Sycamore’s fiscal 2026 budget could be $700,000 more than the current budget, the city’s top official told the Sycamore City Council this month.

City manager Michael Hall told the City Council this month he was proposing a $700,000 budget increase without raising property taxes or adding new services or personnel.

The majority of the budget increase would go toward costs associated with city personnel, Hall said. The city’s 120 employees collectively account for 60% of the city’s budget, according to city documents.

“Preliminary estimations right now, all of that added up is roughly $500,000,” Hall said. “That’s no new employees. That’s what goes up without nothing changing. So these are requirements and things that we have to do.”

The next largest portion of the city’s annual budget, 27%, is spent on goods and services, according to city documents. Hall said the costs associated with those goods and services continue to inflate, even as officials seek cheaper options.

Hall said inflation in the Sycamore area is currently at 2.7% to 3.1%, meaning he expects the costs of the goods and services the city purchases to increase by about $200,000 for fiscal 2026.

Despite his budget estimations, Hall said he’s not asking the city council to increase property taxes.

“We’re proposing no increases to the tax levy in 2026,” Hall said. “We’ve already talked about it. I think we’re going to move forward with it. That is up to the City Council, of course, but that is going to be our recommendation.”

How will the city pay for the $700,000 increase without levying more property taxes? Hall said he plans to propose increased user fees as a means to balance the city’s budget.

“User fees are a little bit different. They are directly for using something, so licensing or something like that,” Hall said. “So no general property tax increases, but we will be talking about user fees later on at other city council meetings, for next year.”

When 3rd Ward Alderwoman Nancy Copple asked what a user fee was, Hall said ambulance fees and inspection fees also are considered user fees from the city.

The city of Sycamore imposes a variety of fees for developers and other people doing business with or in the city, according to the city’s code.

Although Hall presented his preliminary plan for the new budget Sept. 15, the city is months away from voting on a final draft.

City officials will talk about the city’s fiduciary funds during the Oct. 6 City Council meeting, and the city’s enterprise funds during the Oct. 20 meeting, before discussing the city’s fiscal 2026 budget again in November.

The public will have multiple chances to weigh in. A public hearing on the fiscal 2026 budget will be held on Nov. 17. Final approval of the budget is expected on Dec. 1, Hall said.

Hall said that his preliminary budget and inflation estimate don’t include economic factors impacted by a slew of tariffs President Donald Trump has sought to implement throughout 2025, however.

“I don’t know how to calculate tariffs yet,” Hall said. “We’ve seen a couple of things in public works where they bought some proprietary items and they’ve said the costs went up because of tariffs.”