Dear D79 and D120 Communities,
We want to provide another update on the negotiations between our school districts and the developers of the Ivanhoe Village proposed in Mundelein. Following our latest session on Thursday, March 13, we remain deeply concerned about the expedited pace of this process, the financial disparity between the parties, and whether Ivanhoe Village is even a viable development as currently planned.
The Ivanhoe Village plan continues to change, yet decisions are being rushed. During the March 13 session, the developers of Ivanhoe Village presented updated housing data that differed from the February 2024 SB Friedman report provided to the school districts by the Village of Mundelein for planning purposes. Updated data was originally requested at the first negotiations in January to help inform a reasonable impact fee funding proposal from the school districts. The new Ivanhoe Village plans shared with us last week include 244 fewer single-family homes (nearly 20% reduction), along with a 244-unit increase in attached rental units. It was affirmed that the Wirtz family will retain ownership of at least half of the properties for rental purposes.
Despite these ongoing changes, the timeline for negotiating the impact of Ivanhoe Village remains unreasonably swift. Given the development’s enormous impact, we urge the Village of Mundelein to slow down the process to allow for a thorough and fair assessment with common data sets and opportunities to agree to fair contingencies.
The school districts are committed to continued discussions, but the financial divide is extreme. Based on the developer’s original impact studies and our own analysis, the school districts have put forth reasonable impact funding proposals to ensure that all students in our districts, including the estimated 1,247 new K-12 students from Ivanhoe Village, will have access to the quality education our community expects and deserves without placing an unsustainable burden on current taxpayers. Unfortunately, the developer’s proposed financial commitments fall drastically short of addressing these needs.
Following is a summary of the current proposals from both the school districts and the developers:
Fremont District 79
- District Initial Proposal: $90.1 million to offset 70% of the $130 million required for infrastructure improvements, such as connecting to municipal water and sewer systems, directly related to Ivanhoe Village, as well as a portion of the new 1,000-student middle school to accommodate the huge influx of new students.
- District Commitment: A mechanism allowing the developer to recoup a significant portion of this investment if the development’s property tax revenues exceed related expenditures, demonstrating the District’s commitment to fair funding.
- Developer Response: Estimated to total about $3.8 million—a small fraction, just about 2.9% of the estimated financial impact.
Mundelein District 120
- District Proposal: $22 million to offset the costs of voter-approved facility projects necessary to accommodate Ivanhoe Village students, including eight classrooms, stormwater detention, and portions of the cafeteria/kitchen expansion.
- District Commitment: To return these funds to the community through a tax rebate, ensuring minimal taxpayer burden.
- Developer Response: $1.9 million—again, far below the costs associated with the Ivanhoe Village student impact.
While the school districts remain committed to working with the developer to close these gaps, the stark contrast between these figures raises legitimate concerns about the feasibility for this project to proceed without imposing an undue tax burden or negatively impacting education quality. The Wirtz team stated that the financial contribution requested from the school districts would jeopardize the financial viability of the development, making it impossible to proceed.
Perhaps it is time to consider whether the Ivanhoe Village is a viable development as currently planned. There are very few residential developments in Illinois that match the scale of Ivanhoe Village. With over 7,000 residents planned within 700 acres, now is the time to ask:
- Is Ivanhoe Village sustainable in its current form, or is it simply too large given its anticipated impact on the community?
- Are there sufficient plans and funding in place to responsibly support this level of growth?
At this point, the developers have not provided sufficient assurances that future changes to the plan will not further shift the financial burden to taxpayers. The viability of this project remains an open question.
What You Can Do
The Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees will ultimately decide whether to approve Ivanhoe Village this spring. We strongly encourage community members to share their questions and perspectives. Please let the Village of Mundelein Trustees know how you feel about relying on taxpayers to subsidize a megadevelopment project.
We appreciate your engagement and will continue to keep you informed as this process unfolds. Thank you for your support in ensuring that any development in our community is pursued responsibly and fairly.
Sincerely,
Kevin Myers, Ph.D. Trisha Kocanda, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools, D120 Superintendent of Schools, D79