Elmhurst homeowners told the City Council on Monday, Oct. 19, to keep stormwater tax dollars away from the city's budget gap. Residents near St. Charles Road and West Avenue reported basements filling with up to 5 feet of water during two July storms less than a month apart.

Bill Fergus, a Rex Boulevard resident in that neighborhood, described families rushing home from Fourth of July events to haul belongings out of rising water, first reported by Patch.

"Basements took up to 5 feet of water, even homes that never flooded before," Fergus told the council. "Two nightmare scenarios in less than four weeks' time for our part of Elmhurst."

Fergus said stormwater infrastructure work in his neighborhood is five years away. He said city officials are now considering redirecting some revenue from a dedicated stormwater sales tax to cover other expenses. The city approved a half-percentage-point sales tax increase in September 2023 to fund past and future stormwater projects, according to the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition. That tax was expected to generate about $4 million a year.

Fergus said the diversion would break faith with residents and voters. He said the city should use surplus stormwater revenue to speed up relief, not shift it elsewhere.

Maria Hernandez, who lives on Sunnyside Avenue in the same neighborhood, submitted a written comment to the council. Her home took 4½ feet of water on July 3 and about 4 feet on July 27, she wrote. The flooding displaced her family, including two young children, for days. She said she is still waiting on insurance payment for more than $54,000 in damages.

Hernandez urged the council to protect every dollar collected for stormwater, accelerate project timelines for the hardest-hit areas and explore all engineering solutions. In her letter, she wrote that preliminary study data from the July storms showed the area's 100-year storm impact zone had nearly doubled since 2021.

Under council policy, aldermen do not respond to residents' public comments during meetings.

The pleas come as Elmhurst faces a broader budget crunch. The city cut $3.6 million in spending and raised property taxes by $1 million last year, Patch reported. Finance Director Christina Coyle has told the council the city will dip below its required fund balance by 2028 without further cuts, according to Patch. A finance committee has been working since January on additional reductions.

Budget hearings continue in October and November.