Kankakee seeks big investment in street rehab

It has been said over and over.

Seemingly, no matter where Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis stops these days, he hears a nearly constant refrain from residents: Kankakee’s streets are in terrible condition.

He shares the same perspective.

At this week’s Kankakee City Council Budget Committee meeting, the keys to starting the engine to get this matter addressed were turned.

The Curtis administration presented a $9.45 million government obligation bond plan to take its first major step toward making sure motorists don’t lose themselves – or their vehicle – in a rough-riding Kankakee street.

“I would like to make a large dent on the worst roads in Kankakee,” he said after the meeting.

Which sections of asphalt streets those will be has yet to be determined.

If all goes as planned, the city is seeking to put $2 million of its Motor Fuel Tax funds from 2025 and 2026, along with another $2.5 million of bond money, to make a larger impact on city asphalt.

The city council will approve the first reading of the proposed bond sale at its August 4 meeting. A second reading is targeted for August 18.

If those two reading gain the council’s go-ahead, Curtis and the city’s bond advisor said the bond could be up for sale as early as September 11.

The news of the planned bond sale came at the same meeting in which Budget Committee members approved the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, in which the administration proposed revenues of $38,793,304 and expenses of $38,679,664.

Those two whopping numbers have the council squeezing out a mere $114,640 projected budget surplus, or about three-tenths of a percent of revenues over expenses.

As with every Kankakee budget, the two largest consumers of taxpayer money are the police and fire departments.

The proposed budget earmarks $9.4 million for the police department and nearly $6.8 million for the fire department. The police total is about $500,000 over the 2025 budget figure, and the fire department’s is $400,000 higher.

While the new budget year officially begins May 1, Kankakee has typically approved the document in July.

Curtis noted the city will step up efforts in the house demolition as well this budget year by increasing its neighborhood stabilization fund by $100,000. The additional money will target an increase, perhaps by six or seven, in the demolition of dilapidated houses it could conduct.

The city is already taking down up to 15-17 houses annually through Public Works and Economic & Community Development Agency-funded demolitions.

“There are some which just aren’t savable,” Curtis explained.

A key component of the budget is building its so-called rainy day fund, basically emergency money. When he took office, this fund sat at $3.4 million. It now sits at $7.3 million.

Curtis wants it to be $10 million before 2030. He thinks it could be at the $10-million level within one to two years.

In returning to the $9.45 million bond, Curtis said funds are being targeted for work along Brookmont Boulevard, specifically at the Brookmont viaduct, where he said $1 million is eyed for improvements.

As well:

• $650,000 – to aid purchase for a new fire department ladder truck
• $800,000 – 16 new police vehicles over a four-year time frame
• $500,000 – design and engineering work for improvements to South West Avenue for a five-block stretch between West Court Street and West River Street.
• $1 million – future riverwalk development
• $500,000 – miscellaneous or small projects.

The city currently has four bond issues being repaid, two were issued in 2016 and two in 2020. All four are set to be paid in full within 10 years.

In addition to the government bonds, the city also will be selling $4 million of revenue bonds for the Environmental Services Utility.

Revenue bonds are a type of municipal bond where the principal and interest payers are solely backed by revenues generated by the department.

Curtis is targeting $2 million of funding to completely finish the restoration of the hydroelectric plant at the Kankakee River dam.

The bulk of the funding will be used to complete the restoration of the three turbines. The restored turbines, which could be all in place by October, would put the hydroelectric plant back in business of producing energy to help power the wastewater treatment plant, rather than purchasing it from ComEd, saving upwards of $300,000 to $400,000 yearly.