Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 will host a public hearing at the Dec. 9 board of education meeting regarding the 2025 proposed property tax levy increase of 4.95%.
According to district assistant superintendent Dr. Kristin Smetana, the district’s tax levy is capped to whichever is lower – 5%, or the consumer price index for 2025, which is 2.9%. That means the tax levy increase will be 4.95% for new properties, residential and commercial, to account for the CGI increase, and 2.9% for existing properties.
While the district is not required by law to host a public hearing because its tax levy increase is less than 5%, Smetana said, “we choose to do a public hearing for transparency.”
Smetana also said the new property trend – both resident and commercial – has shown an average of $1.6 million in new property values.
Additionally, the district debt service is about $5 million based on two bonds from a referendum in the early 2000s that has been refinanced twice, and a bond issued in 2024 for capital projects, including creating a commercial culinary lab.
“We are in good standing,” she said with regard to debt service. “When you issue bonds, you’ll get a rating. We did that last year, (and) we received the highest rating we could get based on the demographics of the district.”
District students come from Riverside, Brookfield, North Riverside and slivers of Lyons and La Grange Park.
