Trustee Joel Geske, the boardinance officer, opened a public hearing on a proposed tax levy increase and said the board had proposed a 2.91% raise tied to the Consumer Price Index to keep next year's dollars at this year's purchasing power. "Last meeting I had proposed 2.91, which was, in line with the CPI index," Geske said, framing the change as an effort to maintain service levels rather than increase net revenue.

The board and attendees debated limits on future levies and the effect of rebating programs. An attendee asked whether the village could skip levying this year and levy more next year; Geske replied that the levy amount available next year is constrained by the previous year's levy and warned that skipping increases now would reduce future capacity. When asked for a household-dollar estimate of a 2.9% rise, Geske said he did not have assessed-value figures immediately available; one attendee offered a rough figure of about $80 to $100 per household as an illustrative estimate.

Resident Dave Bergdahl urged trustees to take the full allowable levy to ensure new development is taxed at full value. "If you don't take the maximum levy available, you don't necessarily get that full amount of new development," Bergdahl said, adding that the village's practice of rebating residential property taxes has dampened immediate homeowner impact but could mean lost revenue later. Bergdahl recommended holding routine truth-in-taxation hearings for transparency.

Trustees noted the school district consumes a large share of property tax bills and that many taxing bodies are following CPI-based increases this year. Geske said higher percentages could be filed (he referenced 3.2% to 3.3% as potential filing figures) but the board opted to align its proposal with the CPI. The transcript records a motion by Trustee CJ Boudreaux to close the public hearing; no second or formal vote is recorded in the provided text.

Next steps: the hearing was closed in practice and the chair moved on to the next scheduled meeting; the transcript does not record a subsequent formal vote on the levy ordinance or final levy rate.