Big drama is playing out in a very small government that most people in the Northbrook, Glenview, Northfield and Wilmette area pay taxes to, yet may have never heard of.
Voters in Northfield Township will decide in the Nov. 3 election whether to eliminate the Northfield Township Road District, which operates independently from the rest of the township.
In what could be a bid to woo voters to continue the road district’s existence, Highway Commissioner Michael Korman is pitching a $2 million infrastructure program he says will improve roads, reduce flooding and modernize district facilities, even as a lowered tax levy should mean taxpayers pay less to the district.
However, the township has previously criticized Korman for awarding contracts without using legally-required bidding procedures that are in place to prevent financial improprieties. Officials also noted he paid for work that’s not in his jurisdiction.
Northfield Township Supervisor Shiva Mohsenzadeh said the township Board “supports the storm water management projects started by the former highway commissioner” and is “in favor of infrastructure improvements that benefit our residents.”
“The Board, however, is concerned by the (current) Highway Commissioner’s absolute refusal to comply with basic competitive bidding procedures among other issues documented and raised,” she said.
These criticisms follow scrutiny over a 2025 parking lot contract at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, in which Korman authorized a $25,000 contract to repaint a series of parking lot stripes.
A project like that typically lies outside of the scope of the road district, Mohsenzadeh confirmed, especially for an area of land maintained by Glenbrook High School District 225. The high school district is a government entity with its own taxing authority and budget to pay for its needs.
Mohsenzadeh, who also serves as the road district’s treasurer, confirmed the project lacked a required intergovernmental agreement at the time.
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Despite these concerns, Northfield Township trustees unanimously approved the 2026-27 fiscal year budget in June, encompassing the road district’s capital investment program for various infrastructure upgrades, all of which will occur on the south side of Northfield Township.
While the township is a separate government entity, it is tasked with three primary duties concerning the road district: approving its levy requests, approving its budget and approving bills submitted by the district for payment, according to Korman.
Making headway on infrastructure projects for the road district may also be of priority for the highway commissioner given the Nov. 3 binding referendum vote for the proposed elimination of the road district as a separate unit of government from Northfield Township.
The Northfield Township Road District is responsible for maintenance and improvement of 23 miles of local roadways in unincorporated parts of the township, according to its website.
As one of 29 townships within Cook County, Northfield Township encompasses several villages and portions of neighboring suburbs, including the majority of the Villages of Northbrook and Glenview, and portions of Northfield, Wilmette, Glencoe and Deerfield.
It also includes the east edge of Prospect Heights and the northern edge of Des Plaines.
Road district officials say the roadway and facility improvements are in coordination with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago as part of its $53 million in regional flood mitigation efforts on the township’s south side.
Korman said the infrastructure upgrades are able to be funded under a 4.6% property tax levy reduction because of the township’s large surplus in reserves collected in the last couple of years.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the taxes collected in the three years prior to my arrival, to where we now have almost $9 million in reserves sitting in the bank or waiting to be disbursed to us from the county,” Korman told Pioneer Press.
And in the last few years, that “spike really filled up the offers” for the road district, he added.
Korman estimated the township brings in about $4 million in revenue a year, but on average, has spent about half that amount for the last 10 years.
According to Korman, improvements are specifically allocated towards south Northfield Township because a current “$3 million project on the north side,” is already underway to improve its infrastructure.
The project was approved by trustees a couple years ago, he said.
Approximately $1 million of the capital investment plan will be allocated to south roadway projects for the upcoming fiscal year. That includes a mix of asphalt resurfacing, pavement preservation, drainage structure adjustments and broader signage replacement and safety improvements on district-operated streets, according to a news release about the project.
Korman said about “five or six roads” in the south side are currently “prioritized at the highest level for repair.”
Due to historic high levels of recurring flooding on streets in the Northbrook West and Central Avenue areas of south Northfield Township, the district has also proposed several storm-sewer and culvert improvements under this project, including ditch regrading and water retention enhancements, officials said.
These improvements are in addition to the $53 million in stormwater mitigation efforts the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has committed to the Northfield Township Road District over the next three years, according to the district’s announcement.
The second $1 million will go toward modernizing the district’s operation facility at 237 Melvin Drive in Northbrook, which houses crews, fleet and equipment.
Improvements include a roof replacement, electrical service upgrade, energy-efficiency upgrades and other building-related capital work to “improve the safety, efficiency and long-term resilience of the public works campus,” the district said.
“We’re also working on a grant from the IEPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) to get rid of our old diesel trucks and buy new electric trucks, and they’ve conditionally approved a $2 million grant for us to swap out five of our old diesel vehicles for brand new electric dump trucks,” Korman added.
Korman did not specify an expected start date for the upgrades but residents can expect street segment construction schedules to be published as seasonal contracts are awarded and confirmed, according to the district.
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