Mundelein board approves Ivanhoe Village term sheet after hours of public comment on school impacts

The Mundelein Village Board on April 14 approved a term sheet with Ivanhoe Village Land Co. governing impact fees for the 25-year Ivanhoe Village development, after an extended public-comment period during which school officials, park-district leaders and dozens of residents urged the board to delay action until taxing agencies and pending state legislation could be considered.

Supporters and opponents packed the council chamber and spoke for roughly two hours. Many speakers told trustees the proposed financial package would undercompensate Fremont School District 79 and District 120 for the student enrollment the project is expected to generate; others said housing supply and long-term tax revenue would benefit the village.

Why it matters: Ivanhoe Village is a proposed mixed-use, traditional-neighborhood project on the Wirtz family�s Ivanhoe Farms that would be built over decades and deliver a mix of apartments, townhomes, single-family homes and senior housing. The term sheet the board approved sets the financial framework between the village and the developer for how and when impact fees will be paid to affected taxing districts; trustees and residents said the decision has long-term implications for school capacity, property taxes and municipal services.

Board action and what it contains

Trustees approved a resolution adopting a term sheet that, according to village staff presentations, includes: a developer commitment to pay $6.6 million to Fremont School District 79 and $4.4 million to District 120 over the life of the project; a $1.1 million up-front cash payment to be split between the two school districts (scheduled to cover the first two years of home development); annual fee escalators after year seven; caps on annual and total unit deliveries (155 total move-ins per year and other unit caps by product type); and a 10-year lookback provision that would re-evaluate student generation and require additional payments if the development produces more students…