LF_122718

LakeForestLeader.com NEWS
the lake forest leader | December 27, 2018 | 3
Lake Forest D67 Board of Education
‘Important vote’ approves 2.91 percent tax levy increase
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
In the last meeting of
the calendar year, the Lake
Forest School District 67
Board of Education approved
the 2018 tax levy
at $34.117 million during
its meeting Tuesday, Dec.
18. This represents a 2.91
percent increase from the
prior year extension of
$33.153 million.
This year’s levy of
$34.117 million includes
$26.397 million in the
educational fund, $5.515
million in the operations
and maintenance fund,
$844,644 in the transportation
fund, $361,220 in
the Illinois Municipal Retirement
Fund, $509,964
in the social security fund
and $488,459.23 in the
bond and interest fund.
Board president Mike
Borkowski said the board
considers the tax levy one
of the most important
things it votes on.
“There are times that
this board takes very important
votes and we may
just simply vote on it and
there may or may not be
a lot of comments and the
public may wonder, ‘Do
we even know what we’re
voting on or care?’ The
answer is yes,” Borkowski
said.
Borkowski explained
that the board did not
have much discussion on
the levy at this meeting
because it had a board
workshop the previous
week where it discussed
the levy at great length.
“We had a special meeting
(on Dec. 10), which
was a workshop open to
the public where every
board member and the administration
talked about
the tax levy,” he said. “I
just want the public to
“There are times that this board
takes very important votes and
we may just simply vote on it
and there may or may not be a
lot of comments and the public
may wonder, ‘Do we even know
what we’re voting on or care?’
The answer is yes.”
Mike Borkowski — Board President on voting
on raising tax levy.
know that we did discuss
this at length in a workshop.”
The board also adopted
a resolution authorizing
a supplemental property
tax levy of $6,231 to pay
the principal of and interest
on outstanding limited
bonds of the school district.
Board member Jeff
Folker explained that this
is not an additional tax.
“This is merely a formality
for the bond counsel
to say that we are going
after the CPI, which
by Illinois law is the most
we can ask for,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer
Jennifer Hermes explained
the resolution allows
the district to capture
the increase in CPI associated
with the debt service
extension base the board
approved in 2016.
“As part of that debt
bar, we had assumed we
would capture the CPI
increase,” Hermes said.
“According to bond counsel,
we need a separate
resolution in order to do
so, so we need to do that
in conjunction with the
annual levy, which you
just approved.”
The board additionally
approved an amendment
to the voluntary 403b
plan. In September 2008,
District 67 adopted a formal
403b plan to comply
with new Internal Revenue
Service requirements
that became effective on
Jan. 1, 2009. The plan was
developed to meet the new
regulations as well as to
meet the needs of employees
served by the plan. At
the time there was not a
request for a Roth 403b
option to be included. The
district now has more employee
interest for this option
to be included in the
plan. There is no cost to
the district to incorporate
this request and the board
voted to add it as a benefit
to the district’s employees.
“We at that point (in
2008) simply put into
place a pretty straightforward
403b,” Hermes said.
“We’ve had some interest
from employees of late
looking for a Roth 403b
option, which our plan
currently does not allow
for. Employees could contribute
on a post-tax basis
to a Roth 403b plan.”
ROUND IT UP
A brief recap of School Board action
from Dec. 18
• The board approved human
resources items including two hires,
four resignations and six leave of
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