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Village and District 300 sign IGA to direct developer impact fees to schools; trustees press district on use
Summary
The village approved an intergovernmental agreement with Community School District 300 to transfer school impact fees collected from Cambridge Lakes North Phase 2; trustees pressed district representatives about whether the funds would be spent inside Pingree Grove and were told the district would not restrict spending to village boundaries.
The Village Board on Aug. 4 approved an ordinance authorizing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Community School District 300 to transfer school impact fees the village collects from new residential development in Cambridge Lakes North Phase 2. Village staff said the IGA is designed to protect the village in the event of litigation over fees and to require the district to indemnify the village for legal costs if a challenge arises.
Village staff said the school impact fees are calculated by bedroom count and fluctuate with housing product; village accounting shows a little more than $900,000 had been collected to date for school impact fees related to the development. Andy (village staff) and village attorney Michael described the IGA as a risk-management tool to ensure that if a developer sued the village over fee collection the district would defend and indemnify the village because the district is the direct beneficiary of the fees.
Trustees asked whether the village could require the district to spend the collected fees only on improvements that benefit Pingree Grove students or facilities inside village boundaries. School District 300 representatives and village staff said the district would not agree to limit the funds to Pingree Grove-only expenditures; the district is developing a long-term facilities plan across its service area and treats impact fees as district-level resources that support systemwide capital needs. Staff and trustees discussed the usual legal forms of impact-fee mitigation (cash vs. land donation) and said the Cambridge Lakes agreement provides for cash payments.
Trustees expressed frustration about the lack of direct control over how the fees are used and asked whether they could be earmarked for specific items such as school buses; staff said most intergovernmental arrangements they have seen do not achieve that level of site-specific restriction. Village staff noted the IGA reduces legal risk to the village when it collects impact fees outside annexation agreements and is consistent with practices in other municipalities.
The board voted to approve the ordinance and the IGA; staff said the village will continue to pursue similar IGAs with other taxing bodies.
