North Cook News

The Northbrook School District 28 Board of Education received a financial update during its recent meeting and agreed to approve an estimate for the property tax levy based on a 5% cap.

During the Oct. 27 meeting that was streamed on YouTube, Chief School Business Officer Jessica Donato was at the podium for a discussion of the 2022 levy taxes. It was pointed out that the CPI for the year is 7%; however, laws set the tax cap at 5%. She noted that the district also will follow guidelines set in the 2020 extension because it was the last known extension, unless Cook County releases papers from the 2021 extension this month.

“We are still following all the processes for truth in taxation with the CPI of 5% and new property where we're following what we need to do,” Donato said during the meeting.

The board also learned that revenues were down, and Donato noted that the district had not yet collected the fall taxes due to a change in the cycle. She also commented that cafeteria sales were higher than anticipated, topping even pre-COVID-19 levels, resulting in the addition of an additional employee.

Additionally, it was announced during the meeting that a $1,561 State Library Grant was awarded to Tara LaCerra, library media specialist at Westmoor School.

The board marked the grant award to LaCerra, noting that the funds are given to librarians who focus on supporting students and staff in their educational endeavors by making all the resources of the library available to them, along with presenting informational and educational programs.