Naperville Park District Tax Levy: Hearing Nov. 12

By Naperville Guide · Published November 5, 2026

The Naperville Park District tax levy hearing is set for Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Fort Hill Activity Center, and the notice behind it deserves a close read before you go. The district’s proposed total levy for 2026 is $39,848,495 — up 33.15% from the $29,927,969 extended for 2025. That headline number is real, but it is not a 33% increase in day-to-day park operations, and it is not a promise that your own park-district line rises by a third. What drives it is one line item, and it is the line residents can ask about in person next week.

The Naperville Park District tax levy, line by line

Two honest caveats before the meeting. First, the notice lists the numbers without explaining why debt service jumps so sharply — if you want the reason on the record, the hearing is where to ask for it. Second, a levy is a total dollar request spread across every taxable property in the district, not a rate applied to your house alone. Your individual park-district line will also depend on your assessed value and on how much new construction the levy is spread over, so nobody can tell you your exact 2026 bill from this notice alone.

The Park District’s 2027 budget gets its vote Dec. 10

The levy hearing shares its evening with the budget. The Park Board discusses its proposed 2027 budget at the same November 12 meeting and votes on adoption Thursday, December 10 — both meetings at 7:00 p.m. at Fort Hill. The draft budget is posted on the district’s website, and print copies sit at the Administration Building, 320 Jackson Avenue, and at Fort Hill itself, 20 Fort Hill Drive. If Fort Hill is your home gym, our Fort Hill membership cost breakdown shows what the current fee side of that budget looks like for residents.

The city’s 2027 budget moves the other way on its tax rate

Two nights earlier, on Tuesday, November 10 at 6:00 p.m., the City Council holds its third and final 2027 budget workshop in Council Chambers at the Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle Street. The city’s proposed 2027 budget, published October 9, is recommended at $723.83 million — up 5.6% from the 2026 budget of $685.34 million, with growth driven mainly by utility infrastructure and transportation work. Its capital program totals $210.17 million, up 10.3%.

On taxes, though, the city expects the opposite direction from the Park District: a recommended levy of $63.42 million after debt-service abatements, with the city tax rate expected to decrease from 0.5583 to 0.5528 because the city’s total assessed value is estimated to grow about 6%, to $11.47 billion. A lower rate does not guarantee a lower city line on your bill — if your home’s assessment rose faster than the citywide average, your share can still go up. The budget also assumes an average 5.0% electric rate increase and water and wastewater increases of 12% and 10%, and it requests 9.375 new staff positions. The council gets its levy estimate November 17 and holds the budget public hearing and adoption vote on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m. Heading downtown for either meeting? Our downtown Naperville parking guide covers the decks nearest the Municipal Center.

How to weigh in before the votes

• Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6:00 p.m. — City budget workshop #3, Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.
• Thursday, Nov. 12, 7:00 p.m. — Park District levy hearing and budget discussion, Fort Hill Activity Center. To arrange testimony, the notice names Marissa Kula at 320 W. Jackson Ave., 630-848-3509.
• Tuesday, Dec. 1, 7:00 p.m. — City budget public hearing and adoption, Municipal Center.
• Thursday, Dec. 10, 7:00 p.m. — Park Board votes on the 2027 budget, Fort Hill Activity Center.

Read the Park District draft before you speak — the specific debt-service projects are a budget-book question, not a hearing-notice one — and keep comments to the body in front of you: the Park Board cannot change the city’s rate, and the council cannot change the park levy. For other town meetings and deadlines, see our Naperville events page.

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