Will County Board Abates Debt Service on Five Bond Series

Will County Board | September 17, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, adopted five ordinances abating in their entirety the property taxes levied in tax levy year 2026 for debt service on five outstanding alternate revenue bond series, passing all five without discussion on the Finance Committee’s consent agenda.

Bond Abatement Key Points:

• Ordinances 26-286 through 26-290 each abate the direct annual tax levied to pay debt service on a separate bond series, on the grounds that the county has other revenue sources available to cover the payments.
• Individual debt service amounts range from $2,337,675 on the Series 2019 Building Will bonds to $9,379,700 on the Series 2025AB refunding bonds.
• Summing the figures stated in the five ordinance titles, the abatements cover $26,405,193 in debt service against $287,540,000 in outstanding principal.
• Two of the five ordinances carry internal date inconsistencies between their titles and operative sections.

WILL COUNTY — Five ordinances that keep roughly $26.4 million in bond debt service off Will County property tax bills next year cleared the county board without a word of debate on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.

Finance Committee Chair Sherry Newquist read the five abatement ordinances as part of the committee’s consent agenda, along with four other resolutions. The motion was made by Newquist and seconded by Member Katie Deane-Schlottman, and the package passed on a voice vote.

Each ordinance follows the same form. The county issued the bonds as alternate revenue source bonds, which carry a backup direct annual property tax levy. Each ordinance recites that the county “has Revenue Sources available for the purpose of paying debt service on the Bonds,” directs that an equivalent amount be deposited into the applicable debt service fund, and then provides that the tax levied in tax levy year 2026 “shall be abated in its entirety.” The county clerk is directed to file a certified copy and carry out the abatement.

The five ordinances, as titled in the board packet, are:

Ordinance 26-286 / 26-5374 — $7,415,944 in debt service on $27,420,000 outstanding principal of General Obligation Transportation Improvement Bonds, Series 2010. Authorized by an ordinance adopted Dec. 17, 2009, with a bond order executed May 19, 2010, for an original issue of $100,000,000.

Ordinance 26-287 / 26-5375 — $2,337,675 on $46,680,000 of General Obligation Building Will Bonds, Series 2019. Authorized by an ordinance adopted May 19, 2016, with a bond order executed March 11, 2019, for an original issue of $62,455,000.

Ordinance 26-288 / 26-5376 — $2,654,474 on $90,610,000 of General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2020. Authorized Sept. 17, 2020, with a bond order executed Dec. 2, 2020, for an issue not to exceed $175,000,000.

Ordinance 26-289 / 26-5377 — $4,617,400 on $30,375,000 of General Obligation Renewable Natural Gas Facility Bonds, Series 2021. Authorized Feb. 18, 2021, with a bond order executed May 26, 2021, for an original issue of $39,245,000.

Ordinance 26-290 / 26-5381 — $9,379,700 on $92,455,000 of General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2025AB. Authorized July 17, 2025, with a bond order executed Oct. 15, 2025, for an issue of $92,455,000.

The ordinances are routine in form but substantial in effect: alternate revenue bonds are repaid from pledged revenues rather than from the property tax, and the annual abatement is the mechanism by which the backup levy is removed before tax bills are extended.

Two of the ordinances in the packet do not read consistently. Ordinance 26-287’s title and preamble refer to taxes levied in tax levy year 2026 for the year 2027, but its Section 1 states that the tax “heretofore levied in tax levy year 2025 for the year 2026 in the Bond Ordinance shall be abated in its entirety.” Ordinance 26-289’s own title refers to tax levy year 2025 for the year 2026, while the agenda item title and the ordinance’s preamble and Section 1 all refer to tax levy year 2026 for the year 2027. Newquist read the 2025 figure aloud from the title when she presented the item.

The Series 2021 bonds are tied to the county’s renewable natural gas facility at the landfill — the same operation Landfill Committee Chair David G. Oxley reported on Thursday, when he told the board the committee is going out for requests for qualifications for installation of a new compressor.

County debt also featured in the Aug. 20, 2026, State of the County address, in which Bertino-Tarrant said the county had identified favorable market conditions that led to a bond refinancing saving $3.9 million in debt service, and cited what the address described as a Double-A Plus (AA+) bond rating from Moody’s.

The abatement ordinances were adopted alongside the delinquent tax program resolution, two Will County Health Department budget actions, a coroner’s grant appropriation and the closeout of the county’s Emergency Rental Assistance 2 program. Item E, the fiscal 2026 budget transfers, was pulled from the consent agenda for separate debate.

The Finance Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 6, 2026.