Ian Holzhauer
- Patrick Kelly
- Ashfaq Syed
Possible Path Forward on Energy Future
As we have previously discussed, Naperville is one of only a few dozen communities in Illinois that owns its own electric utility.
This means the City doesn’t rely on a private company like ComEd. Instead, it’s part of a group of 32 municipalities that purchase power together through the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA), a not‑for‑profit consortium, and Naperville is considering extending this contractual agreement.
Because Naperville owns its utility, decisions made at the city council level directly shape the cost, reliability, and future of the electricity delivered to homes and businesses here.
Mayor Wehrli introduced a motion at the August 19th city council meeting asking city staff to negotiate with IMEA on nine specific areas of concern—ranging from contract length and transparency to opportunities that could significantly impact Naperville’s energy mix a decade early.
Specifically, the Mayor raised these concerns:
Contract Length
Naperville desires a provision in which the City could exit its contract in 2045.
Member Directed Resource (MDR)
Naperville desires to increase its by-right allowance of MDR to 20% of capacity or 50% of energy consumption and have the option to sign a purchase power agreement for a wide variety of carbon free resources including existing nuclear technology.
Carbon Free Milestones
If the IMEA fails to meet state or self-imposed carbon free milestones (50% carbon-free energy by 2038, 85% carbon-free energy by 2045, and net-zero emissions by 2050) and does not remedy shortfall within (2) years, the City shall have the right to increase its MDR allocation by a percentage equal to the shortfall.
Peak Shaving
If Naperville elects to install peak shaving technology, it shall be compensated based on market value for the resource if it utilizes the resource to assist IMEA in reducing its peaks.
Local Generation Rights
Ensure that all customers have the right to self-supply energy, this includes residents, schools, churches and businesses. This right is already afforded by state law but the City desires confirmation of this with respect to its full requirements contract with IMEA. Furthermore, the City wishes to clarify that existing and future City owned facilities have the right to have their load offset by the MDR provision.
Voting Rights
For matters related to resource planning IMEA shall ensure that the weighted voting system is utilized so that Naperville is fairly represented based on load ratio share in these matters.
Transparency
IMEA shall complete and publish an independent financial audit. Following this audit IMEA will provide Naperville its share of Fuel, Debt Service and O&M costs for Prairie State and Trimble County as allowed by federal and state laws and market regulations. The source and quantity of all energy procured for the agency shall also be provided on an annual basis.
Retirement Costs
IMEA shall continue collecting its share of retirement costs for Prairie State Generating Company and Trimble County such that the costs outlined in each facility’s decommissioning report are collected by their state mandated retirement dates.
MDR Costs
City staff shall issue a bid/request for proposal for carbon-free energy options which conform to the MDR standards in the proposed IMEA contact, including existing nuclear technology.
Bottom Line
The Mayor, the City Manager, and the Utility Manager attended the IMEA board meeting, and discussions are continuing regarding the contract extension (despite Naperville missing the initial and subsequent deadlines).
State legislation requires the transition to alternative energy sources, and the City of Naperville is attempting to comply in a manner that does not sacrifice affordability and reliability in the name of sustainability.
As business leaders, it’s important to understand the discussion and how it may affect costs, reliability, and long‑term planning for every business in our community.