Thank You for Helping “Light Up Wheaton” in 2021

The City of Wheaton and the Wheaton Park District thanks the entire community for helping make the second year of the Light Up Wheaton community initiative a success.
 
In addition to the community initiative, this year’s decorating contest entries made it another fun year with some participants winning different awards for their efforts. This year’s award recipients for the Light Up Wheaton decorating contest are:

• People’s Choice Award: 1021 E. Illinois Street
• Mayor’s Choice Award: 8 Venetian Way Circle
• Most Creative Display: 327 E. Illinois Street
• Best Interactive Display: 1573 Orth Drive
• Best Organization Display: 711 E. Harrison Avenue

You can see the award recipient’s displays and many more on the Light Up Wheaton Tour Map. The tour map will be live on the City’s website through the month of January so everyone can continue to enjoy the different displays throughout the community. Visit the City’s website to view the Light Up Wheaton Tour Map.

City Passes Annual Budget and Tax Levy

At the Wheaton City Council’s Dec. 20 meeting, the Council adopted the annual budget for the City of Wheaton and the annual property tax levy. The final budget for all funds projects for the City to generate revenues of $157.6 million, with $146.1 million in expenditures.

At the Dec. 20 meeting, the Council also passed the annual property tax levy. The City Council voted to adopt a flat tax levy, which reflects no increase from the previous year’s tax levy. The financial impact of the levy for a property owner depends on the change in the assessed value of their property from 2020 to 2021, however the City projects that most homeowners will not see an increase in the City’s portion of their property tax bill.

City of Wheaton staff have been preparing this budget for several months, and the City Council held two budget workshop sessions, on Nov. 8 and Nov. 13, to review the proposed budget. The proposed budget has been available for public review since early November, and the Council invited the public to attend the workshop sessions and a public hearing on Dec. 13. You can watch the videos of these workshops and public hearing on the City's website.

Prairie Path in Downtown Area is Reopened

The portion of the Prairie Path in the downtown area that follows Liberty Drive from West Street to Cross Street is reopened.
 
This portion of the Prairie Path had previously been closed for construction work which consisted of removing and replacing the old path to align with the Downtown Streetscape Project. Fences and barricades are installed along the path to ensure the safety of pedestrians as this area is still under construction.  

Nights of Lights at Adams Park Event Runs through Jan. 9

The Nights of Lights runs through Sunday, Jan. 9 at Adams Park. It is free to attend, and tickets are not required; simply enjoy a magical stroll through the park after dark each night from dusk until 11 p.m. This event is presented by the Downtown Wheaton Association and City of Wheaton.

Christmas Tree Recycling

The City's garbage/recycling hauler’s final pickup for live Christmas trees for recycling on your collection day is the weeks of Jan. 3, 2022 and Jan. 10, 2022, at no charge, with no sticker needed.
 
Please place your tree at the curb, and make sure trees are free of all decorations and are not in plastic bags. After the collection period, you will need to attach 1 garbage/organic sticker to a live Christmas tree in order to have it collected.

Holiday Light Recycling Available

Wheaton’s holiday light recycling program runs through Jan. 21, 2022. Bring strands of incandescent or LED lights in any condition to the Public Works Storage Facility at 820 W. Liberty Drive between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays and look for signs directing you to the holiday light recycling area just inside the gate. 

This program is for light strings only. Please do not drop off lawn ornaments or other decorations, and do not put lights in a bag or box. Elgin Recycling, www.elginrecycling.com, will collect the lights, which will then be stripped and recycled for their copper and plastic parts. No materials will be shipped overseas.