Naperville's Park District Levy Notice, and Why a Listing's Tax History Runs a Year Behind

On Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m., the Naperville Park District holds a Truth in Taxation hearing at the Fort Hill Activity Center on a proposed 2026 levy of $39,848,495. That is up from $29,927,969 extended for 2025, a 33.15% increase. For anyone buying or selling a Naperville home, the timing matters more than the percentage. A 2026 levy gets paid on bills that arrive in 2027. So every tax figure a buyer sees this winter, whether on a listing sheet, in a seller's disclosure packet or in a lender's estimate, shows the Park District's share as it stood before this year's increase.

Most of the increase sits in one line of the notice.

Where the 33 percent actually sits

The Park District's notice splits the levy into two parts that grow at very different rates.

Of the roughly $9.9 million total increase, about $8.3 million is debt service. The part that runs parks, programs and maintenance grows about $1.6 million. Strip out the borrowing and the district's operating ask looks a lot like an ordinary year.

Why a 6 percent ask still triggers a hearing

The Illinois Truth in Taxation Law requires a published notice and a public hearing whenever a district's proposed aggregate levy is more than 105% of the prior year's final aggregate levy. The statute on ilga.gov sets out that threshold in Section 18-70. Even the operating line alone, at 6.06%, would clear 105%.

The operating line also runs into the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law. According to the Illinois Department of Revenue, PTELL allows only limited inflationary growth in extensions on existing property, generally the lesser of 5% or CPI, plus an added amount for new construction. The district's 2026–2028 financial plan built its 2026 levy projection on a 2.7% CPI figure, $70 million of new construction and 6.7% growth in equalized assessed valuation. A levy request is one figure, and what the county ends up extending under those limits is another. Neither one is the 33% that makes headlines.

What voters bought in March

On March 17, 2026, the district put a $120 million bond question on the General Primary ballot. The referendum page gives the ballot wording:

"Shall the Naperville Park District, DuPage and Will Counties, Illinois, improve parks and facilities, including constructing a multipurpose indoor activity center at Frontier Sports Complex, which would provide fitness and exercise rooms, walking and jogging track, gymnasiums, indoor swimming pools and rooms for programs and community activities, and acquiring land for the purpose of preserving, restoring, and maintaining open spaces and extending trails, and issue its bonds to the amount of $120,000,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?"

The district's financial plan says 56% of voters approved it. The Daily Herald reported unofficial combined DuPage and Will results of 15,960 yes and 12,587 no.

The $8.3 million jump in the debt line is consistent with that authorization. It is far larger than the district's baseline forecast. The financial plan starts from the 2026 budget, approved before the vote, and leaves referendum financing out of its assumptions. On that basis, it forecast the debt service levy rising only about $74,000 in 2027. The same plan says construction at Frontier Sports Complex, Heritage Woods and Walnut Ridge Park would be paid for with bond proceeds and Cash-in-Lieu funds.

The list of projects is short and specific. The money pays for an indoor activity center at Frontier Sports Complex plus added land at Heritage Woods and Walnut Ridge Park. It does not go to Centennial Beach, Knoch Park or Fort Hill.

The calendar between the hearing and the first bill

Here is the order of events. It explains why a new owner can pay for a facility for years before they can swim in it.

1. March 17, 2026. Voters authorize $120 million in bonds.
2. Early June 2026. The district acquires the Heritage Woods and Walnut Ridge parcels.
3. November 12, 2026. The board's agenda includes the Truth in Taxation hearing, a summary of the proposed levy, a 2027 budget presentation and Resolution 26-11. The board memo says Resolution 26-11 sets an estimate only and does not approve the levy.
4. December 10, 2026. The tax levy ordinance is scheduled for approval.
5. January 15, 2027. The district's 2020 bonds make their final payment. That frees capacity in the district's debt service extension base, which the plan calls one of its most important tools for funding long-term capital work.
6. Spring 2027. The 2026 levy arrives on tax bills. For comparison, this year's bills went out April 29 in DuPage County and May 1 in Will County, with installments due June 1 and September 1 in both.
7. 2027. The Heritage Woods and Walnut Ridge land is scheduled to open to the public. As of October 26, the district planned preliminary maintenance at Walnut Ridge this fall and winter, ahead of a trail addition.
8. 2029. The Frontier Sports Complex activity center is anticipated to open.

Read in that order, the timeline shows a gap of roughly two years. The new debt line shows up on bills in 2027, and the building it pays for is expected in 2029. The open space arrives sooner, in 2027.

Why the tax line on a listing reads low this winter

Illinois property taxes are paid a year behind. The most recent bill a Naperville seller can show a buyer this winter is the one paid in 2026, and that bill carries the 2025 levy. The November 12 hearing, December's ordinance and the referendum debt service are all missing from it.

The dollar amounts are modest, which is exactly why they get missed. The district estimates the referendum's annual cost at about $117 for a home with a $500,000 fair market value, or under $10 a month. That estimate assumes bonds with a term of no more than 20 years and a homestead exemption. The district says the Park District accounts for about 5% of a resident's total property tax bill. The district's financial plan, working from a baseline that excludes referendum financing, forecast the average homeowner's park tax rising from about $440 to about $458 in 2027. That baseline left the referendum out, so the district presents the $117 as an addition to the bond and interest levy.

For a buyer, the issue is how closely a monthly payment matches reality. A lender's escrow estimate built from the last bill will underestimate the park line for the first full tax year of ownership. Other taxing bodies on the same bill run their own levy calendars, so the park line is just one piece of the total. It is still the one with a public figure attached right now.

For a seller, the issue is credibility. A buyer who looks up the levy notice may read "33%" and apply it to the entire tax bill. The table above heads that off. Most of the increase is voter-approved debt, the operating line grew about 6%, and the whole district is about a twentieth of a typical bill. Having that context ready for a buyer's agent goes over better than leaving them to work it out alone.

Everything here is general information about how one district's levy works. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm your own bill, exemptions and closing figures with your tax professional, attorney or lender.

A tax history that runs a year behind is something Sandy Hunter Homes builds into every Naperville pricing conversation. We show buyers the full picture before they ask for it, which is better than a buyer discovering it after an offer is in. If you plan to sell in 2027 and want your home's numbers presented with that context from the start, begin with Get Your Instant Home Valuation, and we'll go through the levy calendar with you.