Higher tax bills but shorter duration for Mundelein District 120 taxpayers

A property tax increase to fund extensive facilities improvements in Mundelein High School District 120 for the first time will appear on tax bills in June, but the duration has been reduced by three years.

Because of a favorable interest rate, the principal and interest on the bonds will be retired in 17 years rather than 20 years, according to the district.

Owners of a home valued at $300,000 will pay about $414 more per year during that time, as originally estimated. But a lower-than-expected interest rate and structure of the bond payments saved roughly $7.4 million.

“Interest rates went down at just the right time,” said Cathy Johnson, assistant superintendent of finance and operations.

Meanwhile, the multiphased multiyear project changing the look of the original 1961 school and campus at Midlothian Road and Hawley Street is said to be on time and $1.2 million under budget.

Voters in November 2024 authorized District 120 to borrow $149.5 million by issuing building bonds. The overall project cost is $199.5 million, but the district has been financing construction with $50 million in non-referendum bonds.

The bond sale was approved by the school board in January, and the first half of the authorized amount was secured in February.

“The way that we've structured this, taxes are not going to go up more when we issue the next set of bonds,” Johnson added. “The payments are going to be effectively the same all the way through.”

Johnson explained the process during a video podcast with Corey Tafoya, superintendent of District 120 and Mundelein Elementary District 75, linked on d120.org and available on the district's YouTube channel.

Work began on wide-ranging improvements to school facilities in March 2025 and is expected to take at least three years to complete. The heaviest workload begins when the school year ends May 22.

“You’re going to see a lot of action when you drive by,” Tafoya said.

To date, the renovation of the former Annex building into the District 120 Transition Center has been completed. Work is underway to transform the former Village Green golf course into athletic fields, and work continues on new classrooms on the west side of the high school.

In addition, construction is slated to begin in May on the field house, new gym, cafeteria kitchen upgrades, and more.

Tafoya said the district is trying to minimize the impact on taxpayers.

“We want our taxpayers to feel like this product — of which we’re going to be really proud of in the end — that it also was done as financially responsible as possible,” he said.