The Sycamore City Council unanimously approved a $25.39 million budget that includes a $1.31 million increase on personnel, contractual services and supplies.

That vote came before a more recent vote this week to keep the property tax rate flat.

Sycamore’s fiscal 2026 budget is $1.2 million less than what the city spent on the 2025 budget, according to city documents.

In the 2025 budget, the city transferred $2.5 million from the ambulance services funds to a fund designated for the new Fire Station 1. That station is currently being built on South Prairie Drive on land donated by Ideal Industries.

Sycamore City Manager Michael Hall gave city officials a preliminary presentation on the 2026 budget Sept. 15, before formally proposing the city’s 2026 budget and 2025 property tax levy.

No member of the public spoke during a November public hearing on the budget. City alderpersons kept their discussion to a few minutes before the hearing was closed.

“I have not received any comments from any of the City Council members,” Hall said Dec. 1. “Each member has seen the budget and gone through it for the last month.”

Before voting to approve the budget, 2nd Ward Alderman Mike Rodriguez said he was surprised by the size of expenditure increases.

“I saw in here that, so expenditures - they’re going to increase $1.2 million, correct?” Rodriguez said. “And then supplies increased 20.23%, or $218,000. It seems like a lot.”

Hall told him the reason was in the budget and his presentation.

“If you look in there, you can kind of see examples of some of those supplies that you’re referencing,” Hall said. “You can actually look at it in the budget, too, where you see there’s a big picture of what everything is in supplies and what’s going up.”

The budget was passed without any further questions.

If the one-time 2025 fire station transfer is excluded, the city’s 2026 budget estimates expenditures to be $1.28 million more than in fiscal 2025.

Although Sycamore has budgeted $1.1 million – $33,050 less than in the previous year – on citywide capital improvements during fiscal 2026, other areas of the budget will increase, according to city documents.

Personnel costs, which make up 65.13% of the general fund budget, increased by $745,530 to $16.54 million, according to the budget. Contractual services increased by 5.75% to $6.44 million, and supplies increased by 20.26% to $1.3 million.

The city’s budget for the mayor and City Council rose by $18,030 to $247,672, while the city’s administration department reduced its budget by $87,608 to $624,263. The Sycamore Police Department’s budget increased by $109,986 to $7.56 million.

The Sycamore Fire Department’s budget decreased by $1.74 million, but excluding the 2025 Fire Station 1 fund transfer, the department has grown its budget by $757,245.