Dist. 204 on hook for $5.9 million in fees

Despite a recent $5.9 million judgment against Indian Prairie Unit District 204, school officials say they can see the light at the end of the lengthy Brach-Brodie tunnel.

A court determined late last week that the Brach-Brodie Trust is still owed slightly more than $2.7 million for legal costs incurred during the district's failed attempt to acquire 55 acres owned by the trust near 75th Street and Route 59 for Metea Valley High School. The district already has posted a $3.2 million deposit with the court that will be awarded to the trusts, bringing the total cost to $5,922,610.81.

The district long anticipated the fees being about $5 million and earlier this year temporarily loaned $5 million from the operation and maintenance fund to the capitol project fund through the issuance of bonds to pay for the remaining construction costs of the $124 million high school that opened at another site in August 2009.

“We had anticipated the judgment could be that high so it's not that much different from what we thought,” Assistant Superintendent for Finance Dave Holm said Monday.

Officials had expected the decision to be handed down this past February or March.

“It's just a part of the process that has taken longer than most would have liked to see it take,” he said.

Holm said the district must now decide whether to ask Associate Judge Dorothy French to reconsider her judgment before the appeal process can begin.

Steve Helm, attorney for the Brodie trust, noted Monday that the fee collection suit has now lasted longer than the original condemnation lawsuit filed by the district in 2005 and resolved in 2007. Despite the delay, Helm said the Brodie trust is satisfied with the judgment.

“We can finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel,” Helm said. “So that's refreshing to know we've gotten to this step and it's almost over.”

The district, which includes portions of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield, already owns 25 acres of the Brach-Brodie site at 75th Street and Commons Drive in Aurora and intended to purchase an additional 55 acres of the property for the 3,000-student Metea Valley High School.

The school eventually opened along Eola Road.

Those plans fell through in September 2007, however, when a jury set the price of the land at $31 million about $17 million more than the district anticipated.

The district is now attempting to sell the 25 acres it owns at the site for about $6.4 million.

Holm said the district will be able to pay the judgment without seeking more money from taxpayers. The district has maintained its commitment to decrease the bond and interest portion of residents' tax bills, he said.

In 2005, the owner of a $300,000 house paid $730 for the bond and interest portion of the school district's tax bill. That same homeowner is expected to pay about $606 in bond and interest for tax year 2010.