Des Plaines FY 2027 Budget Meeting 10-8-2026

The City of Des Plaines held a FY 2027 proposed budget review on October 8, 2026. The proposed budget is balanced, with projected revenues of $169.2 million and approximately $68.9 million in capital investment discussed for infrastructure, facilities, vehicles, and technology; no new bonds are planned, and the city expects to be general-obligation-debt-free by 2028. Major projects and needs included about $30.5 million for facilities, $29.6 million for water, drainage, and sewer systems, roughly $9.3 million for Fire Station 62, and approximately $3.5 million to replace about 200 lead service lines in 2027. The city manager also cited an estimated $220 million cost to replace lead and galvanized service lines over ten years. Other discussed projects included a roughly $500,000 library parking-deck elevator modernization and downtown redevelopment efforts. The discussion was a review of the proposed budget, not final budget adoption.

Council approved including a Meet Chicago Northwest membership request in the proposed budget, funded through a formula based on hotel-tax revenue; the estimated amount discussed was about $175,000. Council also reduced the proposed Chamber of Commerce business-retention-services allocation from $45,000 to $25,000. A city marketing-services RFP was discussed as a proposed effort to coordinate the city’s positioning and promotion, but no contract award occurred. Other items discussed for possible future consideration included resident text alerts, a citywide grant coordinator, sustainability initiatives, and additional transportation improvements; these were not approved as procurement awards during this meeting.