001Good evening everyone. It is January the 26th at 6:30 p.m. I would like to call to order the meeting of the finance committee for community for Lyall Community School District 202. Uh see, do we have any uh comments? >> We do not. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. >> We we did have uh one that was sent via email. Um I responded to the comments were regarding the TIFF and I explained that we would this would be a discussion tonight and we won't be voting on the TIFF but if you please check your email. It came in about 4:28 I believe. >> Okay. From Mr. It was from Tom Hmel. >> Okay. Thank you. I'll note that on the uh minutes. >> Yeah. Thanks. >> We'll also upload it into board books so it'll be
002there also. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. All right. So, the third item on the agenda are the minutes from last month's meeting, December 17th, 2025. Does anyone have any questions or changes to the minutes? >> No. >> Um I My name is misspelled. Is it? >> Yeah. Which is no big deal. I just thought I wasn't here, so Yeah, >> I can. >> No, let me note that real quick. >> I'll uh All right. So, I will uh up that update that or the other >> Thank you. I just >> No, >> it has to be correct. >> I'll take care of it, Greg. You don't need to. I'll make the update and upload it. >> Oh, well, thank you very much. I appreciate you doing my job for me. >> I apologize, Miss
003D. A minutego. >> It's really It's really no problem. >> Spellch check doesn't know who you are. >> Uh so, do are we in agreement then that the uh minutes accurately reflect last month's meeting? >> Excellent. All right. So, item four is the lawn and landscape maintenance services 2000 or uh 2026 renewal. Uh information regarding this topic can be found under item 5A6 in the regular board meeting packet. Mr. Wilkinson, if you would please. >> Uh thank you. So, as a little bit of background, the uh board originally awarded this contract to G&G Lawn Care uh back in April of 2025 uh following a competitive bid process. G&G Lawncare has been doing the district's um lawn maintenance for quite some time through our park district IGA originally and so that kind of continued um even
004subsequent to the IGA they still mowed some of our lawns but then last year we actually bid out more of the services um to also include uh trimming, turf fertilization, weed control um as well as our landscape bid maintenance. And so, um, what we awarded to them last year was just for the 2025, uh, growing season. Uh, but within the bid documents, there was the ability to renew for up to four one-year, um, additional renewals, um, subject obviously to mutual agreement between us and G&G Lawn. And those increases were capped within uh, the bid documents to the lesser of CPI or 5%. And so uh uh G G's performance obviously [snorts] we've been using them for uh a while and and we appreciate their services and are very pleased with their services. Uh they've been
005very reliable, very responsive and obviously they're familiar with our sites. And so for the 2026 renewal, I did reach out to G&G and they agreed to renew uh and the pricing has been adjusted based on the 2024 CPI of 2.9% uh which was outlined within the bid documents. Uh the formal renewal letter reflecting these CPI based adjustments along with the updated pricing tables and the renewal letter are all included in uh the finance committee pack or I guess the regular board meeting packet for reference. Uh in terms of cost, the total estimated cost for the 26 growing season uh would be approximately $65,000 for all their services. And those costs will be uh budgeted for and charged to the operations and maintenance fund um over the two fiscal years where the contract will apply. Um
006at this time, we are recommending approval of that one-year renewal with G&G uh for the 2026 growing season. And um unless there are any other questions, that's recommended for approval at tonight's meeting. >> Any other questions or concerns? Excellent. Thank you very much, Mr. Wilkinson. The next item, item five, is the fiscal year 2026 school maintenance project grant update. The information for this can be found under item five of the finance committee packet. Once again, Mr. Wilkinson. And >> so, a little bit of uh celebration here tonight. I'm pleased to report that uh the Illinois State Board of Education notified us on December 30th that uh we were awarded the school maintenance program school maintenance project grant uh that we applied for uh just a few months ago. Again, that was to uh fund some
007energy efficient improvements at primarily our high school in the auditorium, replacing those uh house lights in our Lyle High School auditorium. some very high energy usage lighting. And then if there's any funds left over after that project, we will use it towards uh potential upgrades in the commons to try and do the other half at the Lyall Junior High School. And then by the very rare chance there's any left over that, we'd start to work our ways down the corridors um with energy efficient LED lights. uh we are required uh now that we've been awarded the grant to set aside half those funds um to kind of uh account for the matching part and so that'll be done in our capital projects fund where we have fund balances available for these kinds of projects. Um
008all project costs must be either uh spent or incurred within two years of award. So we have some time to go through the bid process and decide when exactly we want to have this work performed. It's not like we have to do it immediately. So, we do have some time to kind of work through that. I did get a question uh related to this agenda item regarding I think it was referring to our junior high auditorium. Um specifically whether we could use future grants uh school maintenance project grants to pay for I think uplighting updating the spotlights in there and potentially the sound system upgrades. Um I guess but it appears that at some of the events maybe the sound wasn't as good or it was hard to hear and the the students were not
009in the spotlight. I don't know it looks like maybe you want to share a little bit Dan. >> I asked that question. Yeah. So I notic at some of the plays it's been hard to hear the students on the stage and secondarily like at the larger like the event the events with the the choir and the c uh and the band that they're they're dimly lit and [clears throat] the spotlights are bold. I think I used them when I attended La Junior High. So, they're, you know, and they're the older incandescent. They use a lot of electricity. They're not LED. So, it's more of a question of, you know, it's something we probably need to think about, especially as we have a large choir and band program. Um, and just curious like is there has
010been thoughts of when the junior high will get some love there? >> Yeah. So, um, obviously we use the high school auditorium much more frequently than the junior high. And so we have um over the last 5 years there's been other lighting improvements. Um I don't know all the specifics. Jim Stelmarker does a wonderful job deciding what we want to upgrade over there. We've also made a lot of improvements to the sound system over at the high school in the auditorium. So I wouldn't say we've done it at the junior high. Um I think primarily just because there's not as many activities and events. But um I did I did mention it to Dave Carney. He did say that they recently purchased new lights for those spotlights. So, I don't know if that was um
011sense the issue that you were referring to and maybe that will help. Um they'll also have the auditorium manager kind of see if there's any tweaks to our setup maybe that would help with some of the sound. And then if that's not the case and it continues to be an issue, we'd probably use some of the building budget. That's what we've been doing at the high school. We've kind of allocated a certain amount of the building budget every year to make improvements here and there, upgrade things as we go. I think they got some new microphones, for example, at the high school recently. So, we could do something like that to kind of make some improvements and help there. Probably wouldn't put that towards the maintenance grant. Those are user for kind of our larger
012projects. I don't think the spotlights over there would be such a significant amount that we'd want to do um the maintenance grant, but it it's something I mentioned to Dave and we'll we'll take a look at it and see what exactly is going on. Great. >> Thank you. >> Any further questions? >> And again, that's there's no action on this, nothing that needs to be approved at the board meeting. It was just aformational item so you're aware that the grant was awarded and >> thank you for pursuing those. Is this the fifth year in a row or fourth year in a row? >> Well, there was a year or two off but I think there's been many years of these. So, um great it's helpful to have those funds and it helps us do some
013of these projects which is great and the state gets very quick turnaround on letting us know that it's been approved. So, >> thank you. >> Well, we appreciate that point of celebration. Thanks. Um, so we are at item six, uh, recognition of a new booster organization. The information for this can be found under item six of the finance committee packet. Dr. Philippiac, if you would. I glad to pass along to Mrs. Sim. I think you were part of the driving force behind uh, this new group. Can you give a little bit of background information? She was actually the one that wrote all of this. I confirmed all the paperwork has been filed, but I figure you might be able to share kind of a perspective as to the why and what your hopes are from
014the booster group. >> Yeah, I'd love to. Um, so we have a really great athletic booster program at Ly High School and we have the band parents organization and the choir parents organization. Um but me and some other Lyle parents noticed that like the activities like science olympiad or um scholastic bowl or math team um or even like art club different things they don't really have any support um and so we talked to the athletic director there Mr. Markham and um [clears throat] we first tried to talk to the athletic boosters to see if they could help provide some support if needed. Um but they said they were just mostly athletics, nothing with activities. And so, um, after some brainstorming, um, me and these two other parents, um, we actually created a nonprofit organization, um,
015called Lyle activity boosters. And we hope to be able to provide grants to the clubs and activities, um, help them organize parent volunteers if needed or provide some, um, promotion like promote like what's going on so that people know when certain events are at or how the school did. Um and then um in the future we hope that we could give um the high school students um the the seniors who are graduating if they're going into like a STEM field or STEM um secondary education that we could provide grants um to some of the students. So um right now for fundraising we're soliciting grants from some of the bigger local organizations um like we have a grant request in from Exelon. They provide grants to um organizations like ours that would provide grants to students
016going into STEM fields. Um and then we would like to host movie nights at the high school and like sell some concessions and um we talked to um the it I can't think of his name right now. Trent I think. Um yeah so we actually have a light a license um at in the district for showing movies. um and we would be covered to be able to do that and we could actually charge admission to them as long as the money is then going back to the students in the school. Um so we've looked into that. Um and then we thought that we could maybe sell activity specific signage like the little yard signs or um merchandise that would have like the team names on them or something. Um, so we got everything approved and
017we are a 501c3. Um, and that took some work, but finally got everything done and got it all back. Um, so we're just looking for um support from the board to be recognized as um an organization that the district can go to and deal with. I was very pleased to read this as I was at Science in Olympia. I did Rockford all day which was where I did majority of my board books as we everyone who goes science know you parents wait around a long time. Um so thank you for initiating that Randy. It's really awesome. Thank you. >> And just for for background because Randy and I had talked about um her position as a board member whether this was a conflict of interest or under full disclosure. and when we come to the
018vote next time, uh Randy will exclude users. Yeah. Um but she was very passionate about it as were the other two um that were in it. So you did a lot of really good background work on it. So thank you, >> Randy. I echo I think this is a really nice thing to offer to everyone else who you're right doesn't fit into one of those other categories. That's great. And I just from reading this too, it sounds like the um fundraising I just want to confirm it. It sounds very like the movie night that's all unique stuff. they're not doing. So, it sounds like no overlap. >> Yeah, I was okay. >> Um, we were trying not to overlap with other booster organizations and so far no one does movie nights and so we thought
019that might be a new thing that we can do and hopefully um get some fundraising done that way. >> Yeah. And the yard signs, the more the marrier. So, I think that's great. So, >> this is very nice. I like to the promotion of the events and the activities because I think like I like I prior to being on the board I didn't know about science olympiad and what an amazing thing among others um that you're talking about for kids to know about celebrate be excited about in the community so um it looks fantastic thanks [clears throat] >> all right so any other questions comments always good to have more new more great news uh two items in a row or items of celebration um so Now we are on to item SE seven, the
020village of Lyle downtown tiff number three extension. That information can be found under item seven of the finance committee packet. Dr. Philipak, if you would please uh take the floor. If we could just get the screen to transition over at this point, we do have a very brief presentation. Um, [cough] as you're [clears throat] probably aware at this point, we have five tiffs in Lyle. We have the Navastar TIFF. We have the UTI TIFF. Downtown TIFF is number three. We have a TIFF on Ogden. And we have a TIFF on 53. And so tonight, we're just talking about TIFF number three, the downtown TIFF. Just to reaclimate you with this, uh we did look at this in detail in December 2023 when we were working with the developer. Um if you look at I'm assuming
021you can all see on your screen there, and this also uploaded in board books. um to the left hand side that is family square and so that's an area I think that recent by recently within the last decade there's been a group um out of state that's had an interest in building an apartment complex there to the right of that um I think a lot of progress has been made I do believe that there's 32 town homes uh within that area of the tiff and then just to the east of that outside of the tiff there's another 32 homes and so I think PTE is the one that's doing most of the the managing of that. But uh that's a new project that I do believe at this point has gotten the green light. I
022think they've gone through planning and zoning. I think they've got approval from the village. And so that one appears that at this point we'll move forward. And then just on the south side there is where you have the Lyall Fire Department. And so there's kind of three big pieces of property in there. There's going to be the town homes that have been greenlighted. There's the fire department, which I think they're looking to move out of that area. And then there's Family Square, which again, there was a project before, but it didn't follow through back around 2023, 2024. Any questions about the actual footprint of the TIF? >> One quick question. So, you said the fire department's moving out of that location. >> Uh, the fire department for many years has been trying to find another
023place to move to. They feel it's very difficult to get in and out of downtown and they'd have quicker access if it wasn't in downtown. So, they are looking at other options to move to. >> Okay. But they don't have anything. Yeah. No for nothing formal at this point with >> nothing formal at this time. But they've been talking about this for years than just where it's currently positioned is is difficult to get in and out of. >> Yeah. Currently, they wouldn't pay us taxes anyway. So, >> so basically, and we'll get into some of the more details, but um the village would like to extend the tiff that currently goes 23 years by another 12. So, they'd like it to go 35 years. And so, what they need to do is by March 1st
024hear from every taxing body. And so, that includes COD, that that includes, you know, the fire department, the library. I think there's about 12 different organizations. And um if 100% support the extension, it can go through. If any one of the taxing bodies does not support it, it can't be extended. And so basically, the village has asked every taxing body to meet on this and give them feedback by March 1st. So you're not being asked in any way, shape, or form today to give feedback. What you are being asked to is to consider. Let us know if there's specific or f specific follow-up questions you want us to get answers to with the hopes that at our February meeting we'll be able to actually mark one of those boxes that we support the 12-year extension
025of the downtown tiff or we do not support the 12-year extension of the downtown tiff. Is that pretty clear? And again, all it takes is one no and it doesn't get extended. So, basically going back to that picture, um on the right hand side there's Arbor Station Town Homes. Um that developer has said that they don't need any, you know, subsidies in order to make the numbers work. They found a way to make it work. Um purely within the raw numbers of what they plan to develop and what they plan to charge. On the other hand, Family Square, which is the larger apartment, visuals you I'm sure you've seen back in 2023, 2024 look very similar to me as Mark on Main in terms of size. Um they're saying that basically they need 333 million
026to make the numbers work. And so where that number comes from is they're saying we need 14 million to get the numbers to work. If you can cut us a check, that's great. Obviously, the village doesn't have $14 million to cut a check. And so the developer said, "Well, we'll borrow the money at around 8%. You can pay it back over the 25 years of, you know, you're collecting the property taxes in that area." That interest is estimated to be about 19 million. So the ask from Family Square Developer is $33 million. One thing that has changed since we've looked at this in December 2023 is at the time, Family Square developers were asking for 6 million. And so uh that was the end of 2023. So in the last 2 years that ask has
027gone from 6 million to 14 million. Um there still would have been interest with the 6 million but it's more than doubled in the last let's say two years in terms of what they think they need in terms of subsidies to make the numbers work. >> Any questions about at least the ask at this point from the two developers? >> Did they provide any justification for the difference between the 6 million asked in 2023 and 14 million now? Um those types of conversations happen between the the village uh and they've said at the last meeting that they have not gotten any details yet as to why the increase in the ask. And so at this point the village is feeling like in order to even have consideration of the 33 million they need to have
028it extended and we'll get to that slide but they don't have any details as to the reality of why 33 million is 14 million is necessary in order to get the numbers to work knowing that py next door has got a way to get their numbers to work. Mark on mine got a way of getting their numbers to work. I still call it arburitum village. It's right off of Warrenville there. Um I think it's a slightly different name now. they got it to work. I think there's a development down in 53 that got their numbers to work. There's a lot of developments in Du Page County that didn't need subsidies and so I'm sure the village will have to dig in to try and understand before approving anything as to why this group finds that
029they're not able to make numbers work. When we asked at the meeting that we had at the with the taxing bodies, I think about a week ago, um we had said, "Is there anything special about that piece of property that requires it?" and they said no. And so it's it seems at this point we just need to figure out a little bit more as to why the numbers don't work without the subsidies. Any questions about the ask >> that that was my question. So I'll just be curious to hear what you find out. >> That may [clears throat] never be shared with us, but um what the village is asking is that we extend it um from 23 years to a 35-y year tiff. So, this is a very high level. Um, I'm hoping it'll
030kind of visualize the three or four paths that are up for consideration. The current tiff runs out in 20 38. And so, that's that area circled in red. Um, this apartment complex being discussed at Family Square will bring in property taxes of about 9.8 million. Arbor Station, which we know is a a done deal at this not a done deal, but they've been green light. I think they're probably soon starting the process will generate by 2038 5.2 million. And then there's a few properties that aren't part of those two but still included in the TIFF that generate $200,000. And so um I guess it's important that I that I preface the perspective of the developer may be different than the perspective of the village which may be just different perspective than that of the school
031district. And so, you know, what I'm going to try and show you is the different perspectives that ultimately may decide whether we support or not support the extension. I'll pretend for a moment I'm the village and I look at that and I say, "Well, it expires at 2038. If everything plays out exactly like we hope, we can only raise 15.2 million." And so, if the developer is asking for 33 million, that's not going to make it work. And so that's why the village is then saying, "Well, gosh, if if it expires in the next 12 years and we can only get 15 million legally, if everybody agrees to it, and there's not a single no, we could actually extend, and I put that in the red box, to generate 40 million." And so of that,
03226 million would come from apartments being on Family Square. 13.8 8 million or 14 million would come from Arbor Station town homes that are within the TIFF and then you know $600,000 from others. The only reason I included that line which seems relatively small is just so the numbers agreed to what was supplied in the report. But from the village perspective they can look at this and say if we can get support to extended 12 years we can generate 40 million. That's well beyond the 33 million being asked. So the village cannot make the number or at least support the ask by not extending it with me so far. Okay. So if any of the taxing bodies say no, we're not supporting the extension, the village is going to have to make a decision. Do
033they just try and make this first slide work? Can we can we get the developer tore decrease their ask from 33 million down to 15 million? I don't know. I mean, that's that's all part of the process. We're not involved. We don't get a vote in that. We probably won't even be part of those conversations. But the village might be able to say, you know what, we're going to make it work in the 12 years with the 15 million. >> Keith, can I just mention and that going with the fact that originally that $15 million ask was 6 million. >> The $14 million ask was somewhere between five and six million two years ago. >> Okay. So we don't know the details as to what changed. We just know that it's more than doubled in
034the last two years. >> Do the does the extension have to be 12 years or could it be less? In other words, if it's 40 million, can you say, well, well, how many years do you need to get to 33? >> Um, there's a lot of variables, but I would anticipate the village would say, uh, we want to extend 12. And if for some reason we don't need all of the money, then we would [clears throat] have it being surplus. So let's say 100% of those being asked agree the village based on these current numbers would have access to $40 million. If a single taxing entity says no, we're not supportive. Well then the village needs to figure out can they make the 15 work? I'm guessing maybe they take a few months to work
035with the developer and the developer is like absolutely not. you know, there's no way we can go from the number we're seeing down to the number you're proposing. Another option that the village could do then is focus on just shutting down this current tiff as is [clears throat] and then developing a brand new tiff that would go 23 years and it would probably just focus on that apartment complex at family square. And so if they redrrew that line that didn't include Arbor Station, they could generate 26.3 million. I feel weird saying the points, but let's just say it's 26 million. It's a lot closer than the 33 million. I don't know if they can get those numbers to work, but they would have access to the 26 million. [clears throat] A natural question is to
036say, well, why couldn't the village just redo the tiff and include Arbor Station homes? But the problem with that approach is that you need to prove what's called the but for and to try and argue that Arbor Station town homes wouldn't occur but for the tiff I think would be difficult to sell legally and morally because it's green light. It's happening. The but for is not relevant. But the village could very well say the complex at family square if we don't give them that $26 million isn't going to happen. And so that would give the village an opportunity to even though they didn't get the 40 to still have 26 to maybe meet the 33. And that's where that negotiation might be. They may be able to say scale back the project, increase the project,
037you know, a variety of things, but at least they have 26 million. And >> Keith, um, am I correct that the um the property now is owned by the company that the by the developer? That's my understanding that Flity and Collins, which is the group out of Indiana that's proposing doing that development, has already purchased the land. But um I have not seen a formal document to show that to be true, but that's what people are saying. >> If if that is true, then does that eliminate the option for the village to have conversations with other developers or is that in their purview and not something for us to speculate on? I think that's an I [clears throat] think that's another her view in terms of trying to negotiate when the developer says we can't
038do this for anything less than $33 million. [cough and clears throat] So where does that leave us? I think the biggest challenge in this and so I've I've talked about the developer says we can't make the numbers work unless we get $33 million. the village saying we can't get you 33 million unless all the taxing bodies allow us to extend the tiff for a total of 35 years. The fallback might be to just have the tiff collapse and then focus on just that family square area. The challenge I think we as a school district are having is Arbor Station town homes, this is total property taxes, will be bringing in $13.8 8 million. And so if you recall our financial projections, we [clears throat] have a balanced budget this year. Even though we're looking at
039a deficit for next year, we've been spending a lot of time looking at that, trying to really see what we can shave down that would not negatively impact in a significant manner what's happening in the schools. So we think we can get a balanced budget next year. But that 2028 when we see special ed costs going up 30%. Just in the last two years they've gone up a million dollars. When we see transportation going up double digits when we see insurance going up double digits both in health and property. when we're seeing these huge increases, it looks like in 2028 realistically, we're so not this year, not next school year, but the following school year, we're going to really have to look at what we are having to cut. If you recall, our margins are
040pretty tight. Usually, we save about 2% a year. These last couple years of special ed and transportation have pushed us to this balanced budget. In those cases, we usually don't have choices. Generally, a student's needs are mandated through their IEP. Oftent times, we need to be able to privately place them either in SASCID or someplace else. Typically, at a cost anywhere between 60 and $100,000 is usually the kind of the zone of what we see. So, it doesn't take many students because usually you have a one-on-one teacher. It's not uncommon you have an aid. You very often have medical needs. Um and so we don't feel realistically you're going to have a we are going to have a balanced budget in 2028. And so if there's an opportunity to access that Arbor Station town homes
041just in general numbers that that current TIFF period that's somewhere in the area of $300,000 we would get when it gets to that extension period that's about half a million dollars a year. And so when we have to have a hard look at a trying to figure out what our cuts are going to be in 2028ish time period, that $300,000 would make a world of difference. And so I think again I I get the developers perspective. They want to get a certain return on investment. They have people they're accountable to. They're have to show their investment bankers this is this is profitable. We're going to make money here. I understand the village's perspective. We have this lot here that's been vacant for a very long time. We may need to be able to incentivize somebody
042to actually build there. But I think the challenge is as much as the numbers don't work for perhaps the developer and the numbers perhaps don't work for the village unless it gets extended. I don't think the numbers work for the school district. I don't see any way that you'll be able to balance the budget in 2028 2029 without access to Arbor Station. And so if you need to find a way to cut in that case $400,000 worth of programs for the regular students versus having a new apartment complex, the numbers just don't work. >> Keith, are we really losing 13 point? I had a question about every year we levy called 40 million. We're going to increase it by CPI. That's a new budget and increase by CPI again. We're still going to get what
043we levy. Correct. >> Correct. >> So this 13.8 8 million through this is we're really putting the tax burden outside to the taxpayers outside the tiff, right? Or how does this >> it's tiffs are complicated, but that's only true for current property owners. So that would be the case if you have a bill K and they're in the tiff. Um >> and so what would be the increase in our levy can't be put into the bill K's of the world because they're in the tiff. But this is new property. And so regardless of this, we will see our increase of CPI. This is additional money that if it was not in the tiff, that would go directly to the school district anywhere between 300,000 towards the beginning of the development until all the units are
044built. Then it's closer to half a million per year. But that's an addition to it's not a shifting to other individuals. The shifting only occurs when you have current property within a tiff. The apartment complex is not currently developed, nor is the arbor station. >> So, so we're still going to get our full levy. >> Yes. But that's not enough in 2028 to maintain your programs. >> So, >> this is basically like new construction, Dan. Like >> typically every year we have our base CPI levy and then we add new construction on for whatever is new within uh the boundaries of Lyall within our school district. If this was not in the tiff, it would be new construction. and it would be captured through the levy. >> Okay. So, we're we're just losing our new
045construction money then. >> Um [clears throat] we would construction. >> So, that was new construction. Last year was 97,000. >> Correct. Yeah. So, we'd still get that if depending on what it is. That will vary every year, right? >> This just wouldn't be considered new construction because it's inside the tiff. So, that new construction would fund the tiff basically >> to help the developer in this case. I have just another quick question. I just want to make sure I'm understanding the map versus these correctly. The Arbor Station town homes, when you look at the map in between Center School and Ogden, there's currently some private properties in that space, are those being um where the trees are, are those being removed um in order to place these state these town homes or am I looking
046at this differently? It's my understanding that the middle the right hand side within the tiff all of those trees will be removed. Those houses will be removed and that's where the town homes will be. There'll be on that side 32 town homes. >> Okay. So there's no existing private property that would remain there. And >> I I don't know this to be true at all, but it was my understanding that the doctor and immediate care might still stay or do you know if that's being demolished? because if you recall on this sheet, it saw current properties outside of Family Square and Arbor Station Town Homes. And so, um, that $600,000 would be incrementally like you'd look at what those homes are worth and then any increase that they have, that's the part that goes to
047the village to be able to use for the TIFF. But the current property taxes they're paying to us still come to us. And so I think you're asking about those current homes that are there >> or buildings. They would remain in some cases and they'll generate for the tiff $600,000. I can't speak to how much comes to us because we still get what they were currently paying when the tiff came in place. >> Okay. >> Does that I mean I I don't I don't know the specifics as to which one in these pictures. Um I don't know if the doctor immediate care is still going to be in place and >> is the py property my understanding is half is in the tiff and half is outside the tiff correct. So we would get new
048construction money for the old [cough] >> portion. Do we have any idea how much that is? >> It's almost identical. And so when we talked about >> starting at 300,000 and making its way up to 500,000 um that's identical to the amount that would be outside of the tiff we'd be getting. But if you recall the deficit that we're staring down in 2028, it's in the area of a million. The good news is if this plays out and the village can focus on just the family square portion, I do strongly feel that that new development being built by PY Homes is going to be a gamecher. And if that's bringing anywhere between 600,000 and a million dollars, the decrease in the programs in 2028 2029 might be I hate to use the word negligible, but
049would not nearly be as bad as if that didn't come on the rolls. I think one of the things that that Keith is describing is um was reiterated in the com public comments that we got in that if it's extended by 12 years the additional property taxes from those homes from the p um actually subsidize the developer flattering Collins rather than going to support in our case the students and the community. I think I think that's the summary that you were saying. >> I 100% am behind the idea of developing Lyall. I just don't know if I for where I sit would support having to make $400,000 worth of cuts in 2028 because the money went for the new development, the apartments. Uh it would be wonderful if the developer could maybe scale back their
050expectations in terms of what the returns are. Um it would be wonderful. I mean, I if we were looking for the win-win, I think the win-win and and again, school district perspective would be for Arbor Station town homes to not be part of the TIFF, for those property taxes to be used to educate children as they were designed to be. And that the Arbor Complex, the apartment complex at Family Square, utilize their future property taxes to figure out if they can still get the numbers to work. If they redid this, would PY lose the TIFF altogether? Then >> if they redid this, >> because right now there's a current tiff in place. >> They do, but they're not asking for a penny. >> They're not using it. >> Okay. >> So any of the PTE
051property taxes would be shifted to their neighbor to make them have a higher profit margin. There's not a right answer here. I see developer perspective. I see the village perspective. I am just not comfortable recommending the extension of the tiff because of our financial constraints. Then just like the developers saying the numbers don't work, just like the village is saying the numbers don't work. We clearly the numbers don't work for the school districts. And so given the choice between educating the special ed students or getting a new apartment complex, my heart, my career, the reason I'm in education is towards the students. >> Is there anything we can negotiate into the extension so that at least some of our deficit could be covered. >> Um, we can definitely have conversations with the village if that's
052what they'd like to do. >> Yeah. I mean, if we can negotiate something there that covers some or all of this deficit, then it could then be a a win-win, partial win, partial win for everyone. And, you know, when I look at this, you know, I'd hate to be the ones that, you know, delay development of Lyall another 6 months because it'll take another 6 months for them to reissue the TIFF. And this property is going to be in the TIFF. The property right now, the entire entirety is in a tiff for 12 years. So it just be interesting to say that is it worth the six month knowing that you know yet another setback for development in Lyall and it will cost the village another tens of thousand dollars to redo the tiff and
053if they do this they're going to want to do it expeditiously because and they probably won't have to go out to any other taxing body to get approval [clears throat] for it. they can pass any tiff they want. And I remember last discussions they were willing to add like a 2% in, you know, in the tiff that we so that we would still be getting some additional tax dollars through that 2%. Correct. And we also negotiated that if they went to like 11 students, we'd get so much money back. If we got 16 students, we'd get so much money back. So, I'm just curious if we can ensure that some of those things are in there so that we would still get some funding through this with with the extension. >> We can definitely have
054those types of conversation. And I just think the ultimate message is when you look at the projection for 2028, it just the numbers don't work. And it's going to be some very difficult conversations with the community and with the board and with the staff to try and figure out what those cuts are. And knowing that Arbor Station town homes could be bringing us in 300,000 to half a million. That's 300,000 half a million less cuts we'll have to make to our programs. the the economy could be extremely different in 6 months which if they wait another 6 months all the economies of this could be significantly changed yet again. >> Well there there's months involved they explained at the joint review board um an amendment to add the 12 years has to go to state
055legislature and actually takes what they said it requires full support of the taxing bodies. Um it'll about 7 to 8 months the estimated would be involved with a projected cost of 15 to 25,000 for the village. They already have two state senators uh in support of that. But that is for the extension. So 7 7 to 8 months. closing the current tiff and creating a new downtown tiff that excludes Arbor Station would would take approximately 3 to 6 months. That's what they explained and cost an estimated 35 to 50,000 for the village. So, it's about a $20,000 difference, [clears throat] what they projected to be about half the time frame. Um, but that way that would open up the Arbor Station. And you know, if we're looking at what kind of a deal, if we'll
056call it that, that that we could negotiate about the w with students or you know, the what we would be reimbursed from students, we would want as a board to review that against the property taxes that would be available should they happen to u redo the tiff and um just have it for the apartment complex. So again, that's one is the amendment, one is closing the current tiff. So >> I just there's so many layers to this. I tried to make it as simple as possible, but those are net numbers. And so legally, the village has to withhold 40% of the taxes and then they say, "How many new students do you have?" On September, I think it's 1st. They have to be new students to district 202. So it can't be they move someplace
057within. We give that list and we would get whatever it costs per student uh in property taxes. And so those numbers are reflective of the village already assuming we'll have a few kids come from the apartment complex. We'll have a few kids come from the town homes. So that's already taken into consideration. We'll get a little bit of money, but as I've mentioned before, Mark, on Maine, we get a kid, you know, I don't I don't think we're going to get many kids from this at all. And they have to be registered by September 1st. So if they come mid year, we don't get any money. if they just transfer within, we don't get any money. So that already takes into account the three to $500,000 per year of fewer cuts that you'll need to
058make in 2028. >> How long was the original tiff? >> The original tiff was 23 years. There's 12 years left. >> [clears throat] >> I just like we we already have tiffs now open in a lot of different places in Lyall that are taking money away from students and like the last tiff we just approved on like the one over by 53 for that hotel developer to do that then he went and bought another hotel in Chicago. So like [laughter] like I don't know like I I I I it would be different if it wasn't just going directly to whoever >> flattery and Collins like if it was going into like actually doing something to I know it's going to put you know finally get that piece of property dealt with but like I don't
059know about extending it another 12 years. That's that seems like a lot to put yet another area that we can't pull taxes from. >> And I think all the variables [clears throat] change with Arbor Station town homes. If that wasn't if that wasn't a reality, it goes back to okay, you have nothing or you could do a TIFF and maybe have something where that is being developed. It's not necessary to be in the TIFF. And so the choices are to be able to utilize that money to continue the programs that you currently offer the community or let the village use that money to be able to entice the developer to get the margins they're looking for. >> I think Randy brings up a great point. There's been 11 years and one thing that gives me
060pause is, you know, will someone be sitting here 12 years from now having this same conversation? I mean 11 years was a long period of time and I I I feel it looks the same as it did 11 years ago. So I I just that gives me a little hesitation with the extension as well that it hasn't >> nothing's happened in 11 years. >> Half the area has been developed in the tiff. >> Half of the what what was in the original tiff that was developed in the last 11 years. >> So when you look at the tiff >> Oh Mark was on Mark on Maine was in there. >> No it was never on that. They didn't need any tiff dollars to make it work. So when you look at need when you look
061at this picture here, the TIFF was successful. Half of that area is now going to be developed. The benefit though is it didn't take a single dollar, which shows that it wasn't a but four, which leads you to believe why would Family Square be any different. But I'm not worried about that. What I am worried about is we have a decision to make. Are we willing to make three,000 $300,000 worth of cuts in order to get a new apartment complex in the downtown? That's that's the decision. >> Paulo, did you have you looked like you wanted to see? >> I just really appreciated the way that you laid it out in the tables because it just it made it seem like really clear. Um, so it was just really well explained. So, thank you. >>
062Team effort. So, >> well done team. No decisions tonight. Lot to think about tonight. >> You look very pensive. Did >> Oh, I'm just thinking that's my thinking face. I don't hide that. >> What he was saying was that part of the tiff, the PTE part was is being developed >> without a tiff. >> Huge success. >> So, PTE without a tiff. Mark on Main without a TIFF. >> Um, Arboritum Village North without a tiff. Um, the medical center next door without a tiff. There's a development on 53 bipe without a tiff. There's a lot of >> there's one on Warrenville by PY that they just finished. It looks great and they didn't have a tiff, >> right? So, when the developer says we can't get the numbers to work, we're not privy to that
063information. I'm not saying it's not true. What I am saying is we need to decide whether we have the financial resources to subsidize that proc that apartment complex and our projections. It would appear that we need to make a choice. cut our programs to get an apartment complex, maintain our programs, and utilize the funds from Arbor Station to be able to maintain what we can of our programs. But just given all that information, I I hear you. I have a really hard time supporting a butt four in this situation >> and they still have the opportunity to redo close the current tiff and put a tiff on that property owned now by flattery and colin should should that be the option that that results. So, >> in fact, if they could go back to the
064previous proposal from two years ago, you could literally just use the apartment complex at Family Squares money to actually pay for what was acceptable two years ago in round numbers. So, um there's things we can decide, there's things we can't decide. There's conversations happening between the developer and the village. Uh, I think we can all agree we want to have that downtown grow. I just don't think the school district can financially afford supporting the extension. >> The things that would help me in decision is to understand how they went from 6 million to 14 million. Why they can't decrease the extension the number of years so that they can hit 33? Should that be, you know, assuming that's a completely valid number? But you'll still be at in 2028 having to cut $300,000 of programs
065that you wouldn't have to if you had the Arbor Town Home revenue. >> But we'd have that problem no matter what because the tiff's been already existing. You know what I mean? Like this our budget problem in two years exists whether there was a tiff or not. >> Right. But there's a solution because now there's a brand new subdivision coming on the rolls that's going to generate in aggregate. So the tip portion, non-tiff portion anywhere between $600,000 and a million dollars a year. That could be the way that this district got saved when Mark on Maine came on the role. If Mark on MMA hadn't come on the role, we would be in a different world in terms of the programs we can offer. If DuPage Medical Center didn't come on the role, if Arboritum
066Village or whatever it's called now didn't come on the role, like they came on the roll and that allowed us not to have to make the cuts. we have a second chance here when we're starting to see the tip because of transportation special ed to hopefully not be able to cut the programs if we can rely on the taxes from Arbor Stard me Arvin Station Town Homes. So the fourth thing I want is what can be negotiated in there with them knowing our financial situation in two years what can be done you and so that's I think probably further discussion with the village and the developer going okay we're we're sitting seeing a deficit in two years to your point we have our own budget concerns they've got their profit concerns what can be done
067in there so that we can at least cover that >> yeah I definitely think it requires some conversations between the developer and the village and the taxing bodies to be able to see if um although it may not work completely for anybody, maybe if everybody comes back a little bit, we could actually have a win-win. >> Yeah. And I think also on our budget forecast, fiscal year 2023, we swing to a $9 million surplus. And I know wait at that point, we always talk about further you go out, the less accurate the the projections are, but that is a big swing in fiscal year 2030. So, I think comes down to we can sit through and work through this math. And for me, I like to understand the the tiff math better because a lot
068of this I still understand why we're not like losing money. We're just not getting new money, which but we're in a situation where we're we have a deficit in two years. So, >> and I don't know if we're ever losing money. I think the money just doesn't come to us. that goes to the village who then can utilize it to be able to fix the bottom line for the investment bankers behind this project. >> And Keith, that uh new property tax would also be available to other entities, not just us. And we're talking about negot negotiating if we everybody's going to want to be do, you know, the library is going to want to be doing that. the park district, everybody is involved or this affects all the entities >> and all that although that's
069true [snorts] close to let's call it 70% goes to the school district 11% goes to fire 4% goes to the village those three together make up almost all of the property taxes I think most of the other organizations don't rely on property taxes so it's really just these three entities I don't mean that in a disrespectful manner but like the library is 4% and That's different than our 60%. Or 70%. Sorry. >> When when you were at your discussion with them and all the other taxing bodies they sent someone to, how did you get the feel of the room of how they felt about it? >> Um, I think we're all just processing what's here. I think our heart is in Lyall. We want to see it grow, but we also have our own budgets
070and so we just need to be able to say, are we willing to make cuts on our own programs to support this new apartment complex? I think one of the things that we've talked about as a board that you know that when we discuss the levy is that what we need is new development and um Arbor Station would I mean that that kind of fits into what and and it's good to see the village is growing there is a lot has been a lot of different different new things but that is one of the big concerns we always look at is um the new development is a big contributing factor. Yeah, I think all of us are very supportive of that as long as it's a development we want. But I just don't know if
071it's in the numbers for the Lyall School District to be able to give up $300,000 to $500,000 a year for this program when they're already looking at a deficit and need to make cuts. Anything to add? Uh I don't want you guys later to go, you forgot to say. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Do we have any further questions? No, I just want if we can get the the four things I listed addressed would be good. >> Okay. Well, obviously uh Dr. Philip, you've given us a lot to think about and um we'll be back months from now uh to hear what more you found out. >> And if you could just summarize the four things, >> the details on how the 6 million went to 14 million. >> They're not going to give us
072that, but okay. >> We were going to ask and if they don't give it to us, that's on them, right? >> Mhm. uh could the extension be decreased from in timewise so that it comes to 33 million so instead of 12 years maybe it's six years um to I just would like a better understanding to know the tip better I know hey Keith you can help me out with the math and or the village uh finance guy anybody you know I would like to know how this works to say what is the real impact you know a little bit closer than some hypothetical amounts Um and also what can be negotiated into the extension? Can we negotiate something where we get if there's a certain amount of surplus can through in accordance with state statute
073can we draw more upon that there you know there's a I just want to know what what limits we have on that we were able to get a 2% in there I think in the last discussion and [clears throat] in the earlier we said if there's certain number of students we would then get some money back. I'd like to know >> yeah that still exists. Yes. >> So, it's legally binding that if we have students that come in the area, that will be able to be reimbursed so long as it doesn't exceed 40% of the property taxes. If you recall back in 20 December 2023, we had to decrease that 40% down to 23, which put the district at risk. But we felt like looking at the number of kids that came from those types
074of apartments, we were only going to get one or two. But, uh, in terms of that 2% of any increase in current EAV, um, that's something to talk about, but it's not going to be anywhere near the 300 to $500,000 a year. >> Whatever bit we can get and if we have to meet in the middle, then we figure out what to do in 2028. >> Yeah, that wouldn't be in the middle. That would be >> whatever we can get there, right? >> Okay. >> So, >> understood. >> All right. So, with that, I noticed that um we're coming toward uh 7:30 in the regular board meeting. Um are there any other uh pressing questions we have about this particular topic, the TIFF? Okay. Um now, we normally don't vote, but uh I would like
075to move the item eight, the quarterly financial update from this meeting to next month's meeting as this is more of an ongoing topic. It's an update. It's not we don't have to really make any decisions on this today. I think I could probably cover the highlights pretty quick if you >> in three minutes. >> I I think maybe in five. Um if we can just go. >> I just I wanted to kind of highlight one thing kind of in kind of >> piggybacking off of our TIFF conversation. I didn't bring it up in the TIFF conversation. I thought it would be more more appropriate here. That's part of the reason why I want to just do it uh this evening. >> If we're all comfortable bumping the meeting, then we'll uh press on forward. So
076that's item eight, the quarter of financial financial update. That is under item eight of the finance committee meeting meeting packet. >> And so I I think the the thing I wanted to highlight um obviously from a revenue standpoint, we've received 100% of our budgeted property taxes. That's what we would expect. Um but more importantly, you know, I I just went to a seminar uh a few weeks ago talking about the state's financial situation and how that's impacting school districts from a state revenue standpoint. And so we're not getting any increases in our evidence-based funding. Like that has been flat ever since the new evidence-based funding model went into effect. So we've gotten no new money from the state in that regards. And in fact, when you start to look at some of our mandated categoricals,
077in particular transportation, we're actually starting to get less because so many districts have seen their costs for transportation increase exponentially. The state is still funding those at the same level. So the same amount of money is reimbursing districts for a higher portion of costs. So we're actually starting to see that go down. And so while our costs are going up 10% a year in in transportation primarily because of special ed, we're actually getting less from the state in that regard. And then we've obviously heard everything on the federal level. That's literally week to week as to whether or not some of those federal funds are going to continue. And so, um, we really are relying almost exclusively on property taxes. And when CPI comes in at 2.6% this most recent year, yay. From a a
078cost standpoint, except when we look at our costs, special ed is going up 20% a year. That's what it's done the last 3 years. I just was talking about our renewal. We got the preliminary renewal for our health insurance coming up. And the rumor is they're projecting 16% increases on our health insurance. And then obviously we have the transportation cost increases. And so there's just a lot going on right now from an expenditure standpoint that's really stressing our finances where we did have surpluses one and two years ago. Those are gone because of these costs. And so we're getting to that point, that inflection point that Keith was talking about where our only choices is to look at realistically our regular programs because the special ed programs are mandated by law. We don't have choices.
079If a student comes into our district and needs to be outplaced based on the IEP team's meeting discussion, we not only have to pay $100,000 a year for that student to attend, we also have to transport them at nearly $4 to $5,000 a month. And so I'm not trying to I mean, these are conversations that are going on across the state and we're not getting any additional funding from the state or the federal government to pay for these things. And so that's kind of the the focus of this report. um you know, it's it's pretty much where we're expecting to be from a budget standpoint, but I think you'll notice our special ed costs are right now up half a million dollars from the year before that. Now, some of that may be timing. Obviously,
080when we get those bills from the various private facilities, that can impact from quarter to quarter how much we're paying, but right now, if you look in the writeup, we are seeing a half half a million dollar increase so far in in special ed again. And so, um everything else is looking good. Obviously, we can control our capital outlay costs. We can control some of these supplies costs and things like that, but those few areas that we keep touching on and we're digging into the data right now trying to understand how many students we've gone up, how much the particular programs have gone up, you know, what's happened to our aid counts. Those are all things we're going to bring back to you. Um, but that's kind of the gist of our quarterly financial update,
081and I thought that was relevant based on the conversation we just had with the TIFF. So, um I didn't get any other questions. Hopefully, it was um you were able to kind of glean things from the report itself. Um but that is the uh quarterly financial update for the second quarter. Three minutes. Um are there any other questions or concerns on this uh topic? No. All right. So, item nine um agenda topics for future finance committee meetings. Uh would anyone like to introduce a topic for the next meetings that we have not already considered? Uh >> I would like to um just kind of mention normally uh in the January meeting, the finance meeting, we talk about student fees and kind of our building usage fees. We usually have a a kind of initial conversation
082to kind of get the finance committee's uh feedback on where we'd like to go in terms of waving fees or reinstating fees. Um we decided to actually postpone that conversation for now. I'm guessing we'll probably bring that in March. Uh, but we'd like to take a little bit closer look on kind of evaluating where the district's finances are, give us a little bit more time to see how this year is progressing kind of into that third quarter. And then uh that'll give us [snorts] um more information to determine if reinstating fees is something that we need to consider from a um kind of making the numbers work, a budgeting standpoint. And so we hope to bring that in March with approval uh in April. I did update the board planning calendar for this year so
083it's reflected on there. Uh but I just wanted to bring that up to the committee's um attention. >> I recall there's what $230,000 a year. >> That's correct. It's usually around 200 to 250. Yep. Good memory. Exactly. >> Okay. That's a good uh point. Thank you for making >> just a point. Do we need to discuss that discussion earlier since the TIFF is by March 1st? I'm just saying that that's another, you know, we're looking at all those numbers and we're looking at half a million a year. Correct. >> I think that's he's asking time to prepare that would be a February discussion. >> Well, I'm just do we have to have that discussion in time for a March 1st decision? >> Um, I think relevant to that conversation, we would know that if we
084reinstate fees, it would be about $200,000 a year. So, I don't know if there's any more information that we need than that. I don't know that we'll have specifics on what next year's budget looks like yet at that point. Um, but that's obviously what we're looking into and that's why we we're asking for a little bit more time. We also won't have done the new projection yet cuz like the projection is now going to factor in 16% increases in health insurance instead of six. So, that's going to make a difference. >> Okay. So I can bring it in February if that's what the committee would like. But >> I mean we can go a number of and use a number as an assumption but like 2002 230 is like halfway there. Right. >> When you
085say halfway there halfway there >> I thought you said it comes out to about $500,000 a year. >> What what did you say? >> That that we were before going about $500,000 a year. You're wrong. >> I just the hole we're looking at in 2028 is near a million. And so if we can plug the hole with the $300,000 tiff and then the other side of the property is 300,000 we're at 600,000 plus if we bring in fees for 250 we're getting really close to that million dollar. So I I don't think everything's going to be saved with the tiff money. The IRA outside of the tiff I think it's going to be a combination of most likely bringing back student fees as much as that pains me. But that'll be a discussion. um hopefully
086Arbor Town Homes, station town homes, and then also just kind of tightening our belt on things like capital expenditures and supplies and maybe that together will get us to where we can maintain another year. But that's >> that's 2028. This is a balanced budget. We think we have a plan for next year's balanced budget. It's just once we start to get that 2028 and the numbers there don't exactly align. And I'm pointing to the presentation that when the town homes come online, I think [clears throat] it's in the area of around 2028, we'll start to possibly see property taxes, but again, it gets phased in based on the number of town homes they sell. It isn't just 2028, we get this amount of money. Does that kind of add to what you're saying in terms
087of trying to fill the million-doll deficit? >> Absolutely. And I I can certainly bring the fees in February. I I don't know that I'll have all the information, but if the committee would like to discuss that, I can certainly add that as an agenda item. I think we have a balanced budget for next school year, and we're not at the stage to adding fees. I think we need to do a deeper dive next school year to figure out what exactly it's going to take to balance. We'll have up a year updated numbers. We'll possibly know about what's happening with Arbor Station. I think that's the point where we start to consider phasing in the fees again. But I think the fees is the last stitch effort because we feel strongly that people pay property taxes.
088We don't want to nickel and dime them for fees here and there. They pay for fees if it's a participation, but just this general technology fee, book fee, fee fee, we've tried to stay away from. It's been a long time since we've had it. And so I want to be really thoughtful that when we do make that decision, we've had communications with our community so they understand the why. And I don't think this is the year that we're ready to have that conversation because there's too many moving parts. >> I think in regards to the tiff uh discussion you're thinking of Dan, um I believe this is more of a data point like when we have that discussion well while well we can factor in $200,000. Um I doubt we need to have the full
089discussion on whether or not to bring in fees at that time and we can wait until March or April when the administration has a more precise idea what's going to happen. Okay, I think we know the rough number somewhere between 200 and 250. We can work with that >> tiff discussion. Okay. And >> so we're hoping to roll that into the larger conversation over the five6year financial projection to show what the numbers look like, things that we think we'll be able to do for next school year. And that's where we'll make the decision at one point. Do we want to bring in the fees this next year? Do we want to bring half those fees in? Um, but that'll be better context when we have that presentation in April for the projection because maybe we'll
090know a little bit more about the TIFF also. >> Okay. >> Perhaps. Thank you. >> Okay. So, uh, do we have any other um, agenda items we would like to propose at this time? No. Okay. So, with no other agenda items, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> That's Mrs. Alman and Miss Foster. Very well. The finance committee meeting is adjourned at 7:38. Thank you very much. We appreciate you. >> Thank you.