Prospect Hts. District 23 tax increase fails; Bednar to join Botwinski, Hess, Peters on board

Challenger James Bednar will join incumbents Carol Botwinski, David Hess and Mari-Lynn Peters on the Prospect Heights Elementary District 23 board, which will have to go without a proposed .35 percent increase in the school’s tax rate.

Voters soundly defeated the increase by a vote of 1,106 against and 508 in favor, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night.

With 100 percent of the precincts counted, each of the winners had about 15 percent of the votes. Peters, of Wheeling, topped the count at 1,201. Botwinski, of Arlington Heights, won 1,172. Bednar, of Prospect Heights, had 1,162, and Hess, of Arlington Heights, with 1,133.

Jeff Bowes of Arlington Heights was the only incumbent unseated in Tuesday’s election, having received 1,038 votes. Challengers Andrew Welter, of Arlington Heights, and George Bouris, of Prospect Heights, won 1,009 votes and 938 votes respectively.

“I expected it to be a close race,” Bednar said Tuesday night. “I was hoping to get enough support to win a seat. I am happy with the results.”

Bednar said he wants the board to establish priorities, then communicate them clearly to both parents and taxpayers. “It’s all about open and honest communication,” Bednar said.

As far as the failed tax increase, officials have said the district needs the money to insure financial stability. Without it, the current student-teacher ratios, gifted programs, at-risk kindergarten, vocal music and technology upgrades are at risk, they said.

The tax hike would have raised taxes by an estimated $35 for each $100,000 of a home’s fair market value, or about $105 for a $300,000 home.

So far, board members cut more than $1 million from the district’s budget, approved grade level centers and outlined $1.5 million more in cuts. The grade level centers — organizing their three elementary schools by grade, not neighborhoods — sparked the most impassioned controversy.

Parents protested, particularly those at Eisenhower School, which would see the most upheaval. But unlike nearby River Trails Elementary District 26, which also faced a firestorm of protest over grade level centers and ended by backing down — the District 23 board decided the savings were significant and it went ahead.

The board voted 7-0 to approve the GLC concept.