Will Mundelein High ask you for more money?

After letting the issue hibernate for a while, Mundelein High School officials again are examining whether to ask voters for money to fund facility improvements.

The board publicly reviewed two options Tuesday night: A referendum that would increase taxes to fund an $82 million improvement plan, and a referendum that would raise money by extending the district's existing debt base.

The first option would increase the district's tax rate by 36 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation the first year it's effective, said consultant Elizabeth Hennessey of the firm William Blair and Co. That would cost the owner of a $200,000 house an additional $221 in property taxes.

The second proposal would raise about $10 million and wouldn't increase the property-tax rate, Hennessey said. Because it's a smaller sum, the cash would be used to address critical needs rather than the construction of new facilities at the Hawley Street campus, she said.

“This isn't the $82 million idea, but it's a way to make steady progress,” Hennessey told the board. It's a way to get a lot of what you need to get done now.”

To appear on the April 5, 2011, ballot, either proposal would need board approval by Jan. 18.

Hennessey told the board they could put a debt-extension referendum on the ballot in March 2012 if officials chose to wait a year.

She also said the board could ask voters to extend the debt now and then put forth a larger building plan in the future, perhaps 2017.

The discussion came more than two years after a community group called MPACT recommended the implementation of a roughly $80 million facility plan. It called for new classrooms and science labs, an expanded cafeteria and other improvements.

“We're not guessing what needs to be done,” Mundelein High School business manager Gary Lonquist told the board Tuesday. We have a rather clear idea what needs to be done.”

The proposal has sat dormant since then, however. At the time it was presented, officials said they wanted to wait until then-new Superintendent Jody Ware had time to settle in before debating facility needs.

District 120 leaders last put a financial plan to voters in November 2006. The proposal failed, as did four prior plans.

The community last approved a tax-rate increase in 1995.

The school board made no decisions on the matter Tuesday night. The panel will talk about the proposals again Dec. 14.