Residents in the Timber Creek neighborhood of Libertyville will likely see a tax hike next year, but it won’t be as steep as originally thought. According to a report from the Daily Herald, village officials in Libertyville informally agreed on a compromise to increase the special service area tax levy by 20 percent instead of 33 percent.

The 68 homeowners in the neighborhood would see a tax hike in 2018 to $25,368, which is $4,228 higher than the 2017 rate. Officials cite potential future work on the three neighborhood ponds as the reason for the increase. Based on the value of their property, community members will pay a share to help fund a village-wide stormwater management study.

Along with residents of the Concord at Interlaken subdivision, Timber Creek residents will foot the $10,000 cost of the pond studies, which will determine whether or not there is work to do to maintain the neighborhood ponds.

Timber Creek residents were wary about the proposed 33 percent tax increase, but officials believe the 20 percent hike will be much easier for residents to stomach. Alternatives were also considered to take the burden off homeowners. One such consideration was dissolving the special service area and transferring the ponds to homeowners, but the solution seemed impractical.

Concord residents are still expected to see the full 33 percent increase in tax levy, as no one from the community spoke on the matter. In that neighborhood, the 90 lots would pay $341 in extra taxes, which is up from $256 the previous year.

Both levies are not yet official, but members of the board will vote on the taxes soon.