Ivanhoe Development Impact Fees

April 15, 2025

Dear D79 and D120 Communities,

We have greatly appreciated the engagement of our community as we continue our work to best represent our taxpayers in the ongoing Ivanhoe Village planning and approval process with the Village of Mundelein. 

Last night’s Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees meeting drew a large crowd with public comment lasting over an hour and nearly every speaker urging the trustees to vote “no” or pause action on the Ivanhoe Village impact fee action item. These efforts continue to help challenge the lack of Village support.  Despite this strong showing, the Village trustees voted 6-1 to approve the schools/park/library impact fee agreement with the developers. 

At the meeting, the Village and the developer introduced new data—delivered to the school districts just days earlier, on Friday, April 11. We are working closely with our consultants to review and verify this information. Already, we have identified several significant inaccuracies. We are committed to correcting the record, sharing those findings with our community, and ensuring that decision-makers are held to a standard of transparency and fairness.

This is far from over. The Village must still approve the comprehensive Planned Unit Development (PUD) this summer, which offers another opportunity to revisit and potentially revise last night’s decision.  We will continue to advocate for a fair and reasonable developer contribution that does not place an undue burden on our schools or the people of this community. The stakes are too high to settle for anything less.

We will keep you informed as this process continues and let you know how you can take action in the months ahead.

Sincerely,

Kevin Myers, Ph.D., D120 Superintendent of Schools

Trisha Kocanda, Ed.D., D79 Superintendent of Schools

Dear D79 and D120 Communities,

Fremont School District 79 and Mundelein High School District 120 remain committed to keeping our community informed with updates regarding the potential Ivanhoe Village development in Mundelein.

Our last communication on April 10 shared that the Illinois State House of Representatives passed HB 22 which was introduced and passed in the House within 48 hours (press release). This legislation allows municipalities to impose impact fees to help cover the costs of constructing new school buildings when those costs are directly tied to specific residential developments.

However, the April 14 Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees meeting agenda has been posted, and it is clear that they intend to move forward and vote to approve two key items:

• School impact fee agreement for the proposed Ivanhoe Village development
• While the proposed agreement includes approximately $6.7 million for D79 and $4.4 million for D120, the investment still falls woefully short of the costs associated with facility needs attributable to Ivanhoe Village. Over 1,000 K-12 students generated from this development will require significant facility investments.
• The financial gap will have to be made up by current taxpayers. It is not fair for our taxpayers to subsidize the costs prompted by the new development.
• New impact fee ordinance for future developments
• This new ordinance outlines the financial support school districts, park districts, and libraries will receive to offset costs associated with the growth from any subsequent residential developments.
• The new ordinance will restrict the ability of impacted taxing bodies to negotiate in the future and lock future fees at a significantly discounted rate (50%+) compared to recent impact fee agreements.
• Why lessen the funding required of developers at taxpayers’ expense?

These actions are not in the best interests of our community, and will negatively impact taxpayers for decades to come. There’s still time for you to take action to influence Mundelein Mayor Lentz and the Village Board.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? 

Village of Mundelein’s next meeting is Monday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. at the Village Hall

• Urge Mayor Lentz and the Village Board to halt any action regarding both the Ivanhoe Village impact fees agreement and the proposed new permanent impact fee ordinance items. Ask them to allow time for current legislation to advance in Springfield and “untie the hands” of Village officials to negotiate a deal that is fairer to all stakeholders.
• Encourage Mayor-Elect Robin Meier and the incoming trustees to call upon Mayor Lentz and the current Village Board to delay action and allow the Village’s new leadership to deliberate on these important decisions. There is no need to rush on these issues, no need to act before Mayor Lentz exits Village leadership in two weeks.
• Contact the Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees and implore them to support the current legislation and halt any action concerning impact fees (both for Ivanhoe Village and for the proposed new permanent ordinance) and to support the current legislation (letter template)
• Make a public comment at the next Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Monday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. at Village Hall.

We continue to advocate on our taxpayers’ behalf and so that our educational priorities will not be compromised by hasty political actions that benefit developers.

Sincerely,

Kevin Myers, Ph.D., D120, D75 Superintendent of Schools

Trisha Kocanda, Ed.D., D79 Superintendent of Schools

Dear D79 and D120 Communities,

Fremont School District 79 and Mundelein District 120 remain committed to keeping our community informed with updates regarding the potential Ivanhoe Village development in Mundelein.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

On April 9, the Illinois State House of Representatives passed HB 22 by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 113-0. HB 22 was introduced and passed in the House within 48 hours (press release). This legislation allows municipalities to impose impact fees to help cover the costs of constructing new school buildings when those costs are directly tied to specific residential developments.  We are grateful to our state legislators, Sen. Adriane Johnson (D – Buffalo Grove), Sen. Mary Edly-Allen (D – Libertyville), Rep. Daniel Didech (D – Buffalo Grove), and Rep. Laura Faver Dias (D – Grayslake), for supporting the taxpayers and school districts by sponsoring and advocating for this legislation. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration by the spring legislative session’s scheduled adjournment on May 31.

If this bill is signed into law:

• It “unties” the Village of Mundelein’s hands and allows the flexibility for our municipal leaders to secure fair impact fees from the Ivanhoe Village developer.
• It relieves the tax burden on current community members.
• It allows for proper funding for the school districts to help ensure that educational programming isn’t negatively impacted by the enrollment growth from Ivanhoe Village—if our Village leaders and the developers are willing to negotiate.

What Can You Do?

Village of Mundelein’s next meeting is Monday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. at Village Hall

• Urge Mayor Lentz and the Village Board to halt any action regarding impact fees agreement and ordinance items. Allow time for the legislation to advance in Springfield and “untie the hands” of Village officials.
• Encourage Mayor-Elect Robin Meier and the incoming trustees to call upon Mayor Lentz and the current Village Board to delay action and allow the Village’s new leadership to deliberate on these important decisions.
• Contact the Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees, encouraging them to support this new legislation and halt any action concerning impact fees (letter template)
• Make a public comment at the next Village of Mundelein Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Monday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. at Village Hall.

Our advocacy related to Ivanhoe Village has been and will continue to be about striving to protect our taxpayers as we manage enrollment growth. It is time for the Village of Mundelein to do the responsible thing by supporting this new legislation and pausing its planned action on impact fees. We encourage you to reach out to Mayor Lentz and the Village Board of Trustees before they make a hasty decision that could negatively impact our taxpayers and schools for decades to come.

Sincerely,

Trisha Kocanda, Ed.D.                                   Kevin Myers, Ph.D.    

Superintendent of Schools, D79                    Superintendent of Schools, D120

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