The Naperville Formula: A Formula that others are questioning

Extracted from minutes of Dekalb County Regional Planning Commission—November 10, 2005

School-Age Children Population Table

Mr. Nicklas opened discussions related to the method by which the number of school age children is determined for proposed residential development, as a way of determining both school land cash contributions and impact fees. He noted that many governmental units in Northern Illinois rely on a population chart developed for the City of Naperville. This chart relates the number of children of each age group based on the number of bedrooms and type of housing. The latest version of this chart is dated 1996. Mr. Nicklas explained that not only is the data nearly 10 years old, it does not represent the population mixture that typically occurs in houses in DeKalb County.

Mr. Rasmussen agreed, noting that the Naperville formula had been developed in response to rapid growth in Naperville the 1980's, where many young families were occupying new housing. In DeKalb County, there is little new housing that is being priced to attract young families and first-time buyers. Many of the new four and five bedroom-houses are being bought by families with no school-age children due to empty-nesters moving up to larger housing.

Mr. Miller added that young families in DeKalb County are likely to buy and move into older housing stock, so that the impact to the schools may not be best estimated by evaluating the number of children in new housing.

Mr. Heiderscheidt stated that Waterman has been working with Dave Emanuelson, who indicated that a school-age children population calculator could be created that would be specific to the Village. Mr. Heiderscheidt wondered whether the other communities that make up the RPC might be interested in having Mr. Emanuelson or some other consultant create a means of estimating the impact to the schools from new growth that is more up-to-date and reflective of DeKalb County.

Following discussion, Mr. Nicklas suggested that an intern that will be working for the City of Sycamore could be asked to conduct a study of the housing that has been recently constructed and occupied in the various communities in order to generate a new school-age children multiplier. The other members agreed and requested that Mr. Nicklas explore this possibility and report back to the Commission in January of 2006.