Mayor: Southlake Mosquito Abatement District expected to consolidate with North Shore; board hears plan and timeline

Village officials reported progress toward consolidation of the Southlake Mosquito Abatement District into the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District following a district board meeting on Oct. 15.

Mayor Ford told the board that the Southlake board is expected to vote to approve an intergovernmental agreement and annexation with North Shore at its Nov. 10 meeting. If the vote proceeds as expected, and assuming the County Board does not act before that date, the Southlake district’s assets, liabilities and contracts would transfer to the North Shore district over a transition period the mayor estimated could take a year or two.

The mayor said the transition should preserve service levels in Riverwoods and bring benefits from a larger district, including equipment and staffing resources. He also noted program changes: the North Shore district prefers larvicide approaches focused on preventing hatching to broad-area spraying and is developing biological surveillance and monitoring methods for resistant mosquito populations.

“...we expect that that well, it's $24 on my tax bill. We expect that to go down,” the mayor said, noting that a small line on his personal tax bill could decrease if consolidation reduces duplicated administrative costs. He added that staff from the two districts will work together during a phased transition to learn local drainage and standing-water features.

Trustees and staff said the consolidation effort had been in motion since 2021 and involved outreach and testimony by Riverwoods representatives. No board action was required at the meeting; village staff will continue to monitor the process and coordinate as needed.