The Village of Cary board voted unanimously Dec. 16 to adopt an ordinance that adds Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments and new-growth revenue totaling $91,618 to the village's 2025 real-estate tax levy. Mayor Kownick introduced the measure, which the board moved and seconded before a roll-call vote in which six trustees recorded 'Yes'.

The ordinance was presented after the Committee of the Whole's Nov. 18 discussion. Kylie, identified in the meeting as the village finance director, said new growth reflects added taxable value from new construction (about $1,000,000 in 2025, or roughly 0.14 percent) and that the state-set CPI for 2025 was 2.9 percent. "CPI is the consumer price index, and that's for the state, and that was at 2.9%," Kylie said.

Mayor Kownick explained the village is a non-home-rule municipality and thus limited by state statute to levy increases tied to new growth and CPI. "Because we are a non home rule community, we are bound by what the state statutes allow us to do," Kownick said, adding that the CPI figure is set by the state and the village does not set it.

Board members said the additional revenue is intended to cover rising operational costs, including police pension obligations. The mayor noted the village portion of a resident's tax bill is about 5 percent of the overall property-tax bill. Trustees also highlighted cost-saving measures such as bulk purchasing of road salt; one trustee observed salt costs on the agenda were down 3.3 percent.

During public comment, resident Chris Rieke asked whether the CPI/new-growth adjustment effectively allows the village to increase taxes. Officials replied that new growth itself does not directly raise an individual homeowner's tax rate and described the levy adjustment as a mechanism to collect revenue required to fund obligations and maintain services.

Votes at a glance: The meeting record shows the consent agenda (items A'I) was approved by roll call (Yes: Walrath, McCalpine, Collier, Dudek, Persina, Christina). The ordinance adding CPI and new-growth revenue to the 2025 levy was adopted by roll call with the same recorded 'Yes' votes. A final motion to adjourn into executive session to discuss personnel (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)) and real-estate pricing (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(6)) also passed.

The board moved into executive session at the close of the public meeting; no further public action was recorded at that time.