District 15 opts to keep referendum on the ballot

Voters will indeed get to weigh in on whether Palatine Township Elementary District 15 should borrow $27 million.

Board member Sue Quinn's motion to pull the bond issue from the ballot and abandon it entirely, didn't get seconded at last week's board meeting, meaning the referendum question will remain on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Even board members who opposed the bond sale from the beginning said they wanted to let people go ahead and vote.

"It's just unfortunate it got to this point, but I would say you should put it on the ballot because that's what the petition was for," said Tim Millar, who voted against the bond issue in March.

As spelled out, $17 million would be used for capital projects at individual schools.

The remaining $10 million is the most controversial; it would be used to replenish the district's working cash fund.

Earlier this year, opponents of the loan collected about 7,500 signatures from District 15 residents, well above the number required to force it to a referendum. The board could have decided not to move forward, however.

Interim Superintendent Scott Thompson, hired last month for a one-year term after Dan Lukich was forced to resign without explanation, said Monday that District 15 has no plans to promote the loan and will let taxpayers decide.

He said he personally supports borrowing $17 million for capital projects, and thinks the majority of the community does too.

He also said that District 15 wouldn't be obligated to borrow the entire $27 million if voters approved the loan.

"If we don't take care of our school buildings now, the cost is going to be much greater down the road and they're going to fall into disrepair," Thompson said.

And if the loan is voted down?

"We just don't have the funds to do anything, so they'll (capital projects) be delayed," he said.

Against the bond issue from the beginning because $10 million would replenish a working cash fund, Quinn said the petition was the public's way of saying no to the bond issue.

"I think we should not waste the taxpayers' time and money by putting forward an initiative that is ill-considered," she said. "I hope in the future ... we will take our time and really consider hard why we need it and justify it in such a way that the public will support it."

Board member Mark Bloom also voted against the bond issue back in March, but opted to leave the $27 million question in voters' hands.

As for borrowing the remaining $10 million for a working cash fund, which is different from reserves and serves as an internal bank account, Thompson said he hasn't had the chance to analyze the plan's finances carefully enough but would like the district to work within its means if possible.