Brookfield may go out to referendum next fall to create a permanent funding mechanism for street improvements, paving the way for a second referendum so the village can fund the construction of a planned community center at Ehlert Park.
Village trustees and staff considered the possibility at their Oct. 13 committee of the whole meeting, following a first discussion in August, where the village board nixed the idea of issuing two sets of bonds for the center. At that meeting, the board also veered into a discussion on funding ongoing road maintenance costs, which prompted staff to bring them forward together.
To fund a 20-year road program, it would cost Brookfield about $4 million annually, with that figure decreasing to $3.5 million each year for a 25-year cycle instead, said Doug Cooper, Brookfield’s finance director. Any longer program would put roads at risk of serious deterioration, staffers said.
Brookfield voters in 2016 approved a referendum to issue three 10-year bonds for street improvements in 2016, 2018 and 2020, Cooper said; now, those debts are set to be paid off in 2026, 2028 and 2030, giving the village an opportunity to make use of property tax bill cost residents have come to expect.
“If we did a referendum question, it would basically be to keep the residents’ tax bill as it relates to paying for streets the same by having them pay the same amount that they would if we continued to have the 2016, 2018 and 2020 bond issues,” Village President Michael Garvey said.
“This is more of a permanent change to fund the street improvement projects perpetually so that we’re not coming back every five years asking for another referendum for streets,” Trustee Jennifer Hendricks said.
The referendum, which will likely be up for a vote in November 2026, would allow Brookfield to increase its annual tax levy past the amount allowed by the Property Tax Extension Law Limitation, which says Illinois municipalities cannot raise the levy by a higher percentage than the Consumer Price Index inflation rate. If the CPI rises above 5%, tax levy increases are capped there.
Garvey described the funding mechanism as “analogous” to the referendum that Riverside voters narrowly approved in 2024, which raised the tax levy more than 9% for one year to establish a permanent dedicated fund for street improvements.
Village Engineer Derek Treichel said the bond issuances were necessary in 2016 for Brookfield to catch up after about a decade of improving only 0.8 miles of road per year. The new program, if Brookfield can fund it, would aim to redo about two miles of streets each year, he said.
Brookfield collects some $2.7 million each year from residents that goes toward paying off its existing bond debt for roads, Cooper said.
By passing the tax levy rate increase for the same year the 2016 bond will fall off, Brookfield can capture that money itself and hold onto some of it. About $1.7 million of that balance each year would go toward abating the debt payments through 2028, dropping to $743,000 until 2030, when the final bond expires, said Cooper and Andrew Kim, a contracted financial advisor through PMA Securities, LLC.
Then, the full sum could be used for ongoing, pay-as-you-go road maintenance.
If approved by voters, it would open Brookfield’s bonding capacity so the village can then, in 2027, put up a second referendum to issue about $27 million in debt to finance the construction of a community center at Ehlert Park, for which a feasibility study was completed in May.
While Garvey shared concerns about asking for two referenda so close to one another, he said he felt confident in Brookfield voters’ ability to see the need for them.
“You’re talking about going to the voters twice and asking for money for streets and for a parks and recreation center,” he said. “The residents actually approved several hits to their property tax bills [in 2016], but those things passed because, I think, it was explained what they were for, and people thought there was a priority. I think that same argument could apply to a parks and recreation center because I think there is a desire for it.”
Garvey suggested the construction of the community center could be taken off of the village’s plate if residents would come forward and petition the village to create a park district with its own board of commissioners that would be responsible for the center. The village board itself cannot create such a district.
While it could be a feasible path, some trustees expressed concern that such a plan could delay the building of the center, leading to more price escalation, or the commissioners could decide to restart the project altogether.
Garvey said staff should start conversations with bond consultants about when it would be best to put the roads referendum to a vote and how to best educate residents on both referenda, a sentiment Village Manager Tim Wiberg and trustees seemed to agree with.
“It does seem like we could take advantage of the time, if we determined it was feasible, to continue to educate and build support on the community referendum side, [so] the community center is not something that’s popping back up in ‘27, but people are expecting and building towards that over the next couple years,” Trustee Kyle Whitehead said.
