Northbrook SD 28 board adopts 4.99% tax levy after required hearing

The Northbrook SD 28 Board of Education adopted a 4.99% tax levy for 2025 following a required truth-in-taxation hearing on Dec. 2. District staff told the board the rate seeks to capture allowable revenue while the district awaits prior-year extension receipts and responds to local reassessment changes.

Jessica Donato, who presented the levy materials, said the district is levying at 4.99% — just under the 5% cap that triggers additional requirements — even though it had not yet received prior-year extension payments because of delays in billing and county collections. She said reassessment in the district’s area increased single-family home values about 24% from the 2022 median, that the CPI figure used for levy calculations was about 2.45%, and that staff projected approximately $15,000,000 in new-property value for levy calculations (noting historical new growth averages are lower). Donato said the district estimated roughly $1.3 million in additional property-tax revenue in the absence of new property and described an ongoing structural gap in district finances and pressure from rising costs, including health insurance.

Board members asked clarifying questions about how CPI, prior-year extensions and new-growth estimates factor into the final extension and how unit-level assessments of enrollment and state/federal funding risks could affect the budget. Donato said statutory formulas and the county’s equalization process determine the final extension; the district levies its ask now to avoid leaving allowable revenue unclaimed given many unknowns.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to open and close the tax levy hearing: approved (roll call). - Adopt 2025 tax levy (levy set at 4.99%): approved by roll call. - Reduction resolution / levy extension direction to the clerk: approved by roll call. - Resolution authorizing payment of bills between December and January meetings: approved by roll call.

Procedural and finance items tied to the levy were also approved. Donato said the district had competitively bid tax anticipation warrants to Northbrook Bank and Trust to cover near-term cash needs; funds were expected Dec. 11 to meet a Dec. 15 payroll while Cook County second-installment receipts remain delayed.

The board’s formal recorded roll calls at the meeting showed present members voting in the affirmative on the levy and related motions; one earlier roll-call item (approval of minutes) recorded an abstention by a member.

The board will publish the levy paperwork and related levy-extension documents as required; staff will return with final extension numbers once county EAV and new-construction adjustments are finalized.