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District 128 weighs facility condition assessment and new life-safety bond option after state law change
Summary
District officials discussed buying new capital-planning software, conducting a third-party facility condition assessment (FCA) and how a recent state law could let the district issue life-safety bonds despite a zero debt-service extension base.
District 128 facilities and finance staff on March 10 briefed the Facilities and Finance Committee on steps to modernize the district’s capital planning and the possible funding options that would follow.
Staff described the district’s current multi-year capital plan as a spreadsheet that lists projects by building and category and said the district is considering two upgrades: (1) replacing the aging work-order system with a modern platform that can track repairs at the component level; and (2) commissioning a third-party facility condition assessment (FCA) to inventory and rate equipment and systems.
"It costs like a hundred thousand dollars to have an FCA done," Dan said, describing the FCA as a one-time investment that engineers or contractors would document with serial numbers and condition ratings and then load into planning software. Staff said the FCA’s data would allow more precise replacement timing, cost estimating and prioritization.
Committee members and staff also discussed a newly available financing vehicle. A change in state law (referred to in the meeting as Public Act 103591) now allows districts to issue life-safety bonds for code-required work even if a district’s debt-service extension base (DSEB) is zero. District staff said the change could give District 128 access to additional funding for life-safety items identified in 10-year life-safety surveys, subject to required hearings and board approvals.
Staff cautioned the law’s use requires careful review because including lower-priority items on a life-safety list can create a board obligation to complete them if the board certifies they will be done. Administrators said they will review Vernon Hills’ previously completed life-safety survey, update Libertyville’s plan when available and return to the board with options.
The committee discussed vendors that bundle FCA work with software and noted modern platforms can add predictive analytics — for example, flagging components with repeated work orders as candidates for replacement. Staff said the district will evaluate options holistically (platform, FCA provider and vendor partnerships) and will recommend next steps as specific estimates and vendor proposals are obtained.
