Darien's sales and use tax collections have hit an all-time high, topping $8.87 million, Mayor Joseph Marchese said in his 2026 State of the City address published Thursday, Oct. 8.
Total revenue tied to the local business community is estimated to exceed $10.5 million, according to the address. Marchese framed the figures as the capstone of seven and a half years in office, during which the city navigated the Sterigenics ethylene oxide crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The address devoted significant space to Darien's pandemic-era restaurant relief. The city returned more than $400,000 in food and liquor tax revenues to local restaurants in June 2020 to help them reopen. Marchese said the rebates did not affect city services and credited the program, along with business owners' persistence, with keeping every Darien restaurant open through the pandemic.
Marchese also highlighted the city's response to ethylene oxide emissions from the Sterigenics facility in neighboring Willowbrook. The Illinois EPA shut down that plant in February 2019 after finding elevated cancer risks for nearby residents, according to legal records tracking the litigation. Sterigenics ultimately closed the facility permanently and settled more than 870 Illinois lawsuits for $408 million in January 2023. Marchese's address described Darien's coalition response as forming in fall 2019, when the city joined neighboring communities, elected officials and environmental advocates rather than remaining passive.
On public safety, the address noted that Darien's crime rate remains below state and national averages. The police department has added officers. A full-time social worker embedded with the department has fielded more than 500 referrals and worked with over 400 individuals and families since the program launched.
Marchese, a 39-year Darien resident who served 22 years as Ward 5 alderman before winning the mayor's office in April 2019, also pointed to the Chestnut Court Shopping Center redevelopment and the creation of the Darien Community Action Team as milestones. He was re-elected in April 2023.
At the regional level, Darien renewed its membership in the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference in 2019. Marchese has served as vice president and president of the conference and continues to sit on its legislative committee. The city also joined the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which represents 275 municipalities across northern Illinois.
The address did not outline specific proposals or votes for the City Council to take up next. Darien City Council meets at 7:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month at City Hall, 1702 Plainfield Road.
