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Peotone plans to ask for tax increase on November referendum  Share
The Peotone school board indicated at a meeting on January 19 that it intends to place a referendum on the November ballot, asking for a tax increase. Based on the response from the approximately 500 people present at the meeting, it appears that the community is behind the school board in this decision and ready to take the issue to their friends and neighbors. ''Everyone in this room knows at least six to 10 people that we can talk to and ask them to say 'yes'' (to the tax rate increase) in November,'' said one man. Superintendent Kevin Carey said the district has been told by the state board of education that it may lose $1.6 million in state funding next year. Combine this loss in funding with the board's recent inability to issue $2.4 million in working cash funds and the district fears that it may lose up to $4 million in funding for next year. James Bowden of Peotone presented a petition to the school board at its December 21 meeting with 987 signatures on it, asking the board to place the question of issuing the working cash bonds on a referendum. Carey said only 685 signatures of registered voters are required to prevent the school board from issuing the working cash bonds and forcing the district to place the issue on a referendum.
As a result of receiving the valid petition, the board agreed at its recent meeting to withdraw the previous resolution it passed to issue working cash bonds. The board has learned that it can legally issue $2.4 million in debt certificates, but agreed to postpone the decision, until a later meeting.. As Carey explained, one of the difficulties posed by issuing debt certificates is that the certificates have to be paid out of the operating tax rate, therefore decreasing the amount of funds available to educate students. With working cash bonds, the district was able to repay it by using the bond and interest portion of the local real estate tax. Carey said the district had been issuing working cash bonds, since it was approved on a referendum in 2004. At the time, it seemed like the best solution for the district, since it would actually have lost state funding in the event that property taxes were raised. As an example of the amount of funding that would have been lost due to the state funding formula at the time, Carey provided the following amounts of state aid the district would have lost over a five-year period: $906,837 in 2006; $974,146 in 2007; $1,230,185 in 2008; $1,729,719 in 2009 and $2,334,504 in 2010. At the time, the state penalized school districts that received additional local taxes by reducing state aid. It was known as the ''double whammy.'' However, the state has recently changed its laws governing funding and will no longer reduce state aid as it did previously when local taxes were increased. This new funding formula takes effect in the 2010/2011 school year. Dave Rock of Peotone commented that the school district's tax rate of 3.29 percent is one of the lowest in Will County. He said only Rockville and Braidwood have a lower rate. Carey said a tax increase is actually possible without raising the rate. Explaining, he said to assume that the district's rate is a total of $3 for illustration purposes. Then, he said to assume that two dollars of the tax is for operating expenses and one dollar for bond and interest. If the district is increasing its tax rate, but not issuing the $2.4 million in working cash bonds, then 50 cents of the bond and interest could be moved to the operating tax rate. The district would have the same tax rate, but more funding to use for operating expenses. So, what happens to the education system in the event that the district is unable to pass a referendum and meet its obligations? Carey outlined several suggestions that the board is reviewing. In the first scenario, entitled Tier I, the board would cut $1.6 million from the budget by eliminating a minimum of 10 certified positions and 24 non-certified positions; decreasing transportation costs - by only transporting students living more than one-and-a-half miles from school, changing special education placement, eliminating district paid field trips and consolidating two Green Garden afternoon routes; eliminating intramurals at Connor Shaw; reducing budgets for athletics and activities; attempting to maintain class size; ensuring teachers were not given an ''overload'' schedule; and eliminating part-time positions. In Tier II, Carey said, the district would attempt to cut $4 million from the budget by including all the Tier I cuts, plus eliminate additional minimums of 23.6 certified positions, 15.5 non-certified and four administrators; impact student educational programs; eliminate athletics and activities; reduce building support staff; increase class sizes; close one school and create a split shift schedule. Carey said an option III includes reducing the 2009/2010 budget by a minimum of $1.6 million; prioritizing suggested Tier II cuts; reaching a consensus on final dollar amounts for budget reduction and issuing working cash bonds for the difference. ''It is recommended that the school district seek a tax rate increase in November 2010 to maintain current educational programs,'' said Carey. The audience in attendance at the recent meeting appeared to agree with him, speaking out passionately about the need to maintain educational standards in the school and their willingness to help in any way. Talking about the closeness shared between the parents, students and staff at Wilton Center, one woman begged the school board not to close the elementary school, saying, ''We are a family.'' ''We love each other there,'' she added. Anna Nugent, a high school senior who is involved in two extracurricular sports and is president of the student council and the FFA, said cutting extracurricular activities would dramatically affect the schools. She said there are some students who only keep their grades up to only remain eligible for sports, band or other activities. She said colleges look at much more than grades and they are interested in the extracurricular activities. She felt that it was unfair to cut sports for the younger kids at Connor Shaw. If sports were cut, she said, they should be cut for all students. Her last statement met with a round of applause as she told the school board: ''You will be held accountable if you cut extracurricular and other things.'' Beth Smith, the mother of a first grader in the district and a newborn, grew emotional as she talked about the community and the love and support she and her family had received. She commended the teachers, saying that they go ''way above and beyond the call of duty.'' ''I hope to find a strong solution (to the financial crisis), because we have a great district,'' she said. She asked the board if it would be possible to break the budget down by individual school. She also said that the community had many people willing to volunteer and great resources that may have not even been tapped yet. John Anderson, Will County board member and candidate for Will County circuit judge, said he had two children attending the schools and a third will enter soon. He said he felt his children were receiving a good education and would like to digest the information presented before expressing an opinion. However, he spoke on another issue that he feels threatens the educational system, the proposed Belle Meade subdivision in Green Garden Township. He said the subdivision would consist of over 400 homes and an estimated 1,000 additional students. ''Our school district would be devastated...'' he said. He urged the board and community members to contact friends in Monee and attend meetings at the village hall, requesting that the village of Monee does not annex this subdivision into the village and allow developers to build this dense of a subdivision. One man thanked the board and school district for the education his son and daughter received and said he was ''100 percent behind the board'' in any decision that they made. Carey said the board would like to have community involvement and is organizing a committee. He said a decision on financial concerns will have to be made by March in the event that the board has to make staffing cuts. He said the board is legally required to notify certified staff of positions for the upcoming school year by March. The next special board meeting will be held on February 3 at 7 p.m. followed by its regular board meeting on February 15, at 7 p.m. Lynn Dill is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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