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District presents $131.8 million preliminary tax-levy estimate and supplemental bond levy

Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 Board of Education · December 16, 2025
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Summary

District staff presented a preliminary tax levy estimate for tax year 2025 of $131,800,000 (a 4.98% increase) and described a supplemental levy to ensure debt payments align with CPI-driven bond assumptions; motions were made for both but a final roll-call for the levies is not recorded in the transcript.

District finance staff (presenter identified as Sean) presented the board with an estimate for the tax-year 2025 levy, telling trustees the figure being recommended is $131,800,000, which was stated in the meeting as representing a 4.98% increase over the prior year.

Sean cited factors that affect the levy estimate: the consumer-price index (2.9% for the period presented), approximately $20,000,000 of new construction added to the tax rolls and remaining uncertainties such as actual equalized assessed valuation (EAV) and collection rates. Sean described the figure as an estimate and said the district will know actual tax-extension numbers in March or April.

Separately, staff recommended a resolution authorizing a supplemental tax levy to pay principal and interest on the district’s outstanding limited bonds. Sean said the supplemental levy is intended to allow the district to pay down debt sooner if CPI assumptions change and to avoid using operating funds for debt service; he noted bond underwriters Chapman and Cutler and finance liaison Liz Hennessy supported the approach.

The transcript records motions and seconds for the tax-levy presentation and for the supplemental levy, but a roll-call vote and final board action on those levy items are not recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. Staff estimated the tax-rate impact would be negligible per taxpayer based on district-wide allocation and multiple taxing bodies involved.