Troup touts record growth, improved financial rating during State of the City address

QUINCY — Mike Troup has spent much of 2025 touting what he can do for Quincy’s future as he campaigns for re-election as mayor.

He took an hour on Friday afternoon to look back at the past year during his State of the City address, annually given to members of the Quincy Service Club during a luncheon at the Elks Club.

“In short, as your mayor working with our City Council, together we have completed more projects providing growth for our community, improved our infrastructure and brought both fire and police departments up to full staffing,” he told a crowd of about 100 people. “Quincy financials are strong, and we continue to focus on building on the momentum that we have established the last four years.”

Troup said the city has enjoyed “record growth” in the past year with new businesses, records established in tourism and increases in sales tax collections. He added that the city has shown “a significant level of investment in infrastructure from streets, water mains, lead water pipes, City Hall renovations, the Quincy Regional Airport runway project and the water treatment facility.

“These investments will provide positive impact to our taxpayers for decades,” he said.

Troup said a significant commitment from outside investors to the city — such as Amazon, United Alloy and the Craftsman Trailer Company — brought developments and redevelopments of various commercial and retail properties around the city, each adding millions of dollars to Quincy.

“They’re fueling our economy,” he said. “Additionally, these projects increase the property values, which in turn increase the amounts of property taxes that are paid.”

Troup noted growth in housing with the development of townhomes at Eighth and Jersey, 23^rd and Koch’s Lane and 48^th and Oak, and he lauded the opening of the state-of-the-art dormitory that recently opened at the Illinois Veterans Home. He said he’s still in conversations with Steve Metherd, a developer from St. Louis, who hopes to build a 270-unit apartment complex near Rooney School on Columbus Road.

“(Metherd) understands the housing needs that we have here in Quincy, and he has some very strong experience by developing more than $4 billion of housing in other markets,” Troup said. “We’re lucky to have him coming to Quincy, and I hope he stays to develop one of his projects here in our community.

“We continue to work with other housing developers, both in Quincy and some based out of town. It’s another strong sign as to the impact of these builders and building trades people provide our community. This ongoing growth of residential properties brings construction and trade jobs to Quincy, in addition to capital, and will have a long-lasting positive impact for Quincy’s economy.”

Troup said tourism activity brought a record $138.9 million in visiting spending last year, a 5.3 percent increase to the city’s economy.

He said treasurer Kelly Stupasky manages approximately $65 million in city accounts, which includes a rainy day fund, unallocated capital funds, special insurance reserves and various enterprise funds based on these cash balances. He said the city is in its fourth year of paying 104 percent of its actuarial payments for fire and police pensions. 

“Our financial rating has improved,” Troup said. “Our payments to these fire and police pensions have reversed the course of falling short of the city’s payment obligations for the prior 40 years.”

Troup said Kelly Japcon, the city’s human resources and risk management director, has worked with her staff and Comptroller Sheri Ray to reduce the city’s group health insurance expense and its workers compensation liability and legal expenses. He said the city saved $220,000 in those areas.

“We take our obligations seriously,” he said. “We pay our bills, and we manage our funds with our taxpayers.”

Troup said Quincy previously invested $3 million annually on its streets, but that figure has increased to $12.7 million in the four years he’s been mayor. He added that $10 million was invested in the city’s water treatment facility and $8.6 million was spent in water distribution lines during the last four years.

Since aldermen voted in 2022 to spend $4.43 million to elevate and repair the barge dock wall on the Mississippi River at Mile 326 in Lock & Dam Pool 21, Troup said the tonnage processed through the facility has doubled. He also said the city has invested $20.5 million in the sewage collection system and combined sewer overflow during his mayoral term.

He said Public Works Director Jeffrey Conte and his staff of chemists and engineers have created a plan to significantly reduce the cost of hauling sludge to the fields of local farmers, which has been around $1 million annually, by removing much of the liquid in the sludge.

“That will allow less costly transportation in delivering dry sludge to the farms,” Troup said. “The next phase of this improvement is to mix some of the curbside yard waste with the dry sludge, which will turn into compost, usable for landscaping and other ground fill. … This will still take over a year to fully implement, but we are well on our way.”

He says the city expects to receive six new para-transit busses, replacing ones that are between 14 and 17 years old and with at least 300,000 miles. He added that he recently received news that Quincy will be receiving a new fleet of fixed route transit busses, replacing a fleet that is nine years old.

Troup said the city has budgeted for its fourth consecutive year of more than $50 million in revenues “that pay a significant portion of the infrastructure projects to keep our city’s property taxes low.”

“Quincy continues to have more opportunities ahead,” he said. “Our quality of life is strong in Quincy. … Thank you for your support this past year, and may we continue working together, developing and growing Quincy into a thriving community.”