Deputy Village Manager and CFO Mitchell presented four options Tuesday for the Village of Lisle's 2025 property-tax levy and asked the Committee of the Whole for guidance so staff could prepare an ordinance for the Dec. 15 meeting.

Mitchell said the village levies for general corporate purposes, police protection, IMRF, FICA, police pension and liability insurance. He estimated the 2025 Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) at about $1.36 billion, a 3.71% increase over the prior year, and reviewed how the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law constrains levy increases to the lesser of 5% or the prior-year CPI plus new construction.

Staff presented four options: option 1 would keep the levy flat at approximately $4.9 million; option 2 would capture new construction and increase the levy by an estimated $9,188; option 3 would apply the allowable inflationary increase (estimated $142,892 using 2.9% CPI); and option 4 would increase to the tax cap (combined CPI + new construction, estimated $156,366). For a representative $400,000 market-value home, the estimated homeowner impacts were roughly $28.55 (option 1), $29.41 (option 2), $41.97 (option 3) and $43.24 (option 4). Mitchell recommended that, if the board increases the levy, the village allocate any additional revenue to the police pension portion of the levy.

Trustees discussed the village's fiscal position, noting robust sales-tax performance and a general fund reserve that staff said is above policy but insufficient to fully fund a five-year capital plan. The board also discussed the police-pension unfunded liability (staff reported an unfunded liability of about $18 million and a funding-policy goal of 100% by 2040) and recent steps such as a $1 million transfer into the police-pension fund.

Multiple trustees said they preferred either keeping the levy flat or capturing new construction. After discussion of impacts and alternative ways to address pension funding (including using fund-balance transfers), the committee expressed consensus to proceed with option 2 — capturing new construction — and asked staff to prepare the property-tax-levy ordinance accordingly for the Dec. 15 meeting. Deputy Manager Mitchell noted that abatements and final decisions about transfers can be revisited through March when the board reviews the budget and decides on abatements.

No formal levy ordinance was adopted at the meeting; the board's direction was consensus-based and staff will return with the prepared ordinance and additional budget details ahead of the required Dec. 30 filing deadline with DuPage County.