Buyers comparing Wynstone with other North Barrington options usually start with the association fee. The Wynstone Property Owners Association lists that figure at $6,952 a year, paid in quarterly installments of $1,738 due February, May, August and November 15th. That number covers private roads, common areas, community facilities and the Wynstone Public Safety Department, which staffs the gate around the clock.

It does not cover water, sewer or the debt that rebuilt both. Wynstone owns and runs its own utility, so those costs show up as separate charges, and they arrive through different channels. Water bills come from the community's water company. The infrastructure debt sits on the Lake County property tax bill. To compare Wynstone fairly against a home outside the gate, a buyer has to add these pieces together, because a municipality would normally bundle them out of sight.

The Fixed Costs Before Anyone Turns On a Tap

Here are the recurring charges a Wynstone homesite carries in 2026, before water usage and before any optional club membership.

Add up the fixed lines and you get roughly $9,800 a year before a single gallon is billed. The SSA figure comes from one parcel's tax history in Lake County's records, so the exact amount on a given home's bill may differ. The water rates themselves are flat across the community. Each year the POA Board of Directors reviews the budget and sets the assessments and water fees.

Year over year, the drift is small. For 2025 the Water Plant page lists a base rate of $73.39 a month, a reserve contribution of $30.68 a month, and the same $9.18 usage rate. In 2026 the base rate rose to $74, the reserve rose to $31.67, and usage held at $9.18. On the fee page, the POA also states that no special assessments are expected in the near future because its reserve funds are strong.

Why a Gated Community Owns Its Own Water Company

The utility predates most of the houses. According to Wynstone, the Wynstone Water Company was formed in 1987, while the subdivision was being developed, because no local source offered water or sewer service. The residents and lot owners own it, and it serves the community plus the North and South Commercial properties.

The water comes from four deep wells drawing on the St. Peters and Ironton/Galesville aquifers. After the water is chlorinated, it goes into a 127,000-gallon ground-level tank. From there it is pumped through an ion exchange system that strips out barium and radium to meet Illinois EPA standards. Then it is stored in a 325,000-gallon tank.

That treatment step has a household side effect. Wynstone says the ion exchange process also softens the water to 4.69 grains of hardness per gallon. Its list of community investments credits the 2008 ion exchange unit with eliminating the need for residential water softeners. Part of the base rate, then, pays for equipment that homes on private wells often buy and maintain themselves.

Because the system serves enough people, it falls under Illinois EPA oversight even though it is privately owned. Several staff members hold IEPA licenses to operate the plant. The company is not for profit, and the Wynstone site says rates are set to cover operations, maintenance and reserves. Anyone can check the test results on the state's Drinking Water Watch database by searching water system number IL0970080. The water company also says its favorable ISO designation with the Wauconda Fire District has a positive effect on fire insurance rates.

The Golf Course Is Part of the Sewer System

This is where the club and the homes are physically tied together. Wastewater from Wynstone homes goes into a primary and a secondary lagoon, where it is treated anaerobically and then aerobically. After that, it is used as reclaimed water to irrigate the golf course. In practice, household water ends up irrigating the Jack Nicklaus course.

Not all of it can be used that way. In 2009 a force main was built to carry excess effluent to Lake Zurich for treatment by Lake County. Its operations are governed by agreements among the County of Lake, the Village of Lake Zurich and the Village of North Barrington. The POA pays the treatment fees charged by Lake Zurich and Lake County, and The Club at Wynstone reimburses them. The investment list adds that the line was built for times when the secondary lagoon is full and can't be used for irrigation.

The course got some recent attention as well. Wynstone hosted the 77th Illinois Open from August 10 to 12, 2026, the first time the championship came to the course, according to the Illinois PGA's opening-round report. Charlie Nikitas won at 20-under-par 196, a 54-hole championship scoring record, as the Illinois PGA reported. Some of the fairways that hosted that field are irrigated with the community's reclaimed water.

The Line Item That Runs Through 2042

The force main was paid for with bonds, and those bonds explain the extra line on Wynstone property tax bills. Village records show that Special Service Area #17 was established by Ordinance 1157 on May 27, 2009, with bonds issued that August.

When the original infrastructure started to age, the POA refinanced. Wynstone says its sewer and water systems were installed in 1988 with a 25-year useful life. In July 2016, Trotter & Associates was hired to produce a five- and twenty-year Water and Sewer Master Plan. The engineer estimated the five-year plan at $7,000,000, and $5,000,000 of that was for rebuilding the wastewater storage lagoons.

That work became SSA #19. North Barrington established it by Ordinance 1339 in March 2019 and issued $10.645 million in Series 2019 bonds. Wynstone's fee page describes the same issuance as raising $11.5 million at a fixed 3.38% over the 2019 through 2042 tax years. According to the page, the new bonds paid off SSA #17 early, retiring debt that carried a 7% rate and saving $350,000 in interest. The two documents don't reconcile the difference between $10.645 million and $11.5 million. The $11.5 million may have been a projected ceiling.

At the county level, Lake County reports an SSA #19 levy of $727,422.92 for tax year 2025. On the sample parcel, the charge was $1,591.84 a year from 2019 through 2022 and has stayed between $1,595 and $1,604 since. That parcel's tax history also shows SSA #17 charges for 2009 through 2018.

The POA's investment list shows where the money went. It runs from lift station rehabilitations in 2018 and 2019, to a regraded and lined secondary lagoon in 2019, to new aerators in both lagoons and a bypass line to Lake Zurich in 2021. The public list stops at 2022, so it may not include everything done since.

How the Same Costs Work Outside the Gate

Most North Barrington homes outside Wynstone don't have any of this. The village has said most of its residents rely on private wells and septic systems. On those properties, well pumps, softeners and septic systems are paid for privately, out of pocket, and they never appear as a line on a bill.

The cost also comes due at a different point. The Lake County Health Department says well and septic evaluations are often requested during a sale or refinance, and lenders or buyers may require one. It also says no statute requires routine evaluations and no established inspection protocol exists. An evaluation may include a records review and a visual inspection of the septic system. On request, staff can inspect the well and test the water for coliform bacteria and nitrates.

At Wynstone, the wells, treatment and lagoons are shared, budgeted every year and paid gradually through quarterly bills and the tax line. Outside the gate, each owner carries that same infrastructure on their own property, and its condition usually comes to light during a transaction.

Documents That Show the Full Picture

The sources behind each charge are public, and they answer different questions:

1. The Explanation of Fees page on wynstone.org lists the current assessment, water rates and the SSA background.
2. The Water Plant page shows the prior year's rates for comparison and links to the 2024 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report.
3. Lake County's property tax records show the exact SSA #19 amount billed to a specific parcel.
4. The village's SSA ordinance record sets out the bond terms, levy and annual abatements. For tax year 2023, an abatement brought the levy down to a net $726,816.48.

FAQ

Is club membership included in these costs? No. The Club at Wynstone offers Full Privilege Golf, Junior Family Full Privilege, Social I and Social II memberships, and they are separate from the POA assessment and the water bills.

Who supplies electricity and gas? Wynstone's Utilities page lists ComEd for electricity and Nicor for natural gas.

When does the SSA #19 charge end? The bond levy runs through the 2042 tax year, according to the village bond ordinance and Wynstone's fee page.

If you're weighing a Wynstone home against a property outside the gate, Connie Antoniou and her team can go through the assessment, the water bill and the SSA line on a specific address with you, so you can compare total ownership costs on equal terms. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.